Dolly Parton Postponed a Series of Shows Amid ‘Health Challenges’
Dolly Parton planned to perform a residency in Las Vegas at the end of this year, but she has postponed dates out of concern for her health. In a statement posted to social media, Parton told fans that they will have to wait until next year to see her. She noted that while she will continue to work on projects from her home base in Tennessee, she will not perform live until she feels physically ready.
Dolly Parton pushed back the date of several shows out of concern for her health
In December, Parton was set to perform her first Las Vegas residency in decades. In a post shared to her social media, though, Parton told fans that she was pushing the dates back to September 2026.
“I want the fans and public to hear directly from me that, unfortunately, I will need to postpone my upcoming Las Vegas concerts,” she 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. As I joked to them, it must be time for my 100,000-mile checkup, although it’s not the usual trip to see my plastic surgeon!”
She said that because of this, she will not be able to rehearse for her shows. As she wants to give fans the best show possible, she feels it is best to postpone the residency.
“You pay good money to see me perform, and I want to be at my best for you,” she wrote. “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.”
Parton said that while she is postponing dates, she currently has no plans to retire.
“Don’t worry about me quittin’ the business because God hasn’t said anything about stopping yet,” she wrote. “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.”
Dolly Parton dealt with health problems in the 1980s
This is not the first time that Parton has dealt with health problems in her career. In the early 1980s, she dealt with a lengthy illness
“I’d never really been sick in my life until a couple of years ago, and then I was sick for 18 months to two years,” she told Interview Magazine in 1984. “It was brought on by a lot of emotional problems that I was having.”
She said that overwork, stress, and the end of a meaningful relationship contributed to her illness.
“I was going through a period of time that the nerves and the tension and the stress were actually what got me sick,” Parton explained. “So then it was like, which came first, the chicken or the egg? I just kept getting worse and worse and then I started having stomach problems, ulcers and intestinal problems.”
She canceled shows at that point, too
Because of her sickness in the early 1980s, Parton had to cancel a series of shows. She said that many people were angry with her, which only made things worse.
“Having to disappoint promoters who’d been good to me through the years added to everything else,” she said, per the book Dolly on Dolly. “They got mad and sued me, which caused me to get sicker. I became more tense. My stomach tightened, and my throat dried up. The hoarseness was nerves. That’s where it just hit me and gripped me. Problems always get you in your weakest point.”
Luckily, Parton’s fans have been overwhelmingly supportive of her decision to postpone shows this time.
