What Was Dolly Parton’s Health Like Before Her Death?
America’s sweetheart Dolly Parton sadly died on Tuesday, August 25, at age 80. The legendary queen of country music was known to be dealing with some ongoing health issues leading up to her heartbreaking death.
According to TMZ, Dolly was admitted to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville on Friday, August 21, with kidney and autoimmune issues. She passed away in the hospital four days later.
What was Dolly Parton’s health like before her death?
In September 2025, Parton missed an event at Dollywood because of a kidney stone infection. That same month, she postponed her Las Vegas residency due to undisclosed “health challenges.”
At the time, the “9 to 5” singer revealed via Instagram that she needed to “have a few procedures” and wouldn’t have enough time to rehearse for the show. She officially canceled the residency in May 2026.
By early October, fears intensified after Parton’s sister, Freida Parton, took to Facebook and asked fans for their prayers. “Last night, I was up all night praying for my sister, Dolly. Many of you know she hasn’t been feeling her best lately,” she wrote in a post on October 7. “I truly believe in the power of prayer, and I have been lead to ask all of the world that loves her to be prayer warriors and pray with me.”
In a follow-up post, Freida clarified that Dolly was simply “a little under the weather” and there was no cause for concern. “I didn’t mean to scare anyone or make it sound so serious,” she said.
Related: Dolly Parton’s Inheritance from Her Late Husband Revealed After Her Own Tragic Death—She Said She’ll ‘Always Miss Him’
On Aug. 14, 2025, a fan posted a video of Parton addressing her ongoing health issues. “I’ve told you before, all my fans, that I’ve had a few little health issues and sometimes I get a little dizzy and I get dehydrated. And I’m dehydrated,” she explained. “So my Nashville doctor has kind of clipped my wings, saying, ‘You ain’t traveling this week.’ So I guess if your doctor tells you, ‘You ain’t traveling this week,’ you ain’t traveling this week.”
Then, just days before her shocking death, Parton opened up about her health again. In an interview with People published on August 21, the “Jolene” singer said she had recently been dealing with “some health issues” that she “didn’t pay attention to” while taking care of her late husband, Carl Thomas Dean, who died on March 3, 2025, at age 82.
“It’s not like I haven’t been through hard times with my health,” she noted. “But I think because we live in a 24/7 world with social media, everything gets magnified in ways it wasn’t years ago. I used to joke that I was the Queen of the Tabloids, but now I guess I can say I’m the Queen of Social Media AI! Seriously, though, even though I’m still healin’, I’m still workin’.”