VMAs 2026: Kacey Musgraves Honors Dolly Parton With “I Will Always Love You”

Kacey Musgraves paid tribute to Dolly Parton at the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards, performing Parton's classic ballad "I Will Always Love You". The performance began with archival footage of Parton introducing the song, before Musgraves took over, singing with a sparse piano accompaniment. According to Consequence, Musgraves also paid tribute to Parton visually, wearing a sparkling red bodysuit and styling her hair and makeup to evoke the country legend's glamour.

The tribute comes just over a month after Parton's death on August 25th at the age of 80. Musgraves has been paying tribute to Parton on her tour, having already performed Parton's 1977 hit "Here You Come Again" at a Boston concert and "9 to 5" at Madison Square Garden.

Musgraves' performance of "I Will Always Love You" was described by Stereogum as "dignified" and "highly emotional". She has also been nominated for Best Country Music Video at this year's VMAs for her song "Dry Spell".

Brief written by urgent.news from Stereogum, Consequence, Variety, Pitchfork — 4 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.