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Dolly Parton Clears up “Misinformation” About Future of Her Career

November 1, 2024 11:13 am

As one of our country’s greatest national treasures, Dolly Parton’s career and well-being are at the front of many people’s minds as she navigates the end of her 70s—leaving her to clear up misinformation surrounding her future in show biz. To be fair, most fans raised concerns after her 2022 announcement that she was “retiring” from touring, which did seem troubling.

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But luckily for Dolly fans everywhere, the septuagenarian hasn’t missed a beat musically or mentally. While she stands by what she said in 2022, she added context to ease worries and reaffirm her professional vigor with her signature Dolly quips.

Dolly Parton Says Career End Rumors Are “Misinformation”

In a 2024 reader interview with The Guardian, one worried fan asked Dolly Parton if her recent albums, Rockstar and Dolly Parton and Family, were a “wrapping-up” exercise marking her plans for musical retirement. Parton replied, “I can’t retire. I always say I’ve dreamed myself into a corner. I’ve got to keep all those dreams alive. Every dream spins off into something else.”

“It’s misinformation when I said I was not touring anymore,” she continued. “I still do shows. I just don’t go on the full-blown tours where I go overseas for weeks. I’m older, my husband’s older, and I want to be with him more. So, no. I couldn’t retire if I wanted to, and I don’t want to.”

She expressed similar sentiments in other interviews, including a 2023 conversation with Ken Bruce on Greatest Hits Radio. “I would never retire,” Parton insisted. “I’ll just hopefully drop dead in the middle of a song on stage someday, hopefully, one I’ve written.” Morbid, maybe, but Parton’s “perfect” retirement would certainly be an appropriate testament to her decades-long dedication to her artistic craft.

She Does Have One Exception For An Early Retirement

While country icon Dolly Parton has said multiple times that she has no plans to retire totally, she does have some exceptions to this rule. “I’ve always said that if my husband was in ill health or needed me, I would most definitely pull way back,” Parton told a fan during an interview at CMA Fest in June 2024.

Parton and her husband, Carl Thomas Dean, have been married since 1966, so it’s no surprise that she would want to stay close to home if his health started to take a downward turn. But Parton, ever the woman of the people, says her decision is about her fans, too. “I would not feel right about that if I were gone and somebody needed me,” she told Pollstar in 2022. “Or I would feel bad if I had to leave a tour if somebody got sick at home and needed me, and then I had to walk out on the fans.”

To use a Dolly-worthy Southern colloquialism, Parton has made it clear that these rumors about her retirement are just that, rumors, and she’ll keep plugging away at her professional endeavors, Lord willing, and the creek don’t rise. We might not see her on a three-month-long international arena tour, but she has plenty left to give, and we can’t wait to see what’s next.

Photo by Terry Wyatt/WireImage

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