Harry Styles and Jack White lead Dolly Parton tributes
Developed over time first seen 2 months ago
Musicians and public figures have paid tribute to Dolly Parton following her death on 25 August, aged 80, largely by performing or sharing versions of her songs. The response reflects Parton’s unusually broad cultural influence as a country star, songwriter, philanthropist and inspiration to artists across genres.
– Harry Styles played “I Will Always Love You” at the start of his Madison Square Garden residency and invited the audience to sing. – Jack White performed a forceful rock version of “Jolene” in London shortly after her death. – John Mayer shared an instrumental electric-guitar interpretation of “I Will Always Love You”. – Katy Perry praised Parton’s talent, kindness and songwriting at a concert in Mexico. – Jon Batiste performed “I Will Always Love You” on piano, while Kesha sang “Old Flames (Can’t Hold a Candle To You)”, co-written by her mother Pebe Sebert. – Parton’s 1974 “I Will Always Love You” topped the country chart twice; Whitney Houston’s later version spent 14 weeks at number one in the US.
- Artists across genres honoured Dolly Parton through her songs.
- “I Will Always Love You” became the central musical tribute.
- Parton’s influence extended beyond music into philanthropy.
New here? Start with this
Dolly Parton is an American singer, songwriter and entertainer whose career has spanned country music, pop, film and television. Known for songs including “Jolene”, “9 to 5” and “I Will Always Love You”, she has also become widely recognised for her public charity work.
Many performers across different styles of music have recorded or sung her songs, reflecting the reach of her songwriting. “I Will Always Love You” was written after Parton ended a professional partnership with country singer Porter Wagoner, and later gained a much larger global audience through Whitney Houston’s version.
Full account
Dolly Parton’s reported death on 25 August prompted tributes across music, with performers choosing her songs as the centrepiece of their responses. One report describes a wave of live and recorded acknowledgements from artists including Harry Styles, Jack White, John Mayer, Katy Perry, Chris Stapleton, Kesha, Jon Batiste, Orville Peck and Vin Diesel. It presents the reaction as a measure of Parton’s unusually broad cultural reach, extending beyond country music and her recording career to her charitable work through Imagination Library.
The most frequently revisited song was ‘I Will Always Love You’, the Parton composition first associated with the end of her professional partnership with Porter Wagoner and later made globally familiar by Whitney Houston. Styles reportedly played the recording at the opening of his Madison Square Garden run and invited the crowd to join in, while also crediting Parton as an important influence. Mayer took a more instrumental approach, using electric guitar to shape the melody into a tribute. White, performing in London on the night of the announcement, reportedly gave ‘Jolene’ a hard-edged rock treatment, and Perry spoke to her audience in Mexico about Parton’s individuality and force as an artist.
A separate report focuses not on a concert tribute but on Linda Ronstadt’s remembrance of Parton, with whom she recorded the acclaimed Trio albums alongside Emmylou Harris. Ronstadt, who retired from performing after being diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy, shared a photograph and reflected on the importance of recording with Parton. Her message framed their friendship and studio partnership as one of the defining experiences of her own career, while fans responded by recalling how the Trio records had introduced them to Parton’s work beyond her best-known singles.
The two accounts together place Parton’s legacy in both public performance and musical collaboration. The first stresses immediate, high-profile covers and the renewed prominence of songs such as ‘Jolene’ and ‘I Will Always Love You’; the second looks back at the longer artistic relationship behind Trio, its commercial success and award recognition. In each case, the tributes portray Parton not simply as a country star but as a songwriter and collaborator whose work connected musicians from different generations and styles.
Where outlets differ
Source 1 is a broad round-up of post-death musical tributes, concentrating on contemporary performers, live appearances and covers of Parton songs. Source 2 is centred on Linda Ronstadt’s personal statement and the history and achievements of the Trio collaboration with Parton and Emmylou Harris.
Source 1 also foregrounds reported civic and political honours, Parton’s chart record and Imagination Library; Source 2 instead gives greater weight to Ronstadt’s retirement, her health condition and audience reactions to her memorial post.
More coverage
Read the full article at the source →
Originally published by Billboard as “See the Best Dolly Parton Musical Tributes, From Harry Styles, Katy Perry, John Mayer, Jack White & More”.