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After a string of health concerns, Dolly Parton has reassured fans, telling them she’s “just getting started.”
As the country singer closes in on her 80th birthday, she spoke with People, telling the publication she wasn’t dwelling on her age.
“Look at all I’ve done in 80 years. I feel like I’m just getting started,” she explained.
“I know that sounds stupid, but unless my health gives way, which right now I seem to be doing fine . . . I think there’s a lot to be said about age. If you allow yourself to get old, you will. I say, ‘I ain’t got time to get old!’ I ain’t got time to dwell on that. That’s not what I’m thinking about.”
Dolly‘s new comments come after the beloved singer took to social media to address speculation about her ill health.
In a video posted to Instagram, which she jokingly captioned, “I ain’t dead yet!”, Dolly told fans, “I wanted to say, I know lately everybody thinks that I am sicker than I am. Do I look sick to you? I’m working hard here.”
“Anyway, I wanted to put everybody’s mind at ease,” she continued. “Those of you that seem to be real concerned, which I appreciate, and 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.
“I’ve got some problems. As I mentioned back when my husband, Carl, was very sick. That was for a long time. And then when he passed, I didn’t take care of myself. So I let a lot of things go that I should have been taking care of.”
Dolly added, “I did have to cancel some things so I could be closer to home, closer to Vanderbilt, where I’m kind of having a few treatments here and there,” she said. “But I wanted you to know that I’m not dying.
“But anyway, there’s just a lot of rumours flying around, but I figured if you heard it from me, you’d know that I was okay,” she concluded. “So anyhow, that’s what I wanted to say, and I’m not ready to die yet. I don’t think God is through with me and I ain’t done working. I love you for caring and keep praying for me.”
The day prior, Dolly Parton’s sister, Freida Parton, took to Facebook to ask fans to pray for the singer.
“Many of you know she hasn’t been feeling her best lately,” she wrote. “I truly believe in the power of prayer, and I have been lead [sic] 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,” she continued. “Godspeed, my sissy Dolly. We all love you!”
Freida’s message came a little more than a week after Dolly cancelled upcoming tour dates.
Just days after cancelling a public appearance, Dolly Parton sparked new concerns for her health after she cancelled her upcoming Las Vegas residency.
The 79-year-old took to Instagram to tell fans that she would not be performing the planned shows in December.
“As many of you know, I have been dealing with some health challenges, and my doctors tell me that I must have a few procedures,” she shared. “As I joked with them, it must be time for my 100,000-mile check-up, although it’s not the usual trip to see my plastic surgeon!”
“In all seriousness, given this, I am 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,” she continued. “You pay good money to see me perform, and I want to be at my best for you. While I’ll still be able to work on all of my projects from here in Nashville, I just need a little time to get show ready, as they say.”
“Don’t worry about me quittin’ the business because God hasn’t said anything about stopping yet,” she added. “But, I believe He is telling me to slow down right now so l can be ready for more big adventures with all of you. I love you and thank you for understanding.”
The new update from Dolly came after she cancelled a public appearance. The singer was due to announce Dollywood’s latest attraction in person earlier this month, but instead of travelling to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, for the event, the ‘Jolene’ singer appeared via a pre-recorded video message.
In the message, Dolly revealed she wasn’t able to be there in person because she was recovering from kidney stones.
“Hello Dollywood! It’s me! I know, I’m here and you’re there and wondering why that is,” she began the video message. “I had a little problem. I had a kidney stone.”
“Turns out there was an infection and the doctor said: ‘You don’t need to be traveling around this minute… You need a few days to feel better.’ So he suggested I not go to Dollywood today.”
Dolly told the crowd she was looking forward to the event and that she would be there in “spirit”.
“I’ll be back as quick as I can. Don’t worry about me, I’m going to be okay. Just can’t do it today,” she added.
This isn’t the first time the country music crooner has suffered from kidney stones.
In 2015, she revealed she’d had three kidney stones removed after rumours began circulating that she had stomach cancer.
“It is true that I had kidney stones. I had them removed three weeks ago and I am doing just fine!” she said on her website at the time.
“There is absolutely no truth at all that I have stomach cancer. I love and appreciate everyone’s concern.”
Dolly’s latest bout of kidney stones comes just months after her husband of 58 years, Carl Dean, passed away at the age of 82.
In July, while appearing on Khloe Kardashian’s podcast Khloe in Wonder Land, Dolly said she was pausing her music career indefinitely in the wake of his death.
“My husband passed away three months ago… Several things I’ve wanted to start, but I can’t do it,” she said on the podcast. “I will later, but I’m just coming up with such wonderful, beautiful ideas. But I think I won’t finish it.”
“I can’t do it right now because I’ve got so many other things that I can’t afford the luxury of getting that emotional right now. So there are times like that, things like that that will start here a little bit, but I’ll write something else, though, if it comes. So I’m just putting that all on hold,” she added.
“Carl and I spent many wonderful years together,” the singer wrote in a social media post following his death. “Words can’t do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years. Thank you for your prayers and sympathy.”
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