Dolly Parton’s sister says she has been “praying all night” for the singer as she continues to deal with unspecified health issues.
Freida Parton wrote that her 79-year-old sister “hasn’t been feeling better lately,” two weeks after the singer postponed a Las Vegas residency planned for December, citing “health challenges.”
“Last night I was up all night praying for my sister, Dolly,” Freida Parton wrote on Facebook.
“Many of you know she hasn’t been feeling it better lately. I truly believe in the power of prayer, and I have been led to ask everyone who loves to be prayer warriors and pray with me.
“She is strong, she is loved, and with all the prayers raised for her, I know in my heart she is going to be just fine. Godspeed, my sissy. We love you all!”
Parton was scheduled to begin Dolly: Live in Las Vegas, the singer’s first extended concert stretch in the city in 32 years, at the Coliseum at Caesars Palace on December 4, but it was rescheduled for September 2026.
The singer announced that she had “faced some health challenges, and my doctors tell me I need to have some procedures.”
She didn’t elaborate but added lightly: “As I joked, it must be time for my 100,000-mile checkup, although it’s not the usual trip to see my plastic surgeon!”
She continued: “Seriously, given this, I’m not going to be able to rehearse and put together the show that I want you to see, and the show that you deserve to see. You pay a lot of money to see me perform, and I want to look my best for you…I just need a little time to prepare for the show, as they say.
“And don’t worry about me leaving the business because God hasn’t said anything about stopping. But, I believe He’s 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.”
Asked about the possibility of retirement in an interview last year, Parton told the Guardian: “Oh, my lord, I can’t retire. I always say that I dreamed of myself in a corner. I have to keep all these dreams alive. Every dream turns into something else… I couldn’t walk away if I wanted to. And I don’t want to.”
Parton’s husband of nearly 60 years, Carl Dean, died at the age of 82 in March.
