The country icon says her meds are preventing her from performing.

Dolly Parton cancels her Las Vegas residency, says she ‘still got some healing to do’ amid health issues

The country icon says her meds are preventing her from performing.

By Mekishana Pierre

Mekishana Pierre

Mekishana Pierre is a news writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2025. Her work has previously appeared on Entertainment Tonight and Popsugar.

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May 4, 2026 3:22 p.m. ET

Dolly Parton attends 'Opening Dolly: An Original Musical!' on Aug. 8, 2025. Credit:

Tammie/AFF-USA/Shutterstock

- On Monday, Dolly Parton announced that her Las Vegas residency is canceled amid her ongoing health challenges.

- "Let's think of me like an old classic car, that once restored, can be better than ever," the country icon told fans in an update shared to social media.

- Parton previously postponed her Las Vegas residency In October 2025, due to an unspecified illness, which she later explained was due to issues with kidney stones.

Dolly Parton says she's "still got some healing to do" — off stage.

On Monday, the country music icon shared a video to her social accounts, giving fans updates on her health and how she's been coping while mourning the death of her husband, Carl Thomas Dean, who died in March 2025. She subsequently announced that her previously postponed series of Las Vegas performances have been officially canceled.

"Thank you for standing by me and showing me so much love and support over the past year. I've still got some healing to do, but I am on my way! See you soon. 💖 🦋," the 80-year-old musician captioned the post.

Parton kicked off her update by prepping her fans for the bad news by starting them off with the good news. "First, it's concerning my health — and I have some good news and a little bad news. But the good news is I'm responding really well to meds and treatments, and I'm improving every day," she shared.

Dolly Parton attends 'Dolly Parton: Journey of a Seeker' exhibit opening at Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum on May 19, 2025.

Jason Kempin/Getty

"Now, the bad news is that it's gonna take me a little while before I'm up to stage performance level because some of the meds and treatments make me a little swimmy-headed, as my grandma used to say," Parton said, adding that she couldn't be "dizzy carrying around banjos, guitars and such on five-inch heels."

"And you know I'm gonna be wearing them. Not to mention all those heavy rhinestone outfits, the big hair and my...big uh personality. That would make anybody swimmy-headed," she said with a laugh.

She then went on to explain her health issues via a classic car metaphor. "When they raised the hood on this old antique, they realized that I need to rebuild my engine and that my transmission is slipping, my oil pan is leaking, my muffler's busted and my shocks and pistons need to be replaced. And for sure, my spark plugs need to be changed, because you know, as well as I know, that I can't lose my spark. I know I'm still crazy, but they didn't mention anything about my mental health," Parton quipped.

Looking much more somber, the "Jolene" singer pivoted back to her issues with kidney stones, which she first mentioned in September 2025.

Dolly Parton makes first major public appearance since 2025, explains health struggles

Dolly Parton says she's not writing songs following the death of husband Carl Dean: 'I can't do it'

"I've told you before that I've always had problems with my kidney stones," Parton said in the video. "Lord, they dig more stones out of me a year than the rock quarry in Rockwood, Tenn. But seriously, my immune system and my digestive system got all out of whack over the past couple of years, and they're working real hard on rebuilding their strength."

Parton joked that she didn't want her lower lip to fall off "on top of everything else" because it would be like "losing a hub cap."

"Anyway, I know I'm being silly, but I'm just tryin' to keep everything light and airy," she added.

Despite her health challenges, Parton noted that she was still working, making videos, recording and going to Dollywood, as well as preparing for her museum and hotel opening in Nashville this year. Additionally, she's been spending a lot of time "rewriting and reworking" *Dolly: A True Original Musical*, which is set to debut on Broadway "this fall or early winter."

Dolly Parton attends Dolly Parton's Rockstar VIP Album Release Party on Nov. 16, 2023.

Jason Kempin/Getty

Parton then revealed that her Las Vegas residency — which was rescheduled for September 2026 — has been canceled as she continues to recuperate. "I am truly sorry that I'm going to miss all of you that had tickets to see me in Las Vegas," she said. "Well, you get on to Vegas, and you have a big time, and hopefully, sometime you'll come up to New York and maybe see my show, and I'll see you somewhere down the line."

The 10-time Grammy winner further thanked her fans for supporting her after the death of her husband last year. "A lot of you have been concerned about me and Carl, and you were so great about that," she said. "But after going through a year first, I mean the holidays, and especially our wedding anniversary and the day of his death, you know that was hard for me, but I will always love him, and I'll always miss him."

Parton told her fans, "You would be surprised at how much your love and concern meant to me during that time. ... From the bottom of my heart, I thank you. You have been a big part of my healing."

The Grammy winner concluded, "I'm doing really well, and [doctors] assure me that everything I have is treatable, so I'm going with that, and I just want you to know I thank you for standing by me and that I will always love you. Thank you."

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Parton recently made her first major in-person appearance at the opening day celebration for her Dollywood theme park's landmark 41st season in March. The musician has held stake in the park since 1986.

"I've not been touring, as you know. I've had a few little health issues, and we're taking good care of them. I just kind of got worn down and worn out, grieving over Carl and a lot of other little things going on," Parton explained at the time. "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."

She added that she thinks her late husband is still watching over her from the other side. "I think Carl Dean's waiting for me," she said. "If I should show up at the pearly gates with somebody else, he would not like that. He'd be saying, 'Who's that little pisser? You leave him outside the gates.'"

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