Dolly Parton would like a word: “I’m not dying.”
In a video posted Wednesday on social media, the country music superstar sought to allay fans’ concerns that her health was declining after the recent postponement of her Las Vegas residency.
Ms. Parton, 79, expressed bemusement over the rumors swirling online since she announced on Sept. 28 that she would have to delay her highly anticipated shows because of what she described as “health challenges.”
The chatter went into overdrive on Tuesday afternoon after Ms. Parton’s younger sister, Freida Parton, asked people to pray for Ms. Parton, whom she said had not been feeling her best. By Tuesday night, Freida Parton clarified online that she did not mean to scare anyone about her sister’s health.
On Wednesday, it was Ms. Parton’s turn to address the doomsayers.
“I ain’t dead yet,” Ms. Parton wrote on Instagram and Facebook, where she shared a two-minute video of herself in a studio with a green screen behind her.
Ms. Parton said that she was busy recording commercials for the Grand Ole Opry, which was why she was dressed in a country western blouse with frilling on the sleeves.
“Do I look sick to you?” she said. “I’m working hard here.”
The singer, known for the hits “9 to 5,” “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You,” said that she had to delay her shows because she had to take care of some medical issues that she had put off while her husband of nearly 60 years, Carl Dean, who died earlier this year, was ailing.
She did not elaborate on the nature of her health challenges, which she said were not major but required her to stay close to her home in Tennessee and Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, where she was receiving treatment.
“I let a lot of things go that I should have been taking care of,” Ms. Parton said, adding that she appreciated the prayers of her fans.
Ms. Parton had six concerts scheduled for December at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. She pushed those shows back until next September, spawning wild conjecture in some corners of the internet, where one artificial intelligence image of her and Reba McEntire, a fellow country singer, left Ms. Parton gobsmacked.
“Did you see that A.I. picture of Reba and me?” she said. “Oooh, lordy. I mean they had Reba at my deathbed. And we both looked like we need to be buried.”
Neil Vigdor covers breaking news for The Times, with a focus on politics.
The post ‘I’m Not Dying’: Dolly Parton Assures Fans Amid Concerns About Her Health appeared first on New York Times.
