Dolly Parton celebrates her 80th birthday on January 19 – but don’t expect her to sing about it.
“Well, so what?” muses the country music icon.
“Age is just a number. Yes, I’m going to be 80, but I don’t feel 80. I honestly don’t feel much different to when I was 40.”
The Jolene hitmaker is standing strong after a traumatic year in which her beloved husband, businessman Carl Dean, died. Six months later, she was forced to cancel a public appearance due to kidney stone problems, then postponed her Las Vegas residency until September 2026.
Fans feared the worst, but the Coat of Many Colours legend set things straight, sharing a photo with the caption, “Lately everybody thinks that I am sicker than I am. Do I look sick? I wanted you to know that I’m not dying.”
Dolly recently released a new memoir and Dolly: A True Original Musical is slated to open on Broadway this year.
“I feel like I’m just getting started,” she says.
“I don’t know what I’m going to be doing tomorrow, but whatever comes, I’ll give it my best. “Unless my health gives way, which right now I seem to be doing fine. There’s a lot to be said about age.
If you allow yourself to get old, you will. I say, ‘I ain’t got time to get old! I ain’t got time to dwell on that.’”
Reflecting on her long career, she shares, “I have spent a long time on the road, so there were times that I maybe missed out. There was never many vacations because I was always working. But I don’t have any regrets. The sacrifice has been worth it because I got to make my dreams come true.”
