Dolly Parton Was Hospitalized 4 Days Before Her Death at 80

Dolly Parton, Country Music Legend, Dead at 80More insight into Dolly Parton’s final days are coming to light. Days before the country icon’s family confirmed she had died Aug. 25 at age 80, she was hospitalized, multiple outlets confirmed. On the morning of Aug. 21, the outlets reported, Parton was admitted to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn. E! News reached out to reps for Parton but has not yet heard back. Parton had admitted she was “going through some hard times” with her health in an interview with People published that same day, but was optimistic about her recovery. “I think because we live in a 24/7 world with social media, everything gets magnified in ways it wasn’t years ago,” she posited. “I used to joke that I was the Queen of the Tabloids, but now I guess I can say I’m the Queen of Social Media AI! Seriously, though, even though I’m still healin’, I’m still workin.’”Indeed, at the time of her death, Parton—whose husband Carl Thomas Dean died in March 2025—was busy with the opening of her SongTeller Hotel in Nashville, as well as the impending rollout of her coffee company, Cup of Ambition coffee, based on the lyrics in her hit “9 to 5.” And while the Steel Magnolias actress was up front with her health struggles in the final years of her life, she also pushed back that she was slowing down. “I wanted to say, I know lately everybody thinks I am sicker than ever,” Parton said in a video shared to her Instagram in October. “Do I look sick to you? I’m workin’ hard here. Anyway, I wanted to put everybody’s mind at ease. Those of you that seem to be real concerned, which I appreciate.”Andrew Lipovsky/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty ImagesBut the “I Will Always Love You” singer assured fans she appreciated their thoughts and prayers amid her fluctuating health. “Because I’m a person of faith, I can always use the prayers for anything and everything,” Parton mused. “I want you to know I’m OK. I’ve got some problems as I’ve mentioned.” Parton admitted that her declining health was in part because she was so focused on caring for her husband in her final years. “I didn’t take care of myself,” Parton continued. “I let a lot of things go that should’ve been taken care of. So anyway, when I got around to it, the doctor said, ‘We need to take care of this, we need to take care of that.’” Nevertheless, just 10 months before her passing, Parton assured, “I’m not ready to die yet, I don’t think God is through with me and I ain’t done working.”Ron Davis/Getty ImagesThroughout her life, Parton worked to achieve not just her own dreams, but the dreams of those around her and even far out of her reach. “Dolly opened doors not just for me, but for her entire family to reach the potential we didn't even know was possible, Dolly also opened doors for generations of singers, songwriters, musicians, and dreamers from every walk of life and across every continent,” Parton’s nephew Bryan Seaver said in a video statement confirming her death shared to social media on Aug. 25. “By her example, we believed that anything was possible. She never saw a door she couldn't open, and the doors she opened made and changed history.” To look back on all Parton accomplished over her life, keep reading…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