In the video, Parton says, “Well, hey, I’m Dolly, and I’m honored to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Music Association. I mean, roots music, or what’s now called American music, is the music I grew up with in the Great Smoky Mountains. It was the same music that drew me back to East Tennessee in 1997 to write and record my album Hungry Again.
“This project really opened the door to a series of bluegrass and acoustic albums that changed my career in many ways. Now, new fans are discovering these albums, new American music communities are embracing them, and now, looking back on it all, I look at this era of my career as a musical renaissance of sorts.”
She concluded: “I want to thank everyone at the AMA for recognizing me and awarding me this award. This is truly a huge honor. I will always love you.”
News of Parton’s Lifetime Achievement Award was just announced this month, but it’s clearly been a long time in the making. The presence of the acceptance speech surprised the audience, as did the musical performance that followed.
Carlisle said on the red carpet type”, “Dolly was honored this year and it felt great to be there to witness it. “
Harris, who collaborated with Parton on the hit album “Trio,” explored her legacy during her introductory speech.
“Just a few weeks ago, the completely unthinkable happened: Dolly Parton left our world. But during her time here, this petite, extraordinary woman made the world a better, brighter, and kinder place,” Harris said to applause.
“One of the many pearls of wisdom she imparted—Dolly called them rhinestones—was her motto, a four-part motto: Dream more, learn more, care more, and be more,” Harris continued. “Dolly was better from the beginning. She grew up better than anyone could have imagined, the fourth of 12 children in a poor family in Locust Ridge, Tennessee. She was better than the precocious 10-year-old girl who sang on local TV shows. She wasn’t just the pretty woman who brought her guitar to Nashville, either. And certainly better than the pretty woman who sang about her.
“In 1967, Dolly’s dream of bigness got off to a good start when she teamed up with Porter Wagoner as a songstress.
“She was a country star, then a pop star, then a global icon. She was one of the greatest songwriters we’ve ever had, but she was just as radiant on stage. She lit up television screens, then lit up movie screens. Her breathtakingly beautiful, pure mountain voice could make us cry, and then make us cry with a sexual and sometimes dirty joke.
“There was nothing Dolly couldn’t do, so she did it. She opened Dollywood, a themed section that continues to provide real economic growth to the area where she grew up… She created a relief fund that helped hundreds of families get back on their feet after wildfires devastated East Tennessee a decade ago. With 300 million free books, it showed kids across the country that they could dream more and achieve more.
Say goodbye before the video plays, “Goodbye Dolly, good luck and thank you for everything.”