Dolly Parton Posthumously Accepts Americana Award in Newly Released Video Recorded Before Her Death: ‘Just Know That I Will Always Love You’

Some attendees at the Americana Music Honors & Awards might have assumed that the lifetime achievement award for Dolly Parton was something that the Americana Music Association had come up with to honor her in the immediate wake of her death. So a gasp went up from the crowd at the Ryman Auditorium Wednesday night when the lights went down midway through the ceremony and Parton appeared on a big screen to accept the award in what was intended to be in absentia, and would up being posthumous.

It wasn’t said when Parton filmed the video, but it was assumed to have been during the summer, which made it all the more startling to see the 80-year-old superstar looking as relaxed, lively and vivacious as she had at any point in recent years.

The video acceptance speech was preceded by an introduction from Emmylou Harris, and followed by a tribute performance given by Brandi Carlile and the supergroup trio of I’m With Her (Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O’Donoan and Sara Watkins), singing one of Parton’s most personal signature songs, the autobiographical “Coat of Many Colors.” (Watch video of that performance below.)

In the video, Parton says ,”Well, hey, it’s Dolly, and I am so honored to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Americana Music Association. I mean, roots music, or what is now called Americana music, is what I grew up playing back in the Smoky Mountains. It’s that same music that drew me back to East Tennessee back in 1997 to write and record my album ‘Hungry Again.’

“And that project really opened the door to a series of bluegrass and acoustic albums that changed the course of my career in so many ways. Now, new fans discovered these albums, new Americana music communities embraced them, and now, looking back at it all, I see this era of my career as a musical renaissance of sorts.”

She concluded, “And I want to thank everybody at the AMA for recognizing me with this award. It’s a great honor, truly. And just know that I will always love you.”

Parton receiving the lifetime achievement award was announced just this month, but obviously long in the works. The existence of the acceptance speech was a surprise to the audience, as was the musical performance that followed.

On the red carpet, Carlile told Variety, “Dolly’s being honored this year, and that makes me feel really good to be able to be there and bear witness to that.”

In her introductory speech, Harris — who collaborated with Parton on the hit “Trio” album, along with Linda Ronstadt — explored her legacy.

“Just a few weeks ago, something utterly unthinkable happened: Dolly Parton left our world. But over her time here, this tiny, extraordinary woman made it a better, brighter and kinder place,” Harris said to applause.

“One of the many pearls — Dolly would call them rhinestones — of wisdom she imparted was her four-part motto: dream more, learn more, care more, be more,” Harris continued. “Dolly was more from the very start. More than the odds anyone gave her growing up in poverty in Locust Ridge, Tennessee, the fourth of 12 children. More than the precocious 10-year-old who sang on a local TV show. More tha just another pretty woman moving to Nashville with her guitar. And certainly more than the ‘dumb blonde’ she sang about, but never was.

“In 1967, Dolly got a good start on her big dream when she landed a gig as the girl singer with Porter Wagoner. All right, remember those? Their duets were a hit on the show and on the charts, but Dolly was nobody’s sidekick. She wanted more and she deserved more, and she set out to get it, always, always, on her own terms. And we all know what happened when Dolly set her sights on something. She didn’t just succeed, she expanded the borders of what a musician could be.

“She was a country star, then a pop star, then a global icon. She was one of our all-time greatest songwriters, but she shined just as brightly on stage. She lit up the TV screen and then she lit up the movie screen. Her stunningly beautiful, pure mountain voice could make us cry and then crack us up with a well aimed, sometimes bawdy joke.

“There was nothing Dolly couldn’t do, and so she did it. She opened Dollywood, a theme part that continues to provide a real economic boost to the area she grew up in… She created a relief fund that helped hundreds of families get back on her feet after the wildfires ravaged east TN a decade ago. well all remember those. And she saved lives all over the world by funding research that helped lead to a COVID vaccine. Yeah, man, she did that. Closest to her heart was her Imagination Library. it’s given out more than 300 million free books just so far, and that’s showing kids all over the country that they can dream more and be more.”

Saying goodbye before the video rolled, “Farewell, Dolly, godspeed, and thank you for everything.”

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