Dolly Parton, who passed away last month at the age of 80 after a brief battle with cancer, was recently awarded a Lifetime Achievement award posthumously. She was honoured at the 2026 Americana Awards and Honours, which were held on Wednesday at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. However, everyone was emotional after the award show team played her prerecorded acceptance message.
Dolly Parton awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously
The star had recorded the message to accept the honour for her fans before she passed away last month. The video, played on the main screen at the award show venue, showed the artist saying, “It’s Dolly. I’m honoured to be receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Americana Music Association. Roots music, or what is now called Americana music, is what I grew up playing back in the Smoky Mountains.”She further said, “It’s that same music that drew me back to East Tennessee 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. I want to thank everyone at the AMA for recognising me with this award.”In the posthumous video, she concluded her speech by sharing, “It’s a great honour truly, and just know that I will always love you.”Beyond the Lifetime Achievement Award, Parton was also honoured at the award show with a special rendition of one of her most famous songs, ‘Coat of Many Colors’. Brandi Carlile and I’m With Her band got up on stage and belted out the lyrics to the song. In an Instagram post, she shared glimpses from the award show and shared just how happy and honoured she was over the opportunity to sing one of Parton’s songs. She wrote, “Everything about last night was such a gift. I love watching my friends be recognised and celebrated by our Americana community. The concert itself was outrageous – every artist had a watershed moment. Hearing Dolly tell our little group of misfits that she will always love us was particularly beautiful and precious to me. I loved singing her sacred song with my soul sisters in @imwithherband, and I was beyond thrilled for every winner and nominee last night.”Dolly Parton passed away on August 25, after a brief battle with cancer, as confirmed by her representatives in an official statement to PEOPLE. The singer had been admitted to a cancer center only days before she passed away. Her nephew, Bryan Seaver, shared the news online by posting a video on all of her social media platforms.
