Dolly Parton’s Sister Addressed Concerned Fans After Releasing a Statement About Her Health

It goes without saying that Dolly Parton holds a great deal of significance for country music and the music industry as a whole. Basically, Dolly is considered an international treasure who nothing can happen to, at least not anytime soon.

While the "9 to 5" singer seems otherworldly to many of her fans, in 2025, she reminded us that she's human too. She opened up about having health issues as she aged, and publicly mourned the loss of her husband of over 60 years, Carl Dean.

Amid Dolly's health challenges, her sister, Freida Parton, issued an update that further alarmed her supporters. Here's what she said.

According to a Facebook post shared by Freida on Oct. 7, 2025, she expressed concern about her sister's well-being and created a social media call-to-action. After sharing in the post that she was "up all night praying for my sister, Dolly" the night before, she encouraged the music legend's fans to do the same, stressing the power she believed prayer can have over one's health.

"Many of you know she hasn’t been feeling her best lately. I truly believe in the power of prayer, and I have been lead to ask all of the world that loves her to be prayer warriors and pray with me," Freida's statement read. "She’s strong, she’s loved, and with all the prayers being lifted for her, I know in my heart she’s going to be just fine. Godspeed, my sissy Dolly. We all love you!"

Freida's post came a little over a week after Dolly released a statement on her social media accounts. According to the message, which she addressed to her fans, she shared that, due to her health struggles, her doctors advised her to have a few medical procedures, causing her to postpone multiple tour stops until late 2026.

“As many of you know, I have been dealing with some health challenges, and my doctors tell me that I must have a few procedures," Dolly wrote in the statement. "As I joked with them, it must be time for my 100,000-mile check-up, although it’s not the usual trip to see my plastic surgeon!”

Unsurprisingly, Freida's message to Dolly's fans made many of them worried about whether she was OK or not. While most siblings can get away with asking their followers to support another sibling, this is Dolly Parton, and as I previously mentioned, she means A LOT to us, and fans expressed as much in the comment section of Freida's post.

"Dolly is a strong woman," one fan said. "Her life is very much private. You know it is dire when family starts asking for prayers. I love her very dearly. I hope she starts to feel better soon. We need and want her."

"Did she pass??" another worried fan wrote.

After seeing the uproar her Facebook post caused, Freida issued another social media statement regarding why she asked for prayers. She stated that, despite her choice of language, her sister was fine and was recovering from a minor health issue.

"I want to clear something up," Freida wrote. "I didn’t mean to scare anyone or make it sound so serious when asking for prayers for Dolly. She’s been a little under the weather, and I simply asked for prayers because I believe so strongly in the power of prayer. It was nothing more than a little sister asking for prayers for her big sister. Thank you all for lifting her up. Your love truly makes a difference."

Several of Dolly's fans stated that she may have had another kidney stone issue. According to Page Six, the "Jolene" songstress cancelled an appearance at Dollywood to recover from a kidney stone in September 2025.

Whatever's going on with Dolly, we're wishing our girl a speedy recovery!