Dolly Parton wrote the most famous goodbye song in American music. Now, country music is using it to say goodbye to her.
The Country Music Association announced it will honor Parton with a two-hour television special titled “CMA Presents I Will Always Love You: A Celebration of Dolly Parton.” The show airs live on Wednesday, October 21, from 8 to 10 p.m. Central on ABC, and internationally on Disney+. It streams on Hulu the following day.
The special will trace her life and career through live performances, archival footage, and personal stories, covering her work as a singer, songwriter, entertainer, humanitarian, and businesswoman.
She wrote that title song in 1973 and recorded it at RCA Studio B in Nashville on June 12 of that year. It was a farewell to Porter Wagoner, her mentor and business partner, written the moment she decided to go out on her own. BMI has since recognized it for more than ten million broadcast performances.
Fifty-three years later, the song she wrote to leave somebody is the name on her memorial.
The Man Producing It Called Her His Friend
Robert Deaton will serve as executive producer, and the language in his statement went past the usual industry courtesy.
“Dolly gave Country Music its heart, and giving some of that heart back to her is an incredible honor,” Deaton said. “My hope is simply that we do right by her story, her music and the people who love her, so that this evening feels like the tribute my friend deserves.”
CMA CEO Sarah Trahern framed the special as something the industry owed her rather than something it chose to do.
“Dolly Parton belonged to the whole world, but she was born of this industry, and this industry owes her a debt of gratitude that words alone cannot repay,” Trahern said. “As the organization built to serve and celebrate country music, honoring her legacy is not just an opportunity, it is our responsibility. This special is our way of saying thank you, on behalf of every artist, industry member and fan who found a piece of themselves in her music.”
Trahern has previously spoken about Parton on behalf of the CMA. When the organization presented her with the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award at the 50th CMA Awards on November 2, 2016, Trahern called her a trailblazer who continued to captivate fans around the world. Parton won nine CMA Awards across her career, including Entertainer of the Year.
Belmont University Has Been Working With Her for Years
The choice of venue carries its own history.
The special will be filmed live at Belmont University’s Fisher Center for the Performing Arts in Nashville, produced through a partnership between the CMA and the school. That relationship goes back well before her death.
The Fisher Center hosted the 2025 world premiere of DOLLY: A True Original Musical. In January, Belmont and Parton launched DOLLY U, an educational program that gives students hands-on experience in entertainment and media while working alongside artists, producers, and industry leaders.
“Dolly Parton’s impact extends far beyond music. She represents creativity, generosity, entrepreneurial spirit and a commitment to lifting others up, qualities that have inspired generations and resonate deeply with Belmont’s mission,” said Dr. Greg Jones, the university’s president.
Jones added that welcoming fans and artists to celebrate her from that stage is a privilege, and pointed to how completely her love for Tennessee ran through everything she built.
A Portion of the Proceeds Goes Where She Would Have Sent It
The CMA and Belmont will donate part of the proceeds to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, the flagship initiative of the Dollywood Foundation and the world’s largest early childhood book-gifting program. Disney will also support the program.
Parton started it in 1995 because her own father could not read. It now mails a free book every month to enrolled children from birth until they start kindergarten.
Performers, ticket information, and additional partners will be announced in the coming weeks.
There is something fitting about where this lands. She sang “I Will Always Love You” with Vince Gill at the CMA Awards on October 4, 1995, and country radio picked up the duet on its own, without a label pushing it, because people heard it and wanted it.
Thirty-one years later, the CMA is putting that title on a marquee and filling a hall in Nashville to sing it back to her.
