All Roads Lead to Dolly

September 23, 2026

Kacey Musgraves will honor and celebrate Dolly Parton with a special tribute performance set for the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards. Set for Sept. 27, the performance will mark the country singer’s first onstage appearance at the VMAs in five years.

“The world feels a lot less sparkly all of a sudden,” Kacey Musgraves wrote on X following Parton’s death in August. “Dolly. This really really hurts.” Musgraves found comfort in imagining Parton reuniting with her husband, Carl Dean, who died in March 2025. “So glad she’s with her Carl Dean,” Musgraves said. “No one talk to me today.”

Currently in the middle of her Middle of Nowhere tour, Musgraves paid tribute to Parton during the Boston and New York stops with performances of “Here You Come Again” and “9 to 5.” “I’m not over it, and I’m never gonna be over it,” Musgraves told the crowd at Madison Square Garden. “The world definitely lost a light, and it’s hard for me to talk about. And I know how much Dolly meant to everybody also in this room. I think why it feels so dark is it’s already hard to navigate these times right now, and then we lose a matriarch like that. It’s the closest thing we’ve ever had to royalty.”

Musgraves, who is nominated in Best Country for “Dry Spell,” joins the growing list of 2026 VMAs performers. Raye, Sombr, and Teddy Swims will perform a tribute to George Michael, who died nearly a decade ago. Other performers set for the show include Gunna, Lisa, Shaboozey, Gener8ion, Sienna Spiro, and Yung Lean. Madonna will open the show with her first VMAs performance in 20 years.

The 2026 MTV Video Music Awards will air on CBS and MTV at 7:30 p.m. ET on Sept. 27.

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