Singer, songwriter, and philanthropist Dolly Parton is the closest thing to royalty that America has. You'd be hard-pressed to find someone who didn't like her.
For years, Parton has been the voice and pen behind some of the biggest songs of all time, including Whitney Houston's smash "I Will Always Love You," a song Parton said she wrote in a few hours as an homage Porter Wagoner in 1973.
She's also the driving force behind the Imagination Library, which sends books to children from birth through age five, scholarships, medical research, disaster relief, and arts/culture.
Parton was due to have a series of shows in Las Vegas later this year, but those have been postponed due to "health concerns."
— Dolly Parton (@DollyParton) September 28, 2025
The statement reads:
I want the fans and public to hear directly from me that, unfortunately, I will need to postpone my upcoming Las Vegas concerts. 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. As I joked with them, it must be time for my 100,000-mile check-up, although it’s not the usual trip to see my plastic surgeon! In all seriousness, given this, I am not going to be able to rehearse and put together the show that I want you to see, and the show that you deserve to see. You pay good money to see me perform, and I want to be at my best for you. While I’ll still be able to work on all of my projects from here in Nashville, I just need a little time to get show ready, as they say. And don’t worry about me quittin’ the business because God hasn’t said anything about stopping yet. 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.
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Parton's shows, which were scheduled for December, have been pushed back by almost a year to late September.
While the exact nature of her health issues has not been made public, Parton missed an event earlier this month due to a kidney stone. In a video statement, Parton said, "I had a kidney stone that was causing me a lot of problems, turned out it’d given me an infection, and the doctor said, ‘You don’t need to be traveling right this minute, so you need a few days to get better.'"
There was an outpouring of love and support for Parton on social media, with Commentary Magazine editor Seth Mandel writing, "For the Europeans: this is our Queen Elizabeth."
Parton, 79, also lost her husband, Carl Thomas Dean, in March of this year. Dean was 82 years old, and his exact cause of death was never released, although Parton said he had been "ill for quite a while." Parton and Dean were married for almost 59 years.
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