Reba McEntire will lead a tribute to Dolly Parton at the 78th Emmy Awards, honoring a friendship between the two country music stars that stretched back more than 40 years, according to Deadline.
McEntire, 71, is set to perform a special tribute to her late friend's legacy less than a month after Parton's shock death at 80.
The specific song McEntire will perform has not been publicly revealed, but the buzz is that she will cover a Parton song. Parton is also set to receive one of the greatest honors of her career when Nashville International Airport is renamed after her.
McEntire shared a heartfelt message on Instagram after Parton's death on August 25. "Dolly, thank you for all the wonderful things you did for us here on earth," she wrote. "Your love, your music and you gave so much with your huge huge heart. There will never ever be another you. We will remember and cherish every memory and every note you ever played and sang."
A friendship that began at the Grand Ole Opry
McEntire and Parton's bond dates back to 1977, when the Oklahoma native first sang at the Grand Ole Opry, the long-running Nashville institution regarded as country music's most famous stage. Parton surprised McEntire that night by showing up and sharing the stage with her.
Over the following decades, the two women supported each other's careers. Parton made a guest appearance on McEntire's sitcom, Reba, in 2005, and the pair co-hosted the CMA Awards together in 2019.
It took years before they collaborated musically. Their first official duet, a new version of "Does He Love You," which McEntire had originally recorded with Linda Davis in 1993, was released in 2021.
Parton and McEntire also joined Miley Cyrus, Lainey Wilson and Queen Latifah on the 2026 track "Light of a Clear Blue Morning."
Parton's television legacy
Parton was just as committed to television as she was to music throughout her career. She started out on regional programs, including the Cas Walker Farm and Home Hour in Tennessee, before going on to star in her own variety shows and working behind the scenes as a television producer.
She famously teamed up with Kenny Rogers for their CBS special, "Kenny & Dolly: A Christmas to Remember," in 1984.
Through her company, Sandollar Productions, Parton worked as a secret and uncredited executive producer on hit television shows including Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spinoff, Angel. As the company grew, she also helped produce the 2019 Netflix anthology series Dolly Parton's Heartstrings.
Parton's Emmy history and final months
Parton received five Emmy nominations over the course of her career and won in 2021 for Outstanding Television Movie as a producer of Netflix's Dolly Parton's Christmas on the Square.
Parton's representatives confirmed she died following a "brief battle with cancer," according to a statement given to People, though they did not disclose the specific type of cancer.
The singer was admitted to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, just days before she died, according to TMZ.
In her final interview with People, Parton had admitted to battling "health issues that I just didn't pay attention to" while she was caring for her late husband, Carl Dean, who died in March 2025 at age 82.
