Dolly Parton Says ‘Songwriting Has Been My Therapy’ as She Accepts Award Virtually After Sharing Recent Health Update

Dolly Parton received the Poet’s Award at the 2026 ACM Honors ceremony in Nashville on Wednesday, Aug. 20. Last week, the country icon shared a health update after skipping a Dollywood event.

It’s time for Dolly Parton to make a little more room on her shelf for another award.

The country icon, 80, received the Poet’s Award as part of the 19th ACM Honors ceremony at Nashville’s The Pinnacle on Wednesday, Aug. 19, but she accepted the award virtually after recently sharing an update on her health.

“I just want to send a very special thank you to the Academy of Country Music for honoring me with the Poet’s Award,” began Parton in a video message shared to Instagram. “You know, I’ve been able to do many things throughout my life, but at my core, songwriting has always been the most important part of who I am creatively.”

The “Jolene” artist continued, “Every dream I ever had and all the dreams that I’ve been able to see come true in life, well, they all started with a song. Songwriting has been my therapy. Songwriting has been my release, my joy. Songwriting has been a gift from God that has allowed me to touch people with words and music.”

This year’s ACM Honors was hosted by Carly Pearce and Parker McCollum. Additional honorees included Bill Anderson, Brett James, C2C: Country to Country, The Carter Family, Eric Church, Kacey Musgraves, the Paramount+ series Landman, Leslie Fram, Mike Curb and Scott Zolke.

Parton’s virtual appearance at the ceremony comes after she skipped the Aug. 14 grand opening of Dollywood’s new NightFlight Expedition ride. “I’ve told you before, all my fans, that I’ve had a few little health issues and sometimes I get a little dizzy and I get dehydrated. And I’m dehydrated,” she said in a video shown at the event.

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“So my Nashville doctor has kind of clipped my wings, saying, ‘You ain’t traveling this week.’ So I guess if your doctor tells you, ‘You ain’t traveling this week,’ you ain’t traveling this week,” added the “Here You Come Again” musician, who noted that “all is going well on the medical end of things.” [She’s previously spoken about experiencing issues with kidney stones.]

Parton is currently working on projects like her SongTeller Hotel, Life of Many Colors Museum and upcoming Broadway show Dolly: A True Original Musical.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member, who’s previously spoken about experiencing issues with kidney stones, has been open with fans about her undisclosed health issues in recent months after cancelling her previously postponed Las Vegas residency in May. That month, she informed fans, “It’s gonna take me a little while before I’m up to stage performance level because some of the meds and treatments make me a little swimmy-headed, as my grandma used to say.”

Parton’s last public appearance came in June for the opening of her themed truck stop in Cornersville, Tenn.

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