Dolly Parton had to cancel an in-person engagement due to “a few little health issues” that arose this week. The 80-year-old icon was expected to be a prominent figure at the grand opening of the NightFlight Expedition ride at Dollywood theme park on Friday, August 14th, but her presence was distinctly missing.
Instead of attending, Dolly opted to make a virtual appearance from Nashville, where she addressed her fans with heartfelt clarity following the recent loss of her brother, Coy “Denver” Parton. She opened with, “I’ve mentioned to you before, dear fans, that a few minor health issues have been troubling me. At times, I feel a little dizzy and dehydrated,” she candidly shared.
“And currently, I’m experiencing dehydration. My doctor in Nashville has put a halt to my travels, saying I’m not to venture out this week. So, if your doctor advises against traveling, it’s best to listen,” she continued. “I want to keep everyone updated, as I promised to share all aspects with you.”
Reassuring her fans further, the country music legend stated, “Everything is on track health-wise. I’m diligently working on all our other projects.”
Her recent medical break comes only months after having to cancel her Las Vegas residency. In a candid message to her Instagram followers in May, the “Jolene” singer shared, “I have a bit of good news mixed with some not-so-good news. The upside is that I’m responding exceptionally well to medication and treatments, with improvements each day.”
“Now, the bad news is it’s gonna take me a little while before I’m up to stage-performance level, because some of the meds and treatments make me a little bit swimmy headed, as my grandma used to say.”
Dolly added that she had long-suffered with “kidney stones,” and that her immune and digestive systems had been “out of whack” over the past three years. Assuring fans that she’s working on “rebuilding and strengthening those,” the A-lister ended on a positive note. “It’s serious buusiness when you’re talking about internal medicine, so I have great doctors and I’m doing really well, and they assure me that everything I have is treatbable so I’m going with that,” Dolly concluded.