A newly released video shows Dolly Parton receiving the Americana Lifetime Achievement Award before her death. The 2026 Americana & Honours Awards on Wednesday, Sept. 16, bestowed the lifetime achievement honour on Parton, who died Aug. 25 following a short battle with illness.
Presented by the Americana Music Association, the annual event celebrates achievements in American roots music.
Before a video of the singer-songwriter appeared, Emmylou Harris, who was part of Parton’s three-woman ’80s music group, Trio, spoke about Parton’s legacy to the audience.
“Well, it’s Dolly, hey. “I’m so honoured to be receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Americana Music Association,” Parton stated in her acceptance speech, according to People magazine. Country Music
“I grew up playing roots music, or what they call Americana music now, back in the Smoky Mountains. That same music brought me back to East Tennessee in 1997 to write and record my album, Hungry Again. And that endeavour opened the door to a succession of bluegrass and acoustic albums that changed the path of my career in so many ways.
“Now new fans found 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 giving me this award. It’s a fantastic pleasure really and just know I shall always adore you Parton added.
In her introductory speech for Parton, Harris recalled the country music queen for her “stunningly beautiful, pure mountain voice could make us cry and then crack us up with a well-aimed, sometimes body joke,” adding that “there was nothing Dolly couldn’t do.” Country Music Genre
Parton, 80, has passed away. She was buried beside her husband of 60 years, Carl Dean, in Woodlawn Memorial Park and Mausoleum in Nashville. She was loved by numerous family and friends, but Parton asked for a private burial rather than a funeral before her death.
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