Dolly Parton will not attend her 80th birthday celebration at Grand Old Opry

Dolly Parton will miss the celebration of her 80th birthday at the Grand Old Opry this month. Photo / Getty Images

Dolly Parton “wishes she could be” at her upcoming 80th birthday celebration at the Grand Ole Opry.

The 9 to 5 hitmaker – who has been out of the public eye dealing with “health challenges” for some time – will reach the milestone age on January 19 and in honour of her special day, the iconic Nashville venue will mark her birthday for the fourth year in a row with a special concert on January 17.

Parton has confirmed she won’t be there to see the likes of Lainey Wilson, Vince Gill, Rhonda Vincent, and Trannie Anderson pay tribute to her.

She said in a video message shared on the Grand Ole Opry’s Instagram account: “I just wanted to say how much it means to me that you’re all coming together again this year to celebrate my big old birthday with some of my songs.

“Some of my favourite memories happened right here, onstage at the Grand Ole Opry. I wish I could be there in person, but I’ll be sending you all my love for sure, so you have the best night ever.”

A spokesperson for the Jolene singer insisted Dolly had “never” planned to be at the event.

Her representative told Entertainment Weekly: “She never had plans to attend. If she were going to attend, then the Opry would have promoted that.”

In October, Dolly took to social media to reassure fans she was “okay” amid mounting fears for her health.

In a video message posted on Instagram, Dolly – who had been shooting some commercials for the Grand Ole Opry – explained: “Everybody thinks that I am sicker than I am. Do I look sick to you? I’m working hard here!

“Anyway, I wanted to put everybody’s mind at ease, those of you that seem to be real concerned, which I appreciate. I appreciate your prayers, ‘cause I’m a person of faith. I can always use the prayers for anything and everything. But I want you to know that I’m okay.”

The country singer explained that some of her “problems” were linked to the aftermath of losing Carl Dean, her husband, in March.

She said: “Back when my husband Carl was very sick, that was for a long time, and then when he passed, I didn’t take care of myself, so I let a lot of things go that I should’ve been taking care of.

“So anyway, 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, closer to Vanderbilt [University Medical Centre], where I’m kind of having a few treatments here and there, but I wanted you to know that I’m not dying.”

Dolly explained that she was keen to address the speculation and joked that she’s “not ready to die yet”.

She said: “There’s just a lot of rumours flying around, but I figured if you heard it from me, you’d know that I was okay. So anyhow, that’s what I wanted to say and I’m not ready to die yet. I don’t think God is through with me and I ain’t done working. So I love you for caring, and keep praying for me.”