Nashville is preparing for one of its biggest nights of remembrance since Dolly Parton’s death.
The Country Music Association has announced a two-hour live television special honoring the East Tennessee native, songwriter, entertainer and philanthropist. “CMA Presents I Will Always Love You: A Celebration of Dolly Parton” will be filmed at Belmont University’s Fisher Center for the Performing Arts in Nashville on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026.
For Tennessee, the location feels especially fitting.
Parton’s story began in the mountains of East Tennessee, but Nashville became the place where she built much of her music career. Now artists, friends and fans will gather in Music City to celebrate a life that connected both ends of the state — and eventually reached far beyond it.
When and where to watch the Dolly Parton tribute
The tribute will air live on ABC from 9 to 11 p.m. Eastern, or 8 to 10 p.m. Central, on Oct. 21.
ABC says the show will also stream live on Disney+ in the United States and internationally. It will be available on Hulu the following day.
The original Country Rebel report also listed the October broadcast and said the program would feature live performances, archival footage and personal stories about Parton’s life and career.
That means the evening is being built as more than a concert.
The plan is to tell Parton’s story through the people who knew her work, performed her songs and were influenced by the enormous career she built over decades.
One major detail remains unknown: who will perform.
CMA and Belmont said the lineup, ticket information and other details will be announced in the coming weeks.
Given Parton’s reach across country, pop, gospel, film and television, that announcement could become one of the most closely watched parts of the event.
Belmont already has deep ties to Dolly Parton
The Fisher Center is not a random Nashville venue for this tribute.
Belmont University had already developed a major relationship with Parton before her death.
In 2025, the Fisher Center hosted the world premiere of “DOLLY: A True Original Musical,” a stage production based on her life and career. The university also launched Dolly U, an educational partnership that gave Belmont students hands-on experience in entertainment, media and other creative fields connected with Parton’s projects.
That history gives the October tribute another layer.
This is a venue where Parton had already been actively building something for the next generation.
Now the same stage will be used to remember her.
The Fisher Center itself has a 1,727-seat performance hall on Belmont’s Nashville campus, making the event large enough for a major production while still much more intimate than an arena tribute.
The title comes from one of Tennessee’s most famous songs
The name of the special — “I Will Always Love You” — hardly needs explaining to country music fans.
Parton wrote the song herself, and it became one of the signature works of her career. Decades later, Whitney Houston’s recording introduced it to an enormous new global audience.
Using that title for the tribute says a lot with very few words.
It points to Parton the songwriter, not just Parton the celebrity.
That distinction matters in Nashville.
Before the movies, theme parks, television appearances, business ventures and larger-than-life public image, there was a songwriter whose work became part of the country music songbook.
The CMA tribute is expected to look at the full picture.
According to Belmont and ABC, the production will use performances, old footage and personal stories to follow Parton’s path from East Tennessee to international fame.
The event will also support the Imagination Library
There is another Tennessee connection built into the night.
CMA and Belmont say a portion of proceeds connected with the special will go to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. Disney is also supporting the program.
Parton launched the Imagination Library in Sevier County in 1995, inspired in part by her father’s inability to read and write.
The idea was simple: send free books directly to young children.
It eventually grew far beyond Tennessee.
Belmont says the program has distributed more than 300 million books and now mails more than 3 million books each month to enrolled children in the United States and several other countries.
That makes the donation especially appropriate for a tribute trying to represent more than Parton’s recording career.
For many Tennessee families, Dolly Parton is not only the woman singing on the radio.
She is also the name printed on the books that arrived in their mailbox when their children were little.
A tribute that belongs in Tennessee
Parton became one of the most recognizable entertainers in the world, but Tennessee remained central to her public story.
Her roots were in Sevier County.
Her music career was closely tied to Nashville.
Dollywood helped turn Pigeon Forge and the Smokies into an even bigger tourism destination.
Her literacy program began in Tennessee before becoming international.
That makes this television event different from a typical Hollywood retrospective.
The people watching from Knoxville, Sevierville, Nashville, Chattanooga, Memphis and small towns across the state are remembering someone whose story is woven unusually deeply into Tennessee itself.
Belmont President Greg Jones said the university was honored to host an event recognizing a woman whose connection with Tennessee remained central to her life.
Dolly Parton died in August at age 80
Parton died on Aug. 25, 2026, at age 80, according to CMA and the reporting supplied for this story.
The Country Rebel report said she was later laid to rest following a private funeral.
Her death brought tributes from throughout the country music world, but the October television event will be one of the first major nationally broadcast productions specifically designed around celebrating her life.
CMA CEO Sarah Trahern described the program as the organization’s way of thanking Parton on behalf of the country music community and its fans.
Executive producer Robert Deaton, who knew Parton personally, said the goal is to create an evening worthy of her story and the people who loved her.
The performer list may be the next big announcement
There is plenty we still do not know.
CMA has not released the performers.
Ticket details have not been announced.
Additional partners are also still to come.
That leaves Nashville with several weeks of anticipation before the Oct. 21 broadcast.
And considering how many generations and genres Parton touched, the eventual lineup could be unusually broad.
For now, the date and location are set.
On Oct. 21, country music will gather in Nashville, television cameras will go live from Belmont, and Tennessee will once again be at the center of Dolly Parton’s story.
This time, the songs will be sung for her.
Sources
Country Rebel, Sept. 16, 2026, reporting on CMA’s planned Dolly Parton television tribute.
Belmont University, Sept. 16, 2026, “Belmont's Fisher Center to Host CMA's Live Television Tribute to Dolly Parton.”
ABC, Sept. 16, 2026, “Watch ‘CMA Presents I Will Always Love You: A Celebration of Dolly Parton’ LIVE Wednesday, Oct. 21.”
Belmont University, Dolly U: Inspired Learning in Action.
Belmont University, Fisher Center for the Performing Arts.
