Dolly Parton: ‘I Don’t Think That I Will Ever Tour Again’

Dolly Parton has often said that she would never retire. She's even claimed that in her nineties, she will roll out on stage in a rhinestone-covered wheelchair if she has to. However, when asked about her next tour in a new interview with Pollstar, Parton revealed that her touring days are over. Dolly told the publication, "I do not think I will ever tour again, but I do know I'll do special shows here and there, now and then. Maybe do a long weekend or just a few shows at a festival. But I have no intention of going on a full-blown tour anymore."

She added, "I've done that my whole life, and it takes so much time and energy. I like to stay a little closer to home with my husband. We're getting older now, and I don't want to be gone for four or five weeks at a time. Something could happen. I would not feel right about that if I were gone and somebody needed me. 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."

Parton's last tour was her "Pure and Simple Tour" in 2016. This journalist was fortunate enough to work on it, helping the country icon spread the word about the concerts. She told me then, "Usually, when you tour, you have a hit record, or you have a few hit records, so you have an audience. I just assumed nobody really cared that much about seeing me on the road since I haven't had any recent hit records. And so we were having huge success over in Europe, we were going to Australia and Europe different times over the years, so people got to say, 'Why don't you ever play over here?' and I said, 'I didn't know anybody wanted to see me.'"