DOLLY PARTON’S HEALTH BATTLE THAT PLUNGED STAR INTO ‘DEEP DEPRESSION’ AFTER COLLAPSING ON STAGE
At 77, Dolly Parton remains one of the most dazzling figures in entertainment, her recent NFL halftime show performance in Texas proving she can still command a stadium with the timeless power of Jolene and 9 to 5. Yet behind the sequins and stage lights lies a painful chapter in the country icon’s life, when serious health struggles pushed her to breaking point and into a period of deep depression.
In her 2017 book Dolly on Dolly: Interviews and Encounters with Dolly Parton, the singer revealed that her health troubles began in the early 1980s, just as her career was reaching new heights following the success of 9 to 5 and her film debut in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. “I was getting away with murder,” she admitted. “I wasn’t watching what I ate, I wasn’t conscious of nutrition, wasn’t taking care of myself. I was working hard, and underneath I was a pile of personal and emotional problems. All at once I fell apart.”
The collapse came to a head in 1984, when Dolly ignored medical advice and went ahead with a performance in Indianapolis. On stage, her body gave out. She later learned she was suffering from endometriosis, a condition where tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows elsewhere in the body, often causing pain and complications. At just 36 years old, she underwent a partial hysterectomy, which ended her chances of conceiving naturally.
The physical ordeal was devastating, but the emotional toll proved even heavier. Dolly confessed the surgery plunged her into a spiral of depression. “Suddenly I was a middle-aged woman,” she wrote. “I went through a dark time, until I made myself snap out of it.” The pain was compounded by weight gain and unhealthy habits. At one point, she revealed she had put on 50 pounds, often binge eating in secret. “I would eat three pizzas and still crave McDonald’s and French fries,” she recalled.
Struggling with her health and emotions, Dolly cycled through extreme diets — liquid protein fasts, the Scarsdale diet, Atkins, even the so-called “water diet.” The constant fluctuation took its toll. “Eventually my system wouldn’t work anymore,” she explained. “My body couldn’t hold up under that strain. Overeating is as much a sickness as drugs or alcohol.”
She also admitted she numbed her pain with alcohol and, in her darkest moments, even contemplated suicide. But ultimately, Dolly fought her way back. The resilience that had carried her from rural Tennessee to global superstardom once again became her lifeline. She slowly regained her health, channelling her energy into music, philanthropy, and her deep faith, which she has often credited as her anchor during life’s storms.
Today, Dolly remains candid about her struggles, using her platform not only to entertain but also to encourage others facing health battles of their own. Her honesty has shed light on endometriosis, a condition that affects around one in ten women of reproductive age in the UK and millions worldwide. According to the World Health Organization, endometriosis can cause chronic pain, infertility, and scarring, yet on average takes eight years to be diagnosed. While its cause remains unknown, treatments include medication and, in severe cases, surgery.
For Dolly Parton, the scars of that difficult chapter remain, but so does the strength she drew from overcoming it. Her story is not just one of pain, but of survival — a reminder that even icons can falter, and that true resilience is found in rising again.