Dolly Parton Confessed She Was Too 'Swimmy-Headed' From Medication to Be on Stage After Canceling Las Vegas Residency — Months Before Her Death at 80

Dolly Parton previously admitted that medication had left her feeling too "swimmy-headed" to perform onstage after she was forced to cancel her Las Vegas residency earlier this year.

Months later, the country music icon died at 80, with her family confirming her death on Tuesday, August 25.

In May, Parton announced that she was postponing her planned six-date "Dolly: Live in Las Vegas" residency at Caesars Palace's Colosseum while she focused on recovering from health issues.

The singer explained that her digestive and immune systems had gotten "all out of whack."

"The good news is I'm responding really well to meds and treatments, and I'm improving every day," Parton shared with fans. "The bad news is, 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 bit 'swimmy headed' as my grandma used to say."

Parton was reportedly hospitalized with "kidney and autoimmune issues" just five days before her death.

According to TMZ, the singer was admitted to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn., on August 20.

The reported hospitalization came after Parton had already experienced several health setbacks.

In September 2025, she revealed that she had been dealing with 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," Dolly said in an Instagram video. "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."

The Country star died peacefully in Nashville Tenn. per a press release.

The news was shared by Bryan Seaver, the son of Dolly's sister, Cassie Parton, in a video posted to social media.

"I am representing the Parton and Owens family today, announcing the passing of my Aunt Dolly Rebecca Parton Dean," Bryan said. "Sister, sis, aunt, granny to one generation and Gigi to the next. This video announcement is something Dolly asked of me years ago."

"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," he continued. "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."

Bryan concluded his statement saying, "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. Rest in peace, Aunt Dolly."

Dolly's cause of death has not been released.