A video message Dolly Parton recorded before her death played inside Nashville's Ryman Auditorium on Wednesday, as the Americana Music Association posthumously presented her with its Lifetime Achievement Award. In the recording, Parton thanked the organization and told the crowd gathered for the 2026 Americana Honors & Awards that she would always love her fans.
Parton was posthumously awarded the Americana Lifetime Achievement Award on Wednesday, Sept. 16, according to People. In the message, recorded before her death, Parton said, “I'm honored to be receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Americana Music Association,” and closed by telling the audience, “just know that I will always love you.” Parton died after a brief battle with cancer at the age of 80 on Aug. 25, the outlet reported.
The ceremony took place at Nashville's historic Ryman Auditorium during AMERICANAFEST, as Backstage Country reported ahead of the show. The Americana Music Association had announced the honor on August 6, well before Parton's death, saying it was recognizing her for the foundation of her legacy — what the organization described, according to Americana Music Association, as “her enduring contributions as one of history's greatest songwriters and recording artists.”
A Friend's Tribute and a Farewell Performance
Parton's friend Emmylou Harris delivered opening remarks about Parton's legacy before the video played, per the same account from People. Harris praised Parton's voice and versatility ahead of the tribute. The evening also included a performance by Brandi Carlile and I'm With Her, who sang Parton's “Coat of Many Colors,” People reported.
A video message from Dolly Parton recorded before her death was played at the 2026 Americana Honors & Awards in Nashville on Wednesday, according to Enfield Independent. As NJ.com notes, Parton grew up playing roots music in the Smoky Mountains, a foundation that shaped decades of songwriting later celebrated by the Americana community.
A Career That Reshaped American Roots Music
Parton's catalog includes “Jolene,” “Coat of Many Colors” and “I Will Always Love You” among her classic songs, per NJ.com. Her songs have generated more than 100 million worldwide sales and more than 1 billion online streams, according to the same NJ.com report. Backstage Country described hits like “Jolene,” “Coat of Many Colors,” “I Will Always Love You” and “My Tennessee Mountain Home” as enduring classics that continue to inspire artists across genres.
NJ.com also reported that Parton returned to East Tennessee in 1997 to write and record “Hungry Again,” an album that opened the way to a series of bluegrass and acoustic records she credited with changing the course of her career. Beyond music, Parton was a philanthropist and businesswoman who created Dollywood, the theme park she owned in the Smoky Mountain foothills near her birthplace, according to NJ.com. She also founded the Imagination Library, which donated hundreds of millions of books to children for free, and established the My People Fund, the outlet reported. NJ.com further reported that Parton funded research that helped lead to a COVID vaccine.
Parton's Final Months
Parton experienced months of health issues before her death, according to NJ.com, and had said she was still dealing with health problems but still working. She was admitted to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, per TMZ as cited by NJ.com, and reportedly had kidney and autoimmune issues, according to the same TMZ attribution. Parton died at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville, Tennessee, per publicist Marcel Pariseau as cited by NJ.com, and was surrounded by loved ones at her death, according to a publicist statement referenced in the same report.
NJ.com reported that Parton cited health concerns in canceling her Las Vegas residency, and that she recalled being down for several months with female health issues in the early 1980s. She had also said social media magnified her health issues, and that she had neglected health issues of her own while caring for her husband, Carl Dean, according to NJ.com. Dean, who was Parton's husband for 60 years, died at age 82 in March 2025, the outlet reported. Bryan Seaver announced that Parton died peacefully in Nashville, Tennessee, according to NJ.com, and her death was announced through a video shared on her social media accounts, per the same report.
Previous recipients of the Americana Music Association's Lifetime Achievement Award include Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, Bonnie Raitt, Buddy Guy and Van Morrison, according to Backstage Country. Parton's posthumous honor places her alongside those artists in a genre she helped shape across a songwriting career that spanned hundreds of songs, as NJ.com reported.
