Vanderbilt's football halftime show this Saturday will be dedicated to Dolly Parton, with the Vanderbilt University Marching and Athletic Bands performing several of her biggest hits when the Commodores host Arkansas at FirstBank Stadium. The tribute lands during Vanderbilt's Homecoming/Reunion Weekend game, with kickoff set for 6 p.m.
According to WSMV, the marching and athletic bands announced their halftime show would be dedicated to Parton, with a set list that includes “Jolene,” “9 to 5,” “Coat of Many Colors,” “My Tennessee Mountain Home” and “I Will Always Love You.” The bands will take the field during halftime of Saturday's Vanderbilt-Arkansas matchup, and they won't be performing alone — the Spirit of Gold Alumni Band has invited former Vanderbilt band members to join the current roster on the field, according to Vanderbilt University.
That invitation comes with a couple of logistical catches. Per the same university posting, alumni who want to suit back up must purchase their own tickets to the football game and provide their own instruments — no loaners available for the reunion performance.
A Homecoming Weekend Stage for the Tribute
The timing lines up with Vanderbilt's broader Homecoming/Reunion Weekend festivities, giving returning band alumni an extra reason to be in Nashville this weekend. The university's alumni band page frames the halftime slot specifically around that reunion gathering, folding the Parton tribute into a weekend already built around welcoming former students back to campus.
On the field, the stakes are more modest. Vanderbilt enters Saturday's game at 3-3 overall and 0-3 in SEC play, while Arkansas comes in at 2-4 overall and also winless in conference play at 0-3, according to the Vanderbilt Commodores. The broadcast will air on ESPN2 and air locally on 94.9 The Fan, the athletics department noted.
Arkansas Holds the Series Edge Heading In
Arkansas holds a 7-3 edge in the all-time series between the two programs, though Vanderbilt won the most recent meeting 45-31 back in 2018, per the Commodores' game notes. Saturday's matchup gives both struggling SEC squads a chance to notch a much-needed conference win, with the halftime tribute offering a reason for fans to stick around regardless of the score.
Following Tennessee's Lead
Vanderbilt isn't the first Tennessee program to turn its band loose on Parton's catalog this season. The University of Tennessee's Pride of the Southland Band built part of its season-opening halftime show around a Parton tribute on Sept. 5, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel, which reported the show would be split between celebrating mascot Smokey XII's debut and honoring Parton, with “I Will Always Love You” and “9 to 5” on the lineup.
That performance played out with some memorable visual flourishes. The band formed a shape spelling out “Dolly” on the field while playing “9 to 5,” ESPN reported, and the Vols also swapped in “My Tennessee Mountain Home” as their fourth-quarter song, displaying the lyrics on the stadium screen for fans to sing along. WATE added that the band's formation included a colorful butterfly accent and that the Vols wore butterfly helmet patches in Parton's honor, with the tribute opening with “I Will Always Love You” before kickoff. Whether Vanderbilt's Saturday show will echo those same staging choices has not been detailed in materials released so far.
