Reba McEntire sings Dolly Parton tribute at 2026 Emmys

Reba McEntire sang “Appalachian Memories” live at the 2026 Primetime Emmys on Monday, Sept. 14, in a tribute to Dolly Parton presented by Sally Field.

Parton died of cancer at age 80 about three weeks before the broadcast, according to Billboard. Her death in August prompted tributes from across music and film, including from McEntire and actor Lily Tomlin.

Field took the stage to introduce the memorial. She co-starred with Parton in the 1989 film Steel Magnolias. McEntire, a longtime friend of Parton, then performed.

The song choice reached back into Parton’s catalogue. “Appalachian Memories” appeared on her 1983 album Burlap & Satin. McEntire sang it live for the audience in the theatre.

The tribute also honoured Parton’s own history with television’s leading awards. The Primetime Emmys are the annual peer-voted awards for American television. Parton won once as an executive producer, when Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square was voted outstanding television movie, the category for feature-length programmes made for TV.

Her first Primetime Emmy nomination came as a guest on Cher’s ABC special Cher ... Special. She later received three further nominations as an executive producer in the same movie category. They were for Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love in 2017, Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings: These Old Bones in 2020 and Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas in 2023.

Producers placed the Parton tribute just before the annual In Memoriam, the segment that names industry members who died in the past year. Singer-songwriter Noah Kahan was scheduled to perform during that remembrance.

The ceremony featured a broad roster of presenters. Matthew McConaughey, Jamie Lee Curtis and Sofía Vergara were among those named, according to Yahoo, with a contingent from Baywatch also added to the line-up, according to Deadline.

For viewers who knew both women’s connection to Parton, the pairing needed little explanation. Field spoke from a shared film set. McEntire sang as a friend.