Dolly Parton responds to health reports: "I ain't dead yet!"

9 October 2025, 11:45 | Updated: 23 February 2026, 11:15

Dolly Parton appreciates our prayers but reassures fans that she's not dying.

Dolly Parton's fans have been sending well wishes and prayers in the direction of the country superstar amid reports and rumours of her ill health.

The 79-year-old singer was forced to postpone her upcoming Las Vegas residency as she underwent some unspecified medical procedures, and her sister Freida went as far as asking for prayers for her sibling.

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"Last night, I was up all night praying for my sister, Dolly," Freida wrote on Facebook.

"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 added: "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!"

When the message sparked concern, Freida clarified things with a second post that read: "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."

Now Dolly has put everyone's mind at ease with an effervescent video posted on her Instagram and YouTube pages with the caption: "I ain't dead yet!"

I ain’t dead yet!

In the video, taken from the set of a commercial she was filming for the Grand Ole Opry, she added: "I know lately everybody thinks that I'm sicker than I am. Do I look sick to you? I'm working hard."

Dolly explained that her health had suffered during her husband Carl Dean 's illness and following his death in March of this year at the age of 82.

"I didn't take care of myself," she said.

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"So I let a lot of things go that I should have been taking care of. So anyway, when I got around to it, the doctors said 'We need to take care of this' and 'We need to take care of that'. Nothing major, but I did have to cancel some things.

Dolly added: "There's a lot of rumours flying around, and I figured if you heard it from me, you'd know that I'm okay.

"I'm not ready to die yet. I don't think God is through with me, and I ain't done working."