Dolly Parton cancels Las Vegas residency for health reasons
Dolly Parton has cancelled her forthcoming Las Vegas residency due to ongoing health issues, before reassuring fans that her condition is “improving every day”.
The country star had originally planned to perform six shows in Caesars Palace last December, but subsequently postponed the dates due to health issues.
The shows were moved to September 2026. Now, they won’t be going ahead at all, as Parton admitted in a social media video that she needed more time before she was “up to stage-performance level“.
Charismatic as ever, the star told fans that she had “good news, and a little bad news”, leading with the positives first: “I’m responding really well to meds and treatments, and I’m improving every day.”
She went on, “I am truly sorry that I’m going to miss all of you who had tickets to see me in Las Vegas. Well, you get on to Vegas, and you have a big time… And I’ll see you somewhere down the line.”
Last October, after social media went into a frenzy over Parton’s sister’s cryptic Facebook post asking for prayers for the icon, it was confirmed that Parton is suffering from kidney stones.
Referencing this in the video, she quipped, “Lord, they dig more stones out of me a year than the rock quarry in Rockwood, Tennessee.”
She added, “But seriously, my immune system and my digestive system got all out of whack over the past couple three years. And they’re working real hard on rebuilding and strengthening those.”
As such, she reassured fans that “everything I have is treatable,” but performing live would prove difficult as the medications make her “a little bit swimmy headed, as my grandma used to say.”
Continuing jokily, she added, “And of course, I can’t be dizzy carrying around banjos, guitars, and such on five-inch heels — and you know that I’m going to be wearing them… Not to mention, all those heavy rhinestone outfits, the big hair, my big… personality,” she said, glancing at her chest. “Lord, those — that would make anybody swimmy headed!”
Parton is still active as ever behind the scenes, including video projects, ongoing work on a museum and hotel in Nashville, and “writing and reworking” a Broadway musical that is set to open later this year.
Finally, the ‘9 to 5’ singer touched on the recent death of her husband, Carl Dean, sharing honestly, “After going through a year of firsts, I mean the holidays, and especially our wedding anniversary, and the day of his death, March 3, that was hard for me.”
Earnestly, she concluded, “But I will always love him, and I’ll always miss him, but you would be surprised at how much your love and concern meant to me during that time. Lord, my house and my porch looked like the botanical gardens with all the flowers, and my den looked like the post office with all the cards and letters… You have been a big part of my healing.”
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