Dolly Parton is celebrating 80 trips around the sun.
The country music superstar celebrated her milestone birthday on Monday, January 19, after revealing she has been battling health issues.
Parton shared three photos via Instagram of herself posing with a butterfly-shaped cake decorated with flowers. She licked frosting off her finger in one snap and hilariously used a fire extinguisher to blow out the candles in another.
The “Jolene” singer, who simply captioned the post with a cake emoji, posed for the camera in a colorful corset with rhinestone embellishments.
Many of Parton’s famous friends took to the comments section to join the Grammy winner in commemorating her big day.
“Happy Birthday Dolly!” Billy Ray Cyrus wrote. “You’re a reminder of what music is supposed to do… bring people together, lift spirits, and tell the truth with heart.”
The “Achy Breaky Heart” singer, 64, continued, “As Miley’s godmother and a guiding light in our lives, your influence goes far beyond the charts… it lives in the lives she’s touched and the generations of fans she’s inspired.”
Former Today coanchor Hoda Kotb, meanwhile, commented, “Happy Birthday Dolly xoxox.”
Parton also received celebratory messages from the official accounts for the Grand Ole Opry and the Academy of Country Music.
Dolly Parton may be one of country music’s biggest stars, but it’s not just her songs that have made headlines through the years. “People say, ‘How you stay looking so young?’” Parton told BBC Newsnight in 2019. “I say, ‘Well, good lighting, good doctors and good makeup.’” Thank You! You have successfully subscribed. Subscribe to […]
The “9 to 5” singer’s 80th birthday comes nearly four months after she postponed her Las Vegas residency due to “health challenges.”
“My doctors tell me that I must have a few procedures,” she wrote via Instagram in September 2025. “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!”
Dolly Parton Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images
Parton assured fans that she would “still be able to work on all of [her] projects from here in Nashville,” but she was unable to rehearse for her Sin City shows until she got medical clearance.
“Don’t worry about me quittin’ the business because God hasn’t said anything about stopping yet,” she added. “But, I believe He is telling me to slow down right now so I can be ready for more big adventures with all of you. I love you and thank you for understanding.”
Emma McIntyre/Getty Images Dolly Parton must work longer than 9 to 5 to balance her music and impressive charitable efforts. In 2022, Parton was honored with the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy for her decades of good deeds and gushed over how “proud” she was to receive the recognition. Her acts of kindness include the creation […]
Shortly after, Dolly’s sister Freida Parton worried fans by writing via Facebook that she had been “up all night praying” for the “Coat of Many Colors” singer. Freida, 68, quickly clarified her comments, writing, “I didn’t mean to scare anyone or make it sound so serious.”
Dolly then returned to social media with a video titled “I ain’t dead yet!” in which she told her followers that she appreciated their “concern” and wanted to clear the air.
“When [my husband, Carl Dean] passed, I didn’t take care of myself, so I let a lot of things go that I should’ve been taking care of,” she acknowledged, referencing Dean’s March 2025 death at age 82. “When I got around to it, the doctor said, ‘We need to take care of this. We need to take care of that.’ Nothing major, but I did have to cancel some things so I could be closer to home … but I wanted you to know that I’m not dying!”
Most recently, Dolly revealed she was unable to attend her 80th birthday celebration at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville on Saturday, January 17.
Despite her pause in public appearances, Dolly has continued to work. She released a new version of her 1977 song “Light of a Clear Blue Morning” featuring her goddaughter Miley Cyrus, Lainey Wilson, Reba McEntire and Queen Latifah on Friday, January 16, to raise money for pediatric cancer research at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt in Nashville.
