The Dolly Parton tribute coming to ABC and Disney+ on October 21 has its lineup. Carrie Underwood, Reba McEntire, Ella Langley, Lainey Wilson and Kristen Bell are among the 20 performers set for CMA Presents I Will Always Love You: A Celebration of Dolly Parton, a live two-hour special airing from 9 to 11 p.m. ET.
The Country Music Association and ABC revealed the full lineup on Good Morning America on October 5, after first announcing the special in September.
Who’s Performing
The CMA says the lineup spans multiple generations and genres and traces the full arc of Parton’s career. Reba McEntire, Vince Gill and Ricky Skaggs, her fellow Country Music Hall of Fame members, share the bill with Carrie Underwood, Lainey Wilson, Ella Langley, Kelsea Ballerini, Carly Pearce, Ashley McBryde, Brad Paisley, Darius Rucker, Zac Brown and Lukas Nelson. Lady A and Little Big Town are the two groups on the list.
Bluegrass players Béla Fleck, Sierra Hull and Molly Tuttle and Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth round out the performers. Amy Grant and Kimberly Williams-Paisley will appear as special guests.
Disney fans will spot one familiar name. Kristen Bell, the voice of Anna in Frozen, is on the official performer list alongside the country acts.
A Belmont University student ensemble will also join one of the performances, part of the school’s “Dolly U” program built around Parton’s career, artistry and entrepreneurial legacy. Surprise tributes from friends across the entertainment world are also planned throughout the night.
How To Watch
The special airs live on ABC and streams live on Disney+ in the U.S. and internationally on Wednesday, October 21, at 9 p.m. ET, 8 p.m. CT. If you miss it, it will be on Hulu the next day.
It will be filmed in front of a live audience at Belmont University’s Fisher Center for the Performing Arts in Nashville, where tickets went on sale September 30. Robert Deaton is the executive producer. We covered ticket prices and why Belmont is hosting when ABC and Disney+ first announced the live tribute.
Proceeds Go To The Imagination Library
The CMA and Belmont will make a donation from the special’s proceeds to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, the book-gifting program she launched in 1995. Enrolled children get one free book a month from birth to age five, at no cost to families. Disney is supporting the program as well. More on the special is on the CMA’s event page.
The broadcast will celebrate Parton, who died August 25 at 80, through live performances, archival footage and personal stories from her life as an artist, songwriter, entertainer, humanitarian and entrepreneur.
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