Dolly Parton’s family is asking fans to send love and prayers as the country music legend deals with a mysterious health issue.

One week after Parton postponed six shows from her upcoming Dolly: Live in Las Vegas residency, her younger sister Freida Parton shared an update on the 79-year-old icon’s condition — and requested support from fans around the world.

‘Last night, I was up all night praying for my sister, Dolly,’ Frieda, 68, wrote on Facebook on October 7. 

‘Many of you know she hasn’t been feeling her best lately. I truly believe in the power of prayer, and I have been led to ask all of the world that loves her to be prayer warriors and pray with me.’

‘She’s strong, she’s loved,’ she continued. ‘And with all the prayers being lifted for her, I know in my heart she’s going to be just fine. Godspeed, my sissy Dolly. We all love you!

Dolly announced on Sept. 28 that she would be postponing her Las Vegas residency — originally scheduled from Dec. 4 to Dec. 13 at the Colosseum Theater at Caesars Palace — until September 2026 due to ‘health challenges.’

Dolly Parton ’s family is asking fans to send love and prayers as the country music legend deals with a mysterious health issue; (seen in March 2025)

One week after Dolly postponed six shows from her upcoming Dolly: Live in Las Vegas residency, her younger sister Frieda Parton shared an update on the 79-year-old icon’s condition — and requested support from fans around the world

Parton shared the news directly with fans on Instagram, explaining that she has been facing health challenges that require her to undergo several medical procedures.

‘I want the fans and public to hear directly from me that, unfortunately, I will need to postpone my upcoming Las Vegas concerts,’ Parton wrote. ‘As many of you know, I have been dealing with some health challenges, and my doctors tell me that I must have a few procedures.’

In her signature style, she joked that it felt like time for her ‘100,000-mile check-up,’ clarifying that it wasn’t her ‘usual trip to see [her] plastic surgeon.’

Despite the setback, Parton reassured fans that she is not retiring. 

‘Don’t worry about me quittin’ the business because God hasn’t said anything about stopping yet,’ she said.

‘But, I believe He is telling me to slow down right now so I can be ready for more big adventures with all of you. I love you and thank you for understanding.’

Underneath the post, Olivia Munn left a string of red heart emojis, while the singer Brandi Carlile praised Parton as ‘beyond reproach.’

Country star Jennifer Nettles added: ‘Big adventures for you, for sure! Can’t wait to enjoy them with you! In the meantime, tend to yourself and feel better!’

‘Last night, I was up all night praying for my sister, Dolly,’ Frieda, 68, wrote on Facebook on Oct. 7

‘Many of you know she hasn’t been feeling her best lately. I truly believe in the power of prayer, and I have been led to ask all of the world that loves her to be prayer warriors and pray with me,’ Freida wrote. She pictured (center) with Stella Parton (L) and Dolly Parton (R) in 1981

‘She’s strong, she’s loved,’ she continued. ‘And with all the prayers being lifted for her, I know in my heart she’s going to be just fine. Godspeed, my sissy Dolly. We all love you!’ Freida concluded; pictured (L) with Dolly (R) in 1981

Actress Julianne Hough shared three heart emojis. 

Other fans echoed the same sentiment: ‘Protect this queen at all costs!!!!,’ one wrote, while another gushed, ‘Heal strong, Queen Dolly!’ 

One commenter summed up the mood of many, writing: ‘We love you so much please slow it down and recharge.’

Last month, Parton sparked concern over her health after canceling a prescheduled trip to Dollywood, where she had been set to announce the park’s latest attraction. 

Although the 9 To 5 hitmaker was unable to attend the event in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, she revealed in a pre-recorded video message that she was recovering from kidney stones.

Despite her absence on Wednesday, Parton looked to be in good health during her video appearance, and she promised fans she will return to Dollywood soon. 

In 2015, she revealed that she had three kidney stones removed and was ‘doing just fine.’

‘I love and appreciate everyone’s concern,’ she wrote in a statement on her website, at the time.

Earlier this month, Parton sparked concern over her health after canceling a prescheduled trip to Dollywood; (seen in 2023)

Parton shared the news directly with fans on Instagram, explaining that she has been facing health challenges that require her to undergo several medical procedures  

Earlier this year, Parton’s husband, Carl Dean, died at age 82

‘Oh, you know what, I get very emotional when people bring it up,’ Parton told Today’s Savannah Guthrie in May. ‘But we were together 60 years. I’ve loved him since I was 18 years old’

Earlier this year, Parton’s husband, Carl Dean, died at age 82.

In her social media post announcing his death from March 3, the songstress wrote, ‘Carl and I spent many wonderful years together. Words can’t do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years.’

Two months later, Parton admitted that she get ‘very emotional when people bring [her husband’s death] up’ while speaking with Savannah Guthrie on the Today Show.

‘But we were together 60 years,’ she continued. ‘I’ve loved him since I was 18 years old.’

The I Will Always Love You singer added that she was very thankful for all the messages she received since her beloved husband’s death.

‘I’m so thankful. I’ve gotten so many cards, letters, flowers, from all over the world,’ she shared before jokingly adding. ‘I had no idea Carl Dean was so famous.’

Several weeks after Dean’s death, Parton told Knox News, ‘I’m doing better than I thought I would. I’ve been with him 60 years. So, I’m going to have to relearn some of the things that we’ve done. But I’ll keep him always close.’

She also shared insight into the end of her famously reclusive husband’s life, revealing that he struggled leading up to his death.

Parton and Dean met at a Nashville laundromat in 1964, when she was 18 and he was 21. They married two years later, on May 30, 1966

‘He suffered a great deal,’ Dolly said. ‘I’m at peace that he’s at peace, but that don’t keep me from missing him and loving him.’

She went on to say, ‘It’s a hole in my heart, you know, but we’ll fill that up with good stuff and he’ll still always be with me.’

Parton met Dean at a laundromat in Nashville in 1964, when she was 18 and he was 21. They were married two years later, on May 30, 1966.

Dean, who ran an asphalt business for years, didn’t care for the fast-paced life in the spotlight that Dean had to accept as a singing superstar.

After attending an awards show early in Parton’s career, he swore off public events with her and opted for a private life while allowing her to carry on her public face on her own.

‘He does not want to be in the spotlight at all,’ Parton told Entertainment Tonight in a 2020 interview. ‘It’s just not who he is. He’s like a quiet, reserved person and he figured if he ever got out there in that, he’d never get a minute’s peace and he’s right about that.

‘I’ve always respected and appreciated that in him, and I’ve always tried to keep him out of the limelight as much as I can, she continued. ‘He said, “I didn’t choose this world, I chose you, and you chose that world. But we can keep our lives separate and together.” And we do and we have.’

Dean was also an inspiration for Parton’s most famous song, Jolene. After a bank teller that he would regularly see became enamored of him, Parton was inspired to write the song from the viewpoint of a woman begging her competition to not steal her lover away.