Shortly before her death, Dolly Parton opened up about how the death of her husband Carl Dean delayed her taking care of herself.
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During an August 21 exclusive interview with People, the icon shared that she’s been having “hard times with my health.”
“I am dealing with some health issues that I just didn’t pay attention to when I was watching over Carl,” she said, referencing Dean’s death in March 2025.
“It’s not like I haven’t been through hard times with my health.” According to the singer, there was a period in the early 1980s where she was “down for several months with female issues.”
Parton shared that she was “struggling with my weight at the time” as well, but didn’t elaborate further.
“But I think because we live in a 24/7 world with social media, everything gets magnified in ways it wasn’t years ago. 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’.”
In the nearly year and a half after Dean’s death, Parton’s health has sidelined her from multiple opportunities and appearances.
She was unable to attend the opening of her amusement park’s most recent attraction. In a video message, she told her fans “sometimes I get a little dizzy and I get dehydrated.” And because of her symptoms, her doctor advised against a trip from Nashville to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
In a May 2026 update on Instagram, Parton mentioned a comment Dean once made about her taking care of herself.
“Speaking of Carl and my health, I remember back years ago, I was saying something, I was griping about something hurting, and Carl said, ‘Now, honey, you know you’ve got to remember you’re not getting any younger,’” she said.
“I said, ‘Well, honey, you’ve got to remember that as long as there are plastic surgeons in this world, I’m not getting any older,’” she joked.