Dolly Parton has said her days of going on tour are done.
The 76-year-old country legend has not done a tour since 2016’s Pure & Simple Tour, which included stops in eight Canadian cities.
“I do not think I will ever tour again,” Parton told Pollstar, “but I do know I’ll do special shows here and there, now and then. Maybe do a long weekend of shows, or just a few shows at a festival.
“But I have no intention of going on a full-blown tour anymore.”
Parton, who did 12 tours during her career, said they take “so much time and energy.”
She explained: “I like to stay a little closer to home with my husband [Carl Dean, 80]. 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 said it takes weeks of work to come up with a new show for a tour and months of planning. "It’s more involved than people have any idea. You really need a year, and certainly six months, to plan a great tour, just preparing to get ready to go hit the road," she said. "So you can’t just go out and do a few shows, you really have to commit to doing enough shows to make all that time and effort pay off."
