The country star said her doctors expect her conditions to be treatable.
NEW YORK — Dolly Parton canceled her rescheduled Las Vegas residency Monday, saying ongoing health treatment has left her improving but not ready for the physical demands of a full stage show at Caesars Palace.
The decision ends, for now, a six-show run that had already been delayed once because of health issues. Parton, 80, said in a social media video that she is responding well to medication and treatment, but side effects have made live performance unsafe. The cancellation also comes after a year marked by missed public appearances and the death of her husband, Carl Thomas Dean.
Parton opened the video by saying she had “some good news and a little bad news” about her health. She said the good news was that she was improving each day. The bad news, she said, was that it would take more time before she could reach what she called “stage-performance level.” Parton said some of the medications and treatments have made her feel “swimmy-headed,” a phrase she said came from her grandmother. She joked that she could not be dizzy while carrying banjos and guitars, wearing five-inch heels, rhinestone outfits and big hair. The tone was light, but the message was direct: the September dates for “Dolly: Live in Las Vegas” would not go forward.
The residency had been scheduled for The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. It was first planned for December 2025, then postponed to September 2026 after Parton said doctors had told her she needed several procedures. Ticket pages for the show now list the events as canceled, with refunds going back to the original payment method. The run had been promoted as Parton’s first extended Las Vegas engagement in more than three decades. The six concerts were expected to bring fans to the Strip during a busy period for country music tourism, but Parton said she could not prepare the show at the level she wanted.
Parton did not give a single diagnosis in the video. She said she has long had trouble with kidney stones and that her immune and digestive systems had gotten “out of whack” over the past few years. She said doctors were working to rebuild her strength. “I have great doctors, and they assure me that everything is treatable,” Parton said. She also framed the recovery with one of her familiar jokes, comparing herself to an old classic car that could be better than ever once restored. She said she was trying to keep the update light, but she also made clear that internal medicine was “serious business.”
The cancellation follows months of public concern about Parton’s health. In September, she missed an event at Dollywood, her theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and said at the time that a kidney stone had caused an infection. Later that month, she postponed the Las Vegas residency, saying she needed time for medical procedures and would not be able to rehearse properly. In October, she addressed rumors about her condition and told fans she was not leaving the business. She later missed other public events, including an honorary Oscars ceremony where she was set to receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.
Parton also used Monday’s video to speak about Dean, her husband of nearly 60 years, who died in March 2025 at 82. She said the first year without him had been difficult, especially the holidays, their wedding anniversary and the anniversary of his death. Parton thanked fans for sending flowers, cards and letters during that period. She said the support had become part of her healing. Dean kept a low public profile during Parton’s long career, but she often described him as a steady force in her life. His death came as Parton was still managing the health problems that later disrupted her performance schedule.
Even with the canceled Las Vegas shows, Parton said she is still working. She said she has been making videos, recording music, visiting Dollywood and preparing for the opening of a museum and hotel in Nashville. She also said she has been rewriting and reworking “Dolly: A True Original Musical,” a stage project based on her life and music. The show played a Nashville run in 2025 and is being developed for Broadway. Parton told fans she hoped they might see the musical in New York and said she expected to see them “somewhere down the line.”
The next step is ticket processing for the canceled Las Vegas dates and continued work on Parton’s other projects while her treatment continues. Parton did not announce a new concert schedule Monday, but she said she is still healing and expects to return when she is ready.
Author note: Last updated May 4, 2026.