Country stars pay tribute to Dolly Parton in CMA special

Singers like Ella Langley, Carly Pearce, Kristin Chenoweth, Lady A and Lainey Wilson came out to Belmont University’s Fisher Center for the Performing Arts and performed Parton’s greatest hits in front of her family, friends and fans as part of the CMA Presents I Will Always Love You: A Celebration of Dolly Parton event.

Langley gave a heartfelt performance of “Jolene,” a song she told ABC News she has sung throughout her own career, from her early college bar performance days to her present-day arena shows.

“As a songwriter, you have to respect [Parton] so much,” Langley told ABC News’ Lara Spencer. “She’s so visual with her lyrics and that song paints such a perfect picture of what she’s trying to tell in that story.”

The “You Look Like You Love Me” singer and songwriter said she felt “honored” to be a part of the Parton special.

“I never got to meet Dolly and if this is my way to get to pay a little bit of my respects, then I’m just so honored and I can’t believe I got asked to do it,” she said.

Pearce and Chenoweth teamed up for a rousing rendition of Parton’s 1980 hit “9 to 5.”

“When I was a kid, I was 16 years old, I took a job working at Dollywood. So my whole life, I’ve made this joke that I really did work 9 to 5 for Dolly,” Pearce told ABC News. “So, the fact that it came completely full circle tonight, loving music like I loved Dolly and being a little girl that grew up looking at her and idolizing her and saying, ‘You know what, if she can do it, I can do it too.'”

The group Lady A paid homage to Parton with “Islands In the Stream,” her 1982 duet with Kenny Rogers, which also happened to be one of the first songs the band ever sang together.

“It just felt like so much love in the room, which is who she is,” Lady A’s Hillary Scott said.

Wilson, who performed Parton’s “Train, Train,” said she also felt her presence on Wednesday.

“She’s here. She’s getting to see all of this and I hope she knows that her legacy is a lot more than just the music we’re singing on the stage,” Wilson said. “It’s the kind of person she was.”

Katy Perry also paid her respects to the beloved Parton.

“For me, Dolly is the blueprint,” Perry said onstage, calling her “the greatest champion” of female artists.

“She was just so warm and comforting and she treated everyone the same way,” she told ABC News backstage. “She saw the humanity in everyone and she was both a badass on the stage and a badass behind the scenes.”

The CMA Presents I Will Always Love You: A Celebration of Dolly Parton special raised $1 million for Parton’s Imagination Library, a book-gifting program that encourages children to read.

The special is available to stream now on Disney+ and Hulu.

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