Dolly Parton died August 25 after a brief battle with cancer. She was 80. In the days that followed, tributes poured in from across the music world, but few were as public or as immediate as what happened Friday night at TD Garden in Boston.
Kacey Musgraves, currently on tour in support of her Middle of Nowhere album, stopped her set to address the loss. She dedicated her 2018 ballad "Rainbow" to Parton and followed it with a live cover of "Here You Come Again," a song Parton recorded for her 1977 studio album of the same name. According to Billboard, photos of Parton were displayed on the screen behind Musgraves as the arena crowd sang along.
"It's what a humanitarian [she was]," Musgraves said from the stage. "Someone always looking out for someone else, looking out for the underdog, even when it probably wasn't easy, even when it didn't benefit her career. We can all learn a lot from someone like that."
She then addressed the crowd directly before leading the sing-along. "She's woven into the fabric of who we've always been, so it just feels extra sad. Let's all sing this together for her memory, OK?" she said.
"Here You Come Again" peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1978, making it one of Parton's biggest crossover hits. Only "9 to 5" and "Islands in the Stream," her duet with Kenny Rogers, surpassed it on the all-genre chart. Though the song is closely associated with Parton, it was written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. Musgraves has performed the song in concerts dating back to 2014 and sang it alongside Parton at the 2019 Grammy Awards during a medley tribute.
At those same 2019 Grammys, Musgraves spoke about Parton on the red carpet. "She's an earth angel," she said. "She really is. She's so cool. She's so present. What I like about her is she has a keen attention to detail, and that's obviously why she's had such a long, amazing career. She really cares about those things, she can put her stamp on things without apology … She paved the way for a lot of us, especially in country music. We wouldn't really be able to do what we do without her. She's the first who had all of it together. The sex appeal, the brains, the humor, the songwriting, the outfits, the hair."
Heidi Montag also paid tribute to Parton on Friday, turning to X to share a personal memory. Montag recalled that Parton defended her publicly in 2009, when Montag underwent 10 plastic surgery procedures in a single day and faced intense public criticism. The aftermath was documented on The Hills.
"When I was at one of the hardest and most criticized moment of my life after my plastic surgery, Dolly was one of the only people in the industry who didn't take the opportunity to drag me down," Montag wrote.
According to Montag, Parton said at the time, "I had probably done the same thing if I was her age and could afford it, if I thought I needed it."
Throughout her career, Parton was open about her own relationship with cosmetic surgery. In her autobiography, Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business, she wrote: "I have nips and tucks and trims and sucks, boobs and waist and butt and such, eyes and chin and back again, pills and peels and other frills, and I'll never graduate from collagen. Whatever you are comfortable with and can afford, you should do. Having had plastic surgery is something I am not embarrassed about."
Montag also shared a memory from childhood. "Thank you Dolly. I remember when she came to my small town when I was seven years old, ate at my family restaurant, sang happy birthday to my Grammy, and it changed my life," she wrote. "She has always been an inspiration to me. Such a blessing from afar. God bless you thank you Lord for this angel on earth."
Parton spent more than six decades in the spotlight. Her catalog includes some of the most recognized songs in American music, and her philanthropic work, including the Imagination Library literacy program, drew widespread praise independent of her music career.
