{"id":823303,"date":"2026-08-23T16:24:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T16:24:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/823303\/"},"modified":"2026-08-23T16:24:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T16:24:11","slug":"dolly-parton-says-shes-exploring-avatar-performances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/823303\/","title":{"rendered":"Dolly Parton says she’s exploring “avatar performances”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dolly Parton<\/a> has said she is exploring \u201cavatar performances\u201d.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:\u00a0The\u00a0NME\u00a0Big Read \u2013 Dolly Parton: \u201cI take care of business\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

The country icon has previously opened up about dealing with health issues<\/a>, and now she\u2019s revealed that her struggles have led to her working on new ways to perform for fans in the future.<\/p>\n

In a new interview with\u00a0People<\/a>, Parton shared that she and her team have been collaborating with companies who create \u201cavatar performances\u201d.\u00a0Though she didn\u2019t expand on exactly the kind of avatars, she shared that the ideas are still in the \u201cearly stages of development\u201d.<\/p>\n

It follows the recent news that there will be an\u00a0AI avatar<\/a> of Ozzy Osbourne<\/a>. That announcement was, however, met with backlash from fans calling it a \u201ccash grab\u201d, to which Sharon Osbourne has since responded, telling critics she \u201cdoesn\u2019t need your fucking money\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Both of them confirmed that the family had enlisted tech company Hyperreal to create the digital version of the heavy metal pioneer \u2013 who\u00a0passed away last summer, aged 76<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 but the move was quick to divide fans, with some calling it distasteful.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Amid the scepticism, Jack spoke about the plans on his YouTube channel<\/a>\u00a0and said that they were focused on keeping it \u201ctasteful\u201d and determined to make sure it wasn\u2019t \u201clame\u201d.<\/p>\n

As for Dolly Parton, the singer \u2013 who now ranks among the most popular public figures in America<\/a> \u2013 also shared a health update with fans amid ongoing issues in the wake of her late husband\u2019s passing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The country icon was\u00a0married to Carl Dean for 58 years before his death last March<\/a>, and has been open about how her grief has also impacted her physical health, saying she felt \u201cworn down and worn out\u201d earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Parton was forced to cancel her upcoming Vegas residency back in May<\/a>.\u00a0She had initially\u00a0postponed a run of shows at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in October<\/a>, saying at the time that she had been facing several \u201dhealth challenges\u201d and would not be able to complete rehearsals in time.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

After\u00a0postponing them\u00a0last October,\u00a0Parton\u2019s sister Freida sparked fears when she posted on social media, asking fans to keep Dolly in their prayers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast night, I was up all night praying for my sister, Dolly. Many of you know she hasn\u2019t been feeling her best lately. I truly believe in the power of prayer, and I have been led to ask all of the world that loves her to be prayer warriors and pray with me,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

In a follow-up post,\u00a0Freida clarified her original statement<\/a>, saying she \u201cdidn\u2019t mean to scare anyone or make it sound so serious when asking for prayers for Dolly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parton herself posted a video to reassure fans a few days later. \u201cI know lately everybody thinks that I am sicker than I am,\u201d she said in a video from the set of a Grand Ole Opry commercial. \u201cDo I look sick to you?\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0working hard here.\u201d<\/p>\n

In March,\u00a0she made her first public appearance in several months<\/a>, delivering a keynote speech at Dollywood.\u00a0\u201cI just kind of got worn down and worn out, grieving over Carl and a lot of other little things going on,\u201d she added, noting\u00a0the loss of her husband Carl Dean, who she was married to for 58 years before his death last March<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just got myself kind of where I needed to build myself back up spiritually, emotionally, and physically.\u00a0But,\u00a0all is good. It\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0slow me down.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dolly Parton has said she is exploring \u201cavatar performances\u201d. READ MORE:\u00a0The\u00a0NME\u00a0Big Read \u2013 Dolly Parton: \u201cI take care…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":823304,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[236,16470,88],"class_list":["post-823303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-country","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=823303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823303\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/823304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=823303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=823303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=823303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}