Dolly Parton reignited the fan fears for her health by revealing she will not attend the Grand Ole Opry’s 80th birthday concert for her next week – but the Daily Mail can exclusively confirm she was never planning to be there at all.Â
Parton has been the subject of frightened rumors in the past few months, particularly after her sister Freida asked the public for prayers in October while the singer suffered from an illness that remains a mystery.
At that time, Parton quickly allayed her admirers’ concerns by posting a video of herself looking sprightly at an ad shoot and crowing: ‘I ain’t dead yet!’Â
Nevertheless, her undisclosed medical problems forced her to postpone her Las Vegas residency and withdraw from multiple public events near the end of last year.
When she announced this week that she will miss the tribute concert to her at the Grand Ole Opry, speculation abounded that she had pulled out for medical reasons.
However a representative for Parton has now informed the Daily Mail: ‘She was never intending to be there and she was never promoted to be there, so she’s not pulling out of anything. She was never going.’
Dolly Parton reignited the fan fears for her health by revealing she will not attend the Grand Ole Opry’s 80th birthday concert for her next week; pictured last January in Las VegasÂ
The representative added that the Grand Ole Opry has thrown an annual birthday concert for Parton for the last four years and she only attended the first one.
Earlier this week, Parton appeared in an Instagram video for the Grand Ole Opry to promote the concert, while sharing she would be absent from the event.Â
‘Well, hey there, Grand Ole Opry family!’ she said. ‘I just wanted to say how much it means to me that you’re all coming together again this year to celebrate my big old birthday with some of my songs.’
The Jolene songstress continued: ‘Some of my favorite memories happened right here onstage at the Grand Ole Opry and I wish I could be there in person, but I’ll be sending you all my love for sure, so you have the best night ever!’
Held on January 17, two days before her actual birthday, the concert will feature a glittering lineup including Lainey Wilson, Vince Gill and Rhonda Wilson.
At the 2024 edition of the show, Elle King famously went onstage drunk, slurring her words, forgetting lyrics, swearing and admitting she was ‘hammered.’
Fans reacted to Parton’s new video by flocking to social media to share their warm wishes for the country icon – and their fears for her condition.Â
‘Dear Sweet Baby Jesus, please protect Dolly at all costs. She’s almost all we have left!!!’ exclaimed one, as another wrote: ‘praying for Dolly.’
Earlier this week, Parton appeared in an Instagram video for the Grand Ole Opry to promote the concert, while sharing she would be absent from the eventÂ
Fans reacted to Parton’s new video by flocking to social media to share their warm wishes for the country icon – and their fears for her condition
Parton – whose husband of 59 years Carl Dean died last March at the age of 82 – has yet to divulge the nature of her medical issues
One social media user leapt into the comments of the Grand Ole Opry’s Instagram post to ask: ‘Whats wrong with Dolly, is she still under the weather as in sick or shes got other things going on? Im starting to get worried about her.’Â
Parton first discussed her medical issues in September when she announced that her Las Vegas residency, which was meant to take place in December, had to be pushed to September 2026 because of ‘some health challenges’ she left undisclosed.
Then in early October, Parton’s younger sister Freida struck fear into the hearts of fans by pleading with them to pray for the country icon.
‘Last night, I was up all night praying for my sister, Dolly,’ Frieda wrote on Facebook on October 7. ‘Many of you know she hasn’t been feeling her best lately. I truly believe in the power of prayer, and I have been led to ask all of the world that loves her to be prayer warriors and pray with me.’
As panic mounted, Freida backpedaled, trying to assure the public her sister had ‘been a little under the weather’ but that she never intended to ‘make it sound so serious’ and merely issued her request out of a belief in ‘the power of prayer.’
Parton herself then posted a video of herself in hair, makeup and costume at an ad shoot for the Grand Ole Opry in order to comfort her fans.
‘Do I look sick to you?’ she chirpily asked, adding that ‘I appreciate your prayers, because I’m a person of faith, I can always use the prayers for anything and everything, but I want you to know that I’m okay!’
However Parton – whose husband of 59 years Carl Dean died last March at the age of 82 – has yet to divulge the nature of the medical issues she experienced.
