Dolly Parton detailed ‘hard times’ with health in final interview after canceling appearance

Dolly Parton detailed “hard times” with her health days before her death at 80.

In the country music icon’s final interview, released Friday, she opened up to People about “dealing with some health issues,” which forced her to cancel an appearance at her Dollywood theme park the previous week.

However, she noted, “It’s not like I haven’t been through hard times with my health.”

Parton specifically referenced being “down for several months with female issues” in the early 1980s.

The singer added that her most recent health struggles stemmed from not “pay[ing] attention” while “watching over” her husband, Carl Thomas Dean, before his death.

Dean died in March 2025 at 82, nearly 59 years into the couple’s ultra-private marriage.

Parton shared the news of her longtime partner’s passing last year — and it was her nephew who did the same for her “with absolute pride and great sadness” on Tuesday.

“This video announcement is something Dolly asked of me years ago before I fully absorbed it as a future reality,” Bryan Seaver, who was also Parton’s head of security for more than two decades, said of the “honor.”

In his emotional tribute, Seaver revealed, “Dolly called me and said she wants to rest in a beautiful bed of plush cotton, because after a life wearing heavy rhinestones, she finally deserves to be comfortable and have some rest.”

Nine months before her passing, the “9 to 5” hitmaker spoke to People about the legacy she wished to leave behind.

The latest news on music icon Dolly Parton’s death at 80

“I’m at that point in my life where I just want to be able to do good things that can be carried on,” she said in the November 2025 cover story. “I’m proud of my legacy so far, and I hope to just continue to do things that might be of use to other people.”

At the time, the actress, who felt she was “just getting started,” quipped, “I ain’t got time to get old!”

Parton explained, “I know that sounds stupid, but unless my health gives way, which right now I seem to be doing fine … I think there’s a lot to be said about age. If you allow yourself to get old, you will.”

Two months prior, though, in September, the Grammy winner had gone public with her “health challenges” as they forced her to bow out of scheduled shows, including her Las Vegas residency.

Then in January, she missed her 80th birthday celebration at the Grand Ole Opry.