“Ours is a great old love story. Most people don’t stay that close that long,” Parton said of Dean at the time. “That’s a loss. Nobody can ever know that unless you’ve experienced it yourself. He will always be in my heart and in my memories.”
Parton was set to return to Las Vegas in December 2025 for a residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace — her first extended run in the city in more than 30 years — but in September of that year, she announced that the dates had been postponed due to “health challenges.”
“As many of you know, I’ve been dealing with some health challenges, and my doctors tell me that I must have a few procedures. As I joked with them, it must be time for my 100,000 check-up, although it’s not the usual trip to see my plastic surgeon!,” she said in a statement shared to Instagram. “In all seriousness, given this, I am not going to be able to rehearse and put together the show that I want you to see, and the show that you deserve to see. You pay good money to see me perform, and I want to be at my best for you.”
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Despite the setback, Parton reassured her fans at the time writing, “And don’t worry about me quittin’ the business because God hasn’t said anything about stopping yet. But, I believe He is telling me to slow down right now so I can be ready for more big adventures with all of you.”
She later in May 2026, saying in an Instagram video that she was “responding really well to meds and treatments” and “improving every day.”
Years prior, Parton told PEOPLE that even after decades in the industry there were still dreams she had left to fulfill.
“I just hope I live long enough to do more things,” she said. “That’s the only thing that worries me, that I may run out of time before I see so many of my dreams come true. I wake up with new dreams all the time. But I put them in a place where they can continue, even after I’m gone.”
