In October 2025, Dolly Parton sent fans into a frenzy when she canceled some appearances for health reasons. Worries for the country music icon kicked into high gear when her younger sister, Freida Estelle Parton, took to Facebook to ask fans for prayers for the star.
Dolly’s manager Olly Rowland said that she’d been suffering from kidney stones and needed a procedure done to resolve the issues. Speaking with the Las Vegas Review-Journal in early October, Rowland said that Freida’s post got “blown out of proportion.”
In an exclusive interview with Parade, Dolly’s longtime music producer Kent Wells said that Dolly is doing “great”—which will undoubtedly be a relief to fans, many of whom were still concerned about Dolly’s health.
“She was over here at my studio last week,” Wells tells Parade. “And she seems great. She’s singing great, she looks fantastic and seems perfectly fine.”
Wells says that he wasn’t sure exactly what was going on with Dolly last fall, but he knew that the issue was “fairly serious” because Dolly had to cancel some things, which isn’t like her.
“I feel like she’s great. She says she’s great. She says there’s no issue. They got it all taken care of, and that’s all I know,” Wells continues, adding that Dolly is “100%.”
Dolly celebrated her 80th birthday on January 19. In celebration of her milestone birthday, Dolly released the song “Light of a Clear Blue Morning” featuring Miley Cyrus, Lainey Wilson, Reba McEntire, and Queen Latifah.
“Thank you for all the birthday wishes and the love for “Light of a Clear Blue Morning.” And special thanks to my friends @laineywilson, @mileycyrus, @reba and @queenlatifah for lending their incredible voices to the song,” Dolly captioned a video on Instagram on January 20.
“Light of a Clear Blue Morning” was produced by Wells. He called the experience “pretty cool” and is really proud of the work done to bring the remake to life.
This story was originally published by Parade on Jan 29, 2026, where it first appeared in the Celebs section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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