Prayers up for Mrs. Dolly.
Over the last year or so now, Dolly Parton has been dealing with some health issues. At the end of 2025, she had to cancel plans for a Las Vegas residency due to those health issues, which were reported to be complications from kidney stones. It became an even bigger story when her sister asking for “prayers,” leading many to think the health issues were more serious than Dolly was letting on, and this video Dolly shared makes me wonder if that was maybe the case.
Dolly has said before she has issues with kidney stones, and her procedure was likely related to that, but in addition, she lost her husband of nearly 60 years at the beginning of 2025, so surely that has been weighing on her, and the woman deserves a break… I don’t think she has stopped working since she first set foot in Nashville at 18 years old.
She did make an appearance at her new travel stop opening in June, but will also be absent from two forthcoming shows, the ACM Honors where she’s receiving the ACM Poet’s Award as well as the 2026 Americana Honors & Awards, where she’s receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award.
And today, it was announced that Dolly will miss the unveiling event for Dollywood’s newest ride, NightFlight Expedition, which she was previously scheduled to attend, according to WATE. She will still take part in the grand opening festivities via a video message, which she will also do for the aforementioned two award shows.
The “highly-anticipated NightFlight Expedition is a first-of-its-kind indoor adventure rollercoaster and white water hybrid ride that will take park guests on a five-and-a-half minute journey to discover a ‘secret lake’ that gives the Wildwood Tree in Wildwood Grove its glowing leaves.”
The ride will open to the general public on August 19th, and:
“At its highest elevation, guests will be taken up nearly three stories and reach speeds of up to 29 miles per hour while traveling through the weather-independent 44,000-square-foot facility.
The ride includes four sections with NightFlight Expedition taking guests soaring over the Great Smoky Mountains, whitewater rafting through 500,000 gallons of surging water, climbing a mountain ridge, and navigating a mysterious shimmering lake by boat.”
Oh, and it’s also Dollywood’s most expensive ride to date, costing a cool $50 million… so yeah, it sounds pretty incredible. It’s a ride Dolly announced herself a while back so it’s unfortunate that she won’t get to be there to take part in all of this in person, but of course, her health comes first. Hopefully she’s continuing to take care of herself and recover.
Dolly’s forthcoming Broadway musical is set to debut in early 2027, and I’m sure she has plans to be in attendance for at least opening night, so it’s important that she take it easy so she can be back and better than ever whenever she’s ready.
