Dolly Parton Was Hospitalized in Nashville for 'Kidney and Autoimmune Issues' 5 Days Before Death at 80: Report

Dolly Parton was reportedly hospitalized with “kidney and autoimmune issues” five days before she passed away at age 80 on Tuesday, August 25.

The Steel Magnolias alum was admitted to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn., on August 20, according to TMZ. The publication noted she died in the hospital Tuesday morning.

Parton's health problems were no secret, as she told People on August 21 she had been through some “hard times with my health."

“I am dealing with some health issues that I just didn’t pay attention to when I was watching over Carl,” she added, referring to caring for her late husband, Carl Thomas Dean, who died in March 2025.

“It’s not like I haven’t been through hard times with my health. But I think because we live in a 24/7 world with social media, everything gets magnified in ways it wasn’t years ago," she noted, trying to ease fans' concerns.

In October 2025, the "9 to 5" crooner was forced to cancel her Las Vegas residency after dealing with unspecified ailments. A month prior, she revealed she was suffering from kidney stones after missing an appearance at her Dollywood amusement park.

"I had a kidney stone that was causing me a lot of problems, turned out it’d given me an infection," she said in an Instagram video last September. "And the doctor said, 'You don’t need to be traveling right this minute, so you need a few days to get better.' So he suggested I not go to Dollywood today.”

Parton's heartbreaking death was announced by her nephew, Bryan Seaver, in a video shared on her social media accounts.

"Dolly opened doors for generations of singers, songwriters, musicians and dreamers from every walk of life and across every continent. By her example, we believed that everything was possible," he eulogized.

“This video announcement is something Dolly asked of me years ago, before I fully absorbed it as a future reality," Seaver continued. "As her head of security for more than two decades, a role my father, Larry, held before, I have imagined the heaviness of this moment, but haven't truly felt it until now."

"Dolly called me and said she wants to rest in a beautiful bed of plush cotton because after a life of wearing heavy rhinestones, she finally deserves to be comfortable and have some rest," he added. "Rest in peace, Aunt Dolly."