Dolly Parton cancels Las Vegas residency due to health issues - but reassures fans with update

Published on 05/05/2026 - 8:41 GMT+2

Country music icon Dolly Parton has cancelled her forthcoming Las Vegas residency over health issues, but has shared that “everything I have is treatable”.

Parton, 80, who is the most popular public figure in the US according to a recent survey, had previously postponed her run of shows at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in October, saying at the time that she had been facing several ”health challenges”.

Now, in a new video posted on Instagram, the singer best known for her hits '9 To 5' and 'Jolene', as well as her considerable charity work, said she had “some good news and a little bad news”.

“The good news is I’m responding really well to meds and treatments, and I’m improving every day,” she said. “Now, the bad news is 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 bit ‘swimmy-headed,’ as my grandma used to say.”

“Swimmy-headed”... As if we needed a reason to love her more.

She continued: “I am truly sorry that I’m going to miss all of you that had tickets to see me in Las Vegas. I’ll see you somewhere down the line… I have great doctors and I’m doing really well, and they assure me that everything I have is treatable, so I’m going with that.”

She added: “I’ve told you before that I’ve always had problems with my kidney stones. Lord, they dig more stones out of me a year than the rock quarry in Rockwood, Tennessee. But seriously, my immune system and my digestive system got all out of whack over the past years, and they’re working real hard on rebuilding and strengthening those, and hopefully I’ll be up to snuff again soon.”

In March, Parton made her first public appearance in months at Dollywood, following the death of her husband Carl Dean, who she was married to for 58 years.

“I just got myself kind of where I needed to build myself back up spiritually, emotionally, and physically,” she shared at the time. “But, all is good. It didn’t slow me down.”