‘I’m not dying’: Singer Dolly Parton assures fans amid concerns about her health
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US singer Dolly Parton thanked the public for their concern in a video posted to her official account, but insisted she was not at death's door.
PHOTO: AFP
Neil Vigdor
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NEW YORK - Dolly Parton would like a word: “I’m not dying.”
In a video posted on social media on Oct 8, the American country music superstar sought to allay fans’ concerns that her health was declining after the recent postponement of her Las Vegas residency.
Parton, 79, expressed bemusement over the rumours swirling online since she announced on Sept 28 that she would have to delay her highly anticipated shows because of what she described as “health challenges”.
The chatter went into overdrive on Oct 7 afternoon after Parton’s younger sister Freida Parton asked people to pray for Dolly Parton, whom she said had not been feeling her best. By Oct 7 night, Ms Freida Parton clarified online that she did not mean to scare anyone about her sister’s health.
On Oct 8, it was Dolly Parton’s turn to address the doomsayers.
“I ain’t dead yet,” she wrote on Instagram and Facebook, where she shared a two-minute video of herself in a studio with a green screen behind her.
The singer said that she was busy recording commercials for the Grand Ole Opry, which was why she was dressed in a country-western blouse with frilling on the sleeves.
“Do I look sick to you?” she said. “I’m working hard here.”
Parton is known for the hits Jolene (1973), I Will Always Love You (1974) and 9 To 5 (1980). She said that she had to delay her shows because she had to take care of some medical issues that she had put off while her husband of nearly 60 years, Mr Carl Dean, who died at the age of 82 in March, was ailing.
The singer did not elaborate on the nature of her health challenges, which she said were not major but required her to stay close to her home in Tennessee and Vanderbilt University Medical Centre in Nashville, where she was receiving treatment.
“I let a lot of things go that I should have been taking care of,” she said, adding that she appreciated the prayers of her fans.
Parton had six concerts scheduled for December at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. She pushed those shows back until September 2026, spawning wild conjecture in some corners of the internet, where one artificial intelligence (AI) image of her and Reba McEntire, 70, a fellow country singer, left Parton gobsmacked.
“Did you see that AI picture of Reba and me?” she said. “Oooh, lordy. I mean they had Reba at my deathbed. And we both looked like we need to be buried.” NYTIMES
