Dolly Parton has a message for fans in the wake of her sister Freida Parton’s worrying message: She ain’t dead yet!
The country singer shared an Instagram video on Wednesday, in which she was filmed in front of a green screen while shooting a commercial for the Grand Ole Opry. She captioned the post, “I ain’t dead yet!”
“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,” Parton said in the video. “Anyway, I wanted to put everybody’s mind at ease.”
The Joyful Noise star expressed her gratitude for everyone’s prayers, and said that while she is doing well, she is finally taking care of some health-related issues that she put on the back burner following the March death of her husband, Carl Dean.
“I didn’t take care of myself, so I let a lot of things go that I should have been taking care of,” she said. “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.’” Those procedures, she said, forced her to remain closer to home, hence why she canceled events and shows.
Parton also poked fun at an AI video of Reba McEntire standing over her deathbed, which floated around on the internet in the wake of Parton’s sister’s message.
“There’s just a lot of rumors flying around, but I figured if you heard it from me, you’d know that I was OK. 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,” she said.
Speculation about Parton’s health came after Freida Parton, the 68-year-old sister of the country music icon, wrote on Facebook Tuesday about praying for Parton. But Freida clarified her comments later on Tuesday, writing on Facebook: “I want to clear something up. I didn’t mean to scare anyone or make it sound so serious when asking for prayers for Dolly.
“She’s been a little under the weather, and I simply asked for prayers because I believe so strongly in the power of prayer,” Freida wrote. “It was nothing more than a little sister asking for prayers for her big sister. Thank you all for lifting her up. Your love truly makes a difference.”
Freida had previously asked fans to pray for her sister. “Last night, I was up all night praying for my sister, Dolly,” Freida wrote. “I truly believe in the power of prayer, and I have been lead to ask all of the world that loves her to be prayer warriors and pray with me.”
Freida, one of Parton’s 11 siblings and herself a musician, added, “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. Godspeed, my sissy Dolly. We all love you!”
This is not the first time Parton’s health has made news in recent weeks. On Sept. 28, Parton, who is 79, wrote on Instagram that her series of concerts originally scheduled for December 2025 at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas would be postponed until September 2026.
“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,” the “Jolene” songstress said in her message.
Parton said she joked with her doctors about needing her “100,000-mile check-up,” noting that “it’s not the usual trip to see my plastic surgeon.” Due to the unnamed procedures, she wrote, she would not be able to rehearse and put together the show that fans deserved to see.
For those concerned about Parton retiring, she said they didn’t need to worry about her “quittin’ the business” because “God hasn’t said anything about stopping yet.”
“But, I believe He is telling me to slow down right now so I can be ready for more big adventures with all of you,” she concluded her message, which also appeared on her website. “I love you and thank you for understanding.”
Earlier in September, Parton missed an event at her theme park, Dollywood, instead appearing virtually to share that she had developed an infection caused by a kidney stone and was advised not to travel.
“I was looking so forward to it,” she said in the message. “But I’m there with you in spirit.”
