Dolly Parton “Dealing With Some Health Issues" Days Before Her Death

Dolly Parton Was Hospitalized 4 Days Before Her Death at 80Dolly Parton was planning to keep workin’ 9 to 5 right up until the end. Just days before the country music legend died at age 80, she had detailed the “hard times” with her health following several cancelled appearances and shows. “I’m dealing with some health issues,” Parton—whose husband Carl Thomas Dean died in March 2025—told People in an interview published Aug. 21. “That I just didn’t pay attention to when I was watching over Carl." While Parton was not dismissing her health concerns, she noted she hadn’t always attracted this level of attention. “It’s not like I haven’t been through hard times with my health,” Parton continued. “But I think because we live in a 24/7 world with social media, everything gets magnified in ways it wasn’t years ago.” And though she was taking time off from public appearances, the singer had every intention of returning to the stage. As she put it, “Seriously, though, even though I’m still healin’, I’m still workin.’”Indeed, Parton was busy planning the opening of her SongTeller Hotel in Nashville, as well as the launch of Cup of Ambition Coffee, her own coffee line inspired by the “9 to 5” lyric. Months earlier, Parton spoke out about her health after her sister Freida Parton asked for prayers on her behalf. "I want you to know that I’m OK," she said in an October Instagram video. "I don’t think God is through with me, and I ain’t done working. So, I love you for caring and keep praying for me." But just days after her final interview, Parton’s family announced her passing on Aug. 25. “Dolly has lived in the light, and is in the arms of Jesus,” her nephew Bryan Seaver said in a video statement shared to her Instagram account. “Surely met by Carl, her parents, and countless others who have watched her and longed for her to meet them in the heavens.”Jon Morgan/CBS via Getty ImagesHe emphasized that his aunt “opened doors” for her entire family, as well as “for generations of singers, songwriters, musicians, and dreamers from every walk of life and across every continent.” And he assured that her legacy will live on. As he put it, “By her example, we believed that anything was possible.” To celebrate Parton’s larger than life presence, read on...Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images1955Nancy Barr Brandon/MediaPunch/Shutterstock1960Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images1965Nancy Barr Brandon/MediaPunch/ShutterstockLate 1960sMichael Ochs Archives/Getty Images1974MediaPunch/Shutterstock1975NBC/NBCU Photo Bank1977Gary Null/NBC197720th Century Fox/Kobal/Shutterstock19809 to 5Universal/Kobal/Shutterstock1982The Best Little Whorehouse in TexasNBC/NBCU Photo Bank1989Tri-Star/Kobal/Shutterstock1989Steel MagnoliasPaul DrinkwaterNBC/NBCU Photo Bank1990Gary Null/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank1991Margaret Norton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank1993Margaret Norton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank1994Margaret Norton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank1995Margaret Norton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank1999NBC/NBCU Photo Bank1999Paul Drinkwater/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank2003Paul Drinkwater/NBCU Photo Bank2008Peter Kramer/NBC/NBC NewsWire2012Douglas Gorenstein/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank2014Peter Kramer/NBC/NBC NewsWire2014Paul Drinkwater/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank2015Quantrell Colbert/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank2015Virginia Sherwood/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank2016Andrew Lipovsky/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank2018Katherine Bomboy/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank2019Nathan Congleton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank2019For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News App