The Grand Ole Opry is dedicating its Saturday night show to Dolly Parton, honoring the country music icon at the very stage where her career began 67 years ago.
Parton, who died Tuesday, August 25, at 80, first performed at the Opry as a 13-year-old, introduced by Johnny Cash and earning three encores that night. Saturday's tribute, airing at 8 p.m. ET on the Opry's Facebook and YouTube channels, WSM radio, Circle Country, and RFD-TV, brings that story full circle.
"This Saturday night, we honor a true icon," the Opry said in its announcement, calling Parton's impact "a rare and gentle thing - one whose effect will be felt for generations."
The lineup includes performances from Carly Pearce, Kathy Mattea, T. Graham Brown, Molly Tuttle, Dan Tyminski, Channing Wilson, and rising artist Belle Frantz, who will make her Opry debut the same night. Opry executive producer Dan Rogers said the evening will blend music with stories and video clips spanning Parton's decades-long relationship with the institution.
Parton's connection to the Opry ran deeper than the stage. She once described it in spiritual terms, calling it "the church of my heart" - a fitting description from an artist whose gospel recordings and small-town church upbringing shaped much of her music and generosity, including the Imagination Library. In keeping with that legacy, a portion of Saturday's ticket sales will benefit the literacy program she founded.
Her Opry membership plaque now carries a white ribbon in her memory.
