After it was reported Thursday night that Dolly Parton would be unable to attend the opening of NightFlight Expedition, the new roller coaster at her Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, the country icon appeared virtually at Friday morning’s
unveiling and offered an update on her heath.
“I’m still in Nashville and I’m sorry about that. I’m supposed to be there in person, like we planned,” Parton said in the video posted by the Knoxville News Sentinel, in which she donned a pair of sparkly wings. “Now I’ve told you before, all my fans, that I have had a few little health issues. And sometimes I get a little dizzy, and I get dehydrated. And I’m dehydrated. And so my Nashville doctor 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. So, I like to keep all of you in the loop like I said I would, on everything.”
Parton has been candid on her social media pages about some recent health struggles that have kept her from public appearances and performances, though she did drop by the opening of her Dolly’s Tennessean Travel Stop in Cornersville, Tennessee, back in June. In September, however, she’s set to accept a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2026 Americana Honors & Awards in Nashville via video message.
“Lord, they dig more stones out of me a year than the rock quarry in Rockwood, Tennessee,” Parton said in May, sharing that she has been battling consistent issues with kidney stones over the years. “But seriously, my immune system and my digestive system got all out of whack over the past couple three years. And they’re working real hard on rebuilding and strengthening those.”
It is unclear if Parton will travel to New York for the Broadway opening of A True Original Musical, her life story, on Jan. 19 at the St. James Theater in New York City — a day which is also her 81st birthday.
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