made her first public appearance in months as she stepped onto the stage during Dollywood's 41st season opening day celebration on Friday.
The 80-year-old songstress - who has - was greeted with cheers and applause from fans in attendance at the festivities.
The Jolene hitmaker sparked concern after not attending her 80th birthday concert at the Grand Ole Opry in January and has only made virtual appearances at recent events such as the 2026 .
'I've been up to a lot,' the country singer - whose husband Carl Dean passed away last year - expressed to the crowd, per WLOS News 13.
'I've not been touring, as you know. I've had a few little health issues, and we're taking good care of them.'
Parton then candidly opened up about her late husband's death and said, 'I just kind of got worn down and worn out, grieving over Carl and a lot of other little things going on.'
Dolly Parton, 80, made her first public appearance in months as she stepped onto the stage during Dollywood's 41st season opening day celebration on Friday
The Jolene hitmaker sparked concern after not attending her 80th birthday concert at the Grand Ole Opry in January and has only made virtual appearances at events such as the 2026 BRIT Awards; seen in 2025 in Nashville
She added, 'I just got myself kind of where I needed to build myself back up spiritually, emotionally, and physically. But, all is good. It didn't slow me down.'
While sitting on stage, the star was joined by Eugene Naughton - the president of Dollywood Parks & Resorts.
Parton had initially been set to kick off her Las Vegas residency in December 2025, but previously announced that she had to 'postpone' the residency to September 2026 due to 'some health challenges'
The songstress has missed events in recent months, such as the Governors Award where she virtually accepted an honorary Oscar in the form of The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award (seen above)
That same month, the 9 To 5 singer uploaded a video message which was captioned with, 'I ain't dead yet!'
