Key Points
Dolly Parton, 80, has dealt with health issues in recent years that caused her to cancel a planned Las Vegas residency.
But the country queen made an appearance Wednesday at the opening of a Dolly’s Tennessean Travel Stop in Cornersville, Tenn.
Parton adds her truck stop to a portfolio of business ventures.
Dolly Parton has had health troubles lately, but that didn’t stop the 80-year-old entertainer from making an appearance Wednesday at the new Dolly’s Tennessean Travel Stop in Cornersville, Tenn.
Just last month, the country music legend canceled her residency set for Las Vegas. She had previously postponed it as she mourned her husband, Carl Thomas Dean, who died in March 2025, and dealt with health issues, including recurring kidney stones.
She was all smiles, as usual, in front of the crowd Wednesday.
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Parton noted, “I’ve spent my whole life traveling down the road.”
Then she made a joke about the Buc-ees chain of travel centers, which will be her competition.
“I’m sure some of you are wondering why I wanted a truck stop,” Parton said in video posted to social media. “Well, I couldn’t leave it to beavers! I had to throw my scrawny little self in there. We’re not trying to compete with anybody. We don’t think we’ll have to. We think we’re going to have everything that you want or need.”
The website for Parton’s new business describes it as “a place where you’re greeted not just with fuel and food, but with warmth, comfort, and a little sparkle of Dolly Parton magic. No matter how far you’ve traveled, you’ll feel right at home here.” The travel stop offers gas, showers, a general store, and a full-service restaurant.
Her collaboration with Community Coffee, the brand Cup of Ambition, is flowing. It’s, of course, a reference to a lyric in her 1980 song “9 to 5,” from the movie of the same name.
Parton is also the force behind the Dollywood theme park, hotels, wines, baking mixes, and more.
When she canceled her residency — which would have been her first one in Vegas in 32 years — she assured fans that she was feeling better. However, she was not quite in fighting shape.
Dolly Parton at her Tennesseean Truck Stop
Credit: Courtesy of Dolly Parton
“The good news is I’m responding really well to meds and treatments, and I’m improving every day,” Parton said. “Now, the bad news is that it’s gonna take me a little while before I’m up to stage performance level because some of the meds and treatments make me a little swimmy-headed, as my grandma used to say,” said Parton, who added that she would be wearing five-inch heels.
“And you know I’m gonna be wearing them,” the “Here You Come Again” singer teased. “Not to mention all those heavy rhinestone outfits, the big hair, and my… big, uh, personality. That would make anybody swimmy-headed.”
She was also a no-show at her 80th birthday celebration in January at the legendary Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. However, a rep for the singer told Entertainment Weekly that she “never had plans to attend.”
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