Oct. 21: Rumors Of Dolly's Deathbed Have Been Greatly Exaggerated
Dolly had to take to video herself to tell fans worldwide she is not in the process of dying after her sister earlier this month inadvertently sparked a media frenzy over her health.
As fans well know, Dolly cancelled several recent public appearances citing health issues (two Imagination Library speeches due to an infection and then her announcement of the 2026 attraction addition for Dollywood due to kidney stones) before announcing that unnamed health issues requiring "procedures" would prevent her from rehearsing for her December residency in Las Vegas, postponing that to September 2026. As the health concerns dominated the media, her team was pressured to release more information and confirm the issues were a result of Dolly's kidney stones which required surgery.
A few days after the Vegas postponement, the press picked up on that she was not going to attend the ceremony to receive her honorary Oscar in November and said that was due to her health issues as well, which her management was quick to refute, explaining she had a scheduling conflct with that appearance which was relayed to them prior to the illness and had been disclosed months ago on the event invitation.
Then steps in the well-meaning sister. Freida Parton, Dolly's second-youngest sister, shared to social media the following post early afternoon Oct. 7: "Last night, I was up all night praying for my sister, Dolly. Many of you know she hasn't been feeling her best lately. I truly believe in the power of prayer, and I have been lead to ask all of the world that loves her to be prayer warriors and pray with me. She's strong, she's loved, and with all the prayers being lifted for her, I know in my heart she's going to be just fine. Godspeed, my sissy Dolly. We all love you! ??"
Within hours, every major media outlet had picked up the story, making it sound like Dolly was on her deathbed, even though the post suggested nothing of the sort, giving the nonchalant description that Dolly just "hasn't been feeling her best lately.". (Granted, for those who were not raised in certain Christian denominations that emphasise prayer for all types of circumstances, when they hear a request for prayer they assume a person must be near death when in reality often prayer is requested for the most mundane circumstances.) Fans began sharing posts calling for prayer and protection and pondering what her passing as the world's most beloved celebrity would mean.
This spread to various AI-generated posts shared by bots showing fake photos of Dolly on her deathbed, often with visitor Reba McEntire. A couple of her nieces shared variations of only believe what Dolly says about Dolly's health, not anyone else, suggesting the issue had been overblown. Publiclists even took to reiterating the health issues are just kidney stones and "it got quite a bit blown out of proportion, weirdly," according to The Las Vegas Review Journal reported here. (Although Dolly has been notoriously private about her health for most of her life, she has acknowledged past issues with kidney stones requiring surgery, most recently on Dr. Oz in 2017.)
In response, Dolly's niece Danielle Parton shared to social media: "There has been no change in Dolly's health status from her statement last week. If Dolly had wanted to share more, give details, ask for prayers, whatever, she would have. If it doesn't come directly from Dolly it isn't authorized and unless she shared the information, you can bet it's private and none of mine or anyone else's business. Let's give her the space and grace she needs to handle whatever she is trying to handle. This hysteria isn't helping. In fact, it's causing undue stress for her and the rest of us. Even if good intentioned." The post resulted in a call from The National Enquirer, which she said on social media she declined to comment for, so they took quotes for their story from her post to make it look like she had granted an interview (something several tabloids have done in the past to your webmaster as well).
Less than 10 hours after the initial post, Freida shared the following clarification: "I want to clear something up. I didn't mean to scare anyone or make it sound so serious when asking for prayers for Dolly. She's been a little under the weather, and I simply asked for prayers because I believe so strongly in the power of prayer. It was nothing more than a little sister asking for prayers for her big sister. Thank you all for lifting her up. Your love truly makes a difference."
But even that didn't end the chatter, prompting Dolly herself the next day, Oct. 8, to interrupt her taping of commericals for The Grand Ole Opry (awaiting announcement of what that project is -- maybe Opry performances to celebrate the opening of her new Nashville hotel and museum?) to assure fans she's fine. "I know lately everybody thinks I'm sicker than I am. Do I look sick to you?" she joked in the video here or in the media player above. She thanked folks for the prayers and explained she didn't take care of herself as well as she should have in husband Carl's final days and after he passed, and now she has to take care of several health issues she had been putting off. "I wanted you to know that I'm not dying," she explained, adding humorous digs at the AI-generated claims otherwise with her and Reba (who replied with a video of her own here and in the media player below.
"I'm not ready to die yet. I don't think God is through with me," Dolly said. "And I ain't done working."
Another niece, Jada Starr, Freida's daughter, found the humor in it, posting a "put down your finger" video about her mom "making the Internet and entire world panic with one of her Facebook posts . . . "
Regardless, the situation showed just how beloved Dolly is nationwide and how close tens of millions of Americans feel to her.
'Star Of The Show' Contest Starts To promote Dolly's new book, Star Of The Show: My Life On Stage on Nov. 11, Dolly is giving away a trip to her new hotel. One grand prize winner who enters by Nov. 16 will receive two tickets to Dolly's upcomiing Life of Many Colors Museum in Nashville, two nights at her upcoming SongTeller Hotel in Music City, two tickets to The Grand Ole Opry, two tickets for a daytime backstage tour or the Opry House, and a prepaid gift card of $1,000 to help with travel costs. Enter online here with your order number if you have pre-ordered the book. A free entry may also be made without purchase by sending your first and last name, home address, email address, and phone number with area code on a postcard postmarked by Nov. 17 and received by Nov. 21 to Star of the Show Sweepstakes, Penguin Random House, Attn: Allison Renzulli, 1745 Broadway - 1521, New York, NY 10019. Limit one entry per person regardless of method of entry. The trip must be taken at a date chosen by the winner within 12 months of the opening of the hotel, which is currently expected in June 2026.
Dolly Goes 'Dutch' With Lodge, Ovens That Is Thanks to Dolly, Lodge is releasing its first-ever enamel cookware with a series of Dolly-branded dutch ovens. The glitter-kissed ovens bear Dolly's name on the lid and come in the shades of Blush & Bashful, Islands In The Stream, Mountain Mist, and Hard Candy Christmas. Check out a story from The Pioneer Womanhere.
Second Round Of Joleans Jeans Released Dolly has released her second collection of denim clothing and accessories in her Joleans line under Good American, available in retail stores nationwide as well as the brand's website. A total of 24 new pieces are available including Joleans flare in a new wash and a straight-cut denim.
'9 To 5, Jr.' Musical Released Given its popularity in recent years as a high school and local theater production, Music Theater International has announced release of the edited middle school version of 9 To 5: The Musical as 9 To 5, Jr., running in at 60 minutes. Learn more here.
'London' Vinyl Tops U.K. Country Compilations Across the pond, the vinyl double-album re-issue of Live from London lands that title at No. 1 on the British country compilation chart this week, knocking Very Best Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 down one spot to No. 2, while her Diamonds & Rhinestones, The Greatest Hits Collection sits at No. 6, Glen Campbell's Ghost On The Canvas Sessions with a Dolly duet slips at No. 9, and Emmylou Harris's Original Album Series Volume 1 at No. 9 and Volume 2 at No. 10, both of which include Dolly appearances. Sabrina Carpenter's Short & Sweet Deluxe Edition, with its Dolly duet, finds itself at No. 12 U.K. pop, No. 32 Scottish albums, No. 31 album sales, No. 29 physical album sales, and No. 11 streaming albums. Post Malone's F 1 Trillion, with its Dolly duet, is No. 14 country albums. Beyonce's Cowboy Carter, with its Dolly appearances, finds itself at No. 8 Ameriana albums No. 20 British country albums.
Down Under, Carpenter is No. 8 pop albums, Malone No. 41 Australian pop and No. 2 country albums, and Beyonce No. 22 country.
Stateside, Carpenter comes in at No. 11 pop albums and Malone No. 73 pop albums and No. 7 country albums.
Oct. 7: Latest Fallout From Dolly's Health Postponements Since the news that health issues would postpone her Vegas residency in December, a few related items have popped up in the news. First, The Colosseum at Ceasar's Palace has announced that Tim McGraw has scheduled a mini-residency at the venue to replace most of Dolly's dates: Dec. 4, 6, 12, and 13, leaving her originally-scheduled nights of Dec. 7 and 10 open. A spokesperson told Deadline that her illness will not impact the development schedule for her Broadway biopic and its intended 2026 Great White Way debut. Also, her spokesperson told several media outlets, including USA Today, that her lack of appearance at the Nov. 16 Governor's Awards for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts to accept her honorary Oscar for humanitarian work was not because of her illness. The Academy was told in June when they notified her of the honor that a schedule conflict existed and she would have to accept remotely from Nashville that evening, and invitations issued shortly thereafter also noted the plan to skip the ceremony.
Two New Dolly Vinyls Coming Soon A couple of special edition Dolly vinyls will be released over the next two months, it has been announced. First, a mini-single four-inch vinyl of her collaboration with Motley Crue, "Home Sweet Home", will come out as a Target exclusive on Oct. 17 here. In addition, a fifth anniversary edition of her most recent holiday collection, A Holly Dolly Christmas, will come out as a vinyl picture disc Nov. 21. Reserve your copy here.
'Rainbowland' Teacher's Firing Upheld By Court A First Amendment suit by a Wisconsin teacher fired after publicly complaining her school prohibited elementary students from singing Dolly and Miley Cyrus' "Rainbowland" and Kermit the Frog's "Rainbow Connection" at a school function due to potential controversy of rainbows being associated with LGBTQIA+ acceptance was dismissed last week by a federal judge. Public school teachers, as government employees, enjoy freedom of speech protections greater than private employees and generally cannot be disciplined for off-the-clock and outside-the-classroom speech unless they falsely represent their comments as the position of the school itself or if the speech severely disrupts the learning environment. The judge found that calls from activists on both sides of the issue following her public disclosure of the controversy severely impacted the school's ability to function and therefore met the disruption exemption to allow her termination. Read more from Wisconsin Public Radio here.
EV Ports, Personal Charging Umbrellas Added To Dollywood Dollywood last week unveiled 14 new electric vehicle charging ports in its parking lot and 10 solar-powered umbrella personal device charging units in the park.
