“CMA Presents I Will Always Love You: A Celebration of Dolly Parton” airs live Wednesday, Oct. 21, at 9 p.m. ET with Carrie Underwood, Reba McEntire, Kristen Bell and 17 more performers.
Country music’s big goodbye to Dolly Parton has a date.
“CMA Presents I Will Always Love You: A Celebration of Dolly Parton“ airs live on Wednesday, Oct. 21, from 9 to 11 p.m. ET on ABC. It streams live on Disney+ at the same time, then lands on Hulu the next day.
The Country Music Association announced the lineup on Oct. 5. Twenty performers are booked, from Reba McEntire and Carrie Underwood to Kristen Bell.
Parton died Aug. 25 at age 80. The special airs 57 days later.
Who is performing at the Dolly Parton tribute?
These are the 20 performers the CMA announced:
Ashley McBryde
Bela Fleck
Brad Paisley
Carly Pearce
Carrie Underwood
Darius Rucker
Ella Langley
Kelsea Ballerini
Kristen Bell
Kristin Chenoweth
Lady A
Lainey Wilson
Little Big Town
Lukas Nelson
Molly Tuttle
Reba McEntire
Ricky Skaggs
Sierra Hull
Vince Gill
Zac Brown
Amy Grant and Kimberly Williams-Paisley are special guests. Both are married to someone on that list, Grant to Vince Gill and Williams-Paisley to Brad Paisley, so it’s a family night in more ways than one.
A student ensemble from Belmont University will perform too. The CMA hasn’t said which songs each artist will sing, or who’s hosting.
Where is the Dolly Parton tribute being held?
The special comes from the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts on Belmont University’s campus in Nashville.
Nashville is the right town for it. Parton moved there the day after she graduated high school, in 1964, and it’s where her career took off.
How to watch the Dolly Parton tribute on Disney+
You don’t need cable or an antenna for this one.
The special streams live on Disney+ while it airs on ABC, so anyone with a Disney+ subscription can watch it Oct. 21 at 9 p.m. ET. If you miss it, it goes up on Hulu the following day.
West Coast viewers, do the math before you settle in. A live 9 p.m. ET start on Disney+ means 6 p.m. PT on the app.
The Dolly Parton tribute supports the Imagination Library
The night is tied to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, the program she started to mail free books to young children.
The CMA and Belmont University will donate a portion of proceeds to it. Disney is adding its own support for the program’s mission of getting kids to love reading.
For a lot of families, that’s the part of Parton’s legacy that showed up in the mailbox every month.
Which Disney and Broadway stars are in the Dolly Parton tribute?
Bell is the name on the list that doesn’t come from a country stage. Disney fans know her best as the voice of Anna in Frozen.
Kristin Chenoweth is the other surprise. She was the original Glinda in Broadway’s Wicked.
Parton had a Broadway chapter of her own, though. She wrote the music and lyrics for 9 to 5: The Musical, which opened on Broadway in 2009 and got her a Tony nomination for best original score.
More Dolly Parton tributes this fall
The ABC special follows tributes that started almost right after Parton’s death.
At the 78th Emmy Awards in September, Sally Field, Parton’s Steel Magnolias co-star, and Reba McEntire honored her life and career. So McEntire will be paying tribute on TV for the second time this fall.
Watch the Emmys tribute:
At the MTV VMAs in late September, Kacey Musgraves sang “I Will Always Love You,” the Parton song the CMA special is named after.
Parton wrote it in 1973. Whitney Houston‘s 1992 cover turned it into one of the best-selling singles of all time, but the song started as Parton’s.
On Oct. 21, 20 artists will take their turn with her songbook, live, on network TV and Disney+ at the same time.
Article compiled with the help of the Pirates & Princesses newsroom.
Pirates and Princesses is your destination for Disney news, theme park updates, and the pop culture you love. From Disney cruises and travel tips to Disney fashion, food, collectibles, and movie news, PNP covers it all. Visit us at piratesandprincesses.net for daily coverage. Follow PNP on Facebook and Instagram, and listen to the Pirates & Princesses podcast on Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
Hat Tips:
Variety (Oct. 5, 2026), first report of the special’s performer lineup
Laughing Place (Oct. 5, 2026), air time, Disney+ and Hulu streaming, full performer list and Imagination Library support
Country Now (Oct. 5, 2026), the Belmont University venue
NPR (Aug. 25, 2026), Dolly Parton’s death at age 80
Television Academy (Sept. 14, 2026), the 78th Emmys tribute with Sally Field and Reba McEntire
Entertainment Tonight (Sept. 2026), Kacey Musgraves’ VMAs tribute
DollyParton.com (official site), Parton’s 1964 move to Nashville and the Tony nominations for 9 to 5: The Musical
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