What you need to know
Happy birthday, Dolly Parton!
PEOPLE celebrates Parton’s life and career in a new special edition, available now. The issue, which hits newsstands Friday, Jan. 16, features a November 2025 cover story interview with the “Jolene” singer-songwriter, who turns 80 on Monday, Jan. 19.
“People say, ‘Well, you’re going to be 80 years old.’ Well, so what? Look at what I’ve done in 80 years. I feel like we’re just getting started,” the 11-time Grammy winner exclusively told PEOPLE at the time.
Jim Wright
“It might sound crazy, but as long as his health doesn’t deteriorate, he seems to be OK for now,” Parton added.
The country icon postponed her September trip to Las Vegas, citing “health issues,” but later explained in an Instagram video that she was “okay.” “I love your concern and will continue to pray for me,” she said in October.
Elsewhere in Parton’s latest PEOPLE cover story, she expressed how she feels there’s “a lot to be said about age.”
“If you allow yourself to get older, you will get older. I say, ‘I don’t have time to get older!’ I don’t have time to think about that. That’s not what I think about,” she said.
Parton also said she was looking forward to her 80th birthday. “I don’t think anyone wants to celebrate it, but there’s celebration in the fact that I did so much during that time and continue to do it,” she said.
The “Here You Come Again” artist continued, “I don’t know what I’m going to do tomorrow. No matter what happens, I’m going to give it my all.”
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So far, Parton has accomplished quite a bit in her career. In addition to the Grammys, she has had 25 No. 1 songs on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. Additionally, 21 of her songs have been certified gold or platinum by the RIAA.
Looking back on her illustrious and prolific career as an entertainer, Parton told PEOPLE, “I got to see my dreams come true.”
The special issue of PEOPLE is available now on newsstands and Amazon.
