KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) – Dolly Parton’s sister sought to clarify remarks she made regarding Parton’s health, posting on Facebook Tuesday night that she “didn’t mean to scare anyone” with an earlier message.
Earlier that day, Freida Parton had mentioned that her sister “hasn’t been feeling her best lately,” which raised concerns among fans. (Dolly Parton had recently delayed some of her concert dates due to “health challenges,” as she announced in late September.)
Freida Parton’s initial post had asked her fans “to be prayer warriors and pray with me.”
“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 Parton expressed.
That night, however, Freida Parton shared another post on Facebook clarifying her earlier remarks.
“I want to clear something up,” Freida Parton explained in the Tuesday night update. “I didn’t mean to scare anyone or make it sound so severe when asking for prayers for Dolly. She’s been a little under the weather, and I simply asked for prayers because I firmly believe 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.”
In a conversation with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, a representative for Dolly Parton stated the singer is only awaiting surgery to deal with issues related to kidney stones.
“It’s just the kidney stones, and the procedure she needs to resolve those,” the representative informed the outlet. “It seems like her sister posted, and it got quite a bit blown out of proportion, strangely.”
Dolly Parton, 79, performs on occasion but hasn’t toured since her “Pure & Simple Tour” ended in 2016. Last month, she also missed the announcement of the latest attraction at Dollywood, her Tennessee theme park, mentioning health issues.
“I had a kidney stone that was causing me a lot of problems, turned out it’d given me an infection, and the doctor said, ‘You don’t need to be traveling right this minute, so you need a few days to get better,’” Parton said in a video announcement at the time. “So, he suggested I not go to Dollywood today, but I’m there with you in spirit. I was looking so forward to it.”
Parton’s husband, Carl Dean, died in March at age 82. The pair had been married for nearly 60 years.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
