Carrie Underwood sang the title song as the two-hour ABC tribute closed on Wednesday night, with Ella Langley and Zac Brown among the 20-plus performers.
Carrie Underwood closed the ABC broadcast of CMA Presents I Will Always Love You: A Celebration of Dolly Parton on Wednesday night, singing the title song, Parton's 1974 ballad I Will Always Love You. She appeared onstage in a flowing white dress for the night's emotional, final tribute, and other performers joined her near the end.
The two-hour live tribute was held at Belmont University's Fisher Center for the Performing Arts in Nashville and aired from 9 to 11 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+. More than 20 performers took the stage. Ella Langley offered her take on Jolene, and Zac Brown sang a "duet" with Parton, using her prerecorded vocals on Butterfly.
The song has its own history. I Will Always Love You was originally written as a farewell to country singer Porter Wagoner, who had cast Parton on his TV variety show and gave her a big break. Parton left the show in 1974, leaving him with the song.
Parton explained the song's meaning in 2007, when she sang it again to mark Wagoner's 50th year as a Grand Ole Opry member:
"If it hadn't been for Porter, I wouldn't have written this song," Parton said. "This is kind of my goodbye song to Porter."
Tributes also came from outside country music. Oprah, who appeared in a pre-recorded video at the start of the broadcast, said, "I love that she had such grace and such tenacity." Katy Perry took the stage to remember Parton as a woman who "masterfully toyed with the power of her femininity."
Sabrina Carpenter, who had collaborated with Parton on a remix of Please Please Please before Parton's passing, said the singer "meant lightness" as she began her recorded tribute. Carol Burnett, who first met Parton while filming the 1979 CBS variety special Dolly & Carol in Nashville, recalled a knock on her hotel door: Parton was standing there with a home-cooked meal, cooked by Parton herself. Bono and Goldie Hawn also paid tribute during the show.
Parton died in August at the age of 80 after a "brief battle" with cancer. Billboard gives the date as Aug. 25. Since then, artists from Brandi Carlile and Kacey Musgraves to Orville Peck and John Mayer have performed I Will Always Love You in her honor.
According to Billboard, the CMA and Belmont University will give part of the evening's proceeds to Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, a nonprofit Parton set up in 1995 that distributes free children's books worldwide.
The special begins streaming on Hulu on Thursday, Oct. 22.
No comments yet