Dolly Parton didn’t make it to her own party this time.
The country music icon skipped the in-person grand opening of Dollywood’s new roller coaster, NightFlight Expedition, on Friday, Aug. 14, telling fans in a video message that her doctor had grounded her.
“My Nashville doctor clipped my wings, saying, ‘You ain’t traveling this week,’” she said. Parton, 80, had planned to be at the Pigeon Forge, Tennessee park in person for the ride’s debut.
Instead, she stayed home in Nashville and addressed the crowd through a recorded message.
“I’m still in Nashville, Tennessee, and I’m sorry about that,” Parton said. “I’m supposed to be there in person, like we planned.”
She didn’t dodge the reason for her absence.
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“I have had a few little health issues,” she explained. “And sometimes I get a little dizzy, and I get dehydrated.”
Parton was quick to reassure fans that nothing catastrophic is going on behind the scenes.
“I have great doctors, and I’m doing really well, and they assure me that everything I have is treatable,” she said.
She also pointed a finger at her own treatment plan for some of the fog. “Some of the meds and treatments make me a little bit swimmy-headed,” Parton admitted.
Friday’s no-show fits a pattern. In May, Parton canceled the Las Vegas residency she’d already pushed back once, from 2025 to this September, so she could rest at home. Last November, she skipped the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Governors Awards ceremony, where the Academy presented her with an Honorary Oscar for her career, choosing to accept it by video instead: “…we didn’t have that much to share, but my mom and daddy showed me by example that the more you give, the more blessings come your way. And I have tried my whole life to live by their example.”
Movieguide® has followed Parton’s remarkably busy season closely. Earlier this year, she gushed about a slate of new ventures, including a “Life of Many Colors Museum” at Nashville’s SongTeller Hotel and a Dolly-branded travel stop, telling fans to “come on be a part of the journey.” That enthusiasm hasn’t disappeared, but Friday’s video message made clear that an 80-year-old body, however famous, still sets its own pace.
Dollywood’s NightFlight Expedition opened as scheduled, doctor’s orders or not. Parton says she’s doing well and expects to be back on her feet, and back at her park, soon.
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