Kacey Musgraves Is Nearly Moved to Tears While Performing Emotional Dolly Parton Tribute at VMAs 2026

Musgraves was one of countless music peers who were touched by the historic career of the 9 to 5 actress, who died Aug. 25 following a brief battle with cancer. In fact, the Golden Hour musician previously spoke out about how Parton inspired her over the years, crowning the late 80-year-old "the ultimate songwriter."

"Beauty, sex appeal, brains, wit, humor, beautiful songwriting, meaningful songwriting, no apologies for who she is, LGBTQ advocate long before it was even a thing or trendy or whatever," Musgraves told Billboard in 2019. "She’s fearless, and I admire her spirit a lot, and she’s very kind. She’s very present when you’re talking to her and I just really love her so much."

Before Parton's death, the "Butterflies" artist got to show the world how much she would always love the Tennessee native during a joint performance of "9 to 5" with country singer Maren Morris at the 2019 Grammys.

And Musgraves' moving tribute follows others remembering the Coat of Many Colors artist's impact on music. At the 2026 Emmys, Reba McEntire—who was Parton's close friend of over 50 years—performed Parton's 1983 hit, "Appalachian Memories," after being introduced by her Steel Magnolias costar Sally Field.

"If there are truly angels on earth, then we just lost one: Dolly Parton," Field remarked at the Sept. 14 awards. "It was my great good fortune to have worked with Dolly in a film called Steel Magnolias and, over the years, I never stopped loving her."

Of course, Musgraves and Snoop Dogg weren't the only celebrities who celebrated Parton's life at the 2026 MTV VMAs. Read on to see who else was in attendance.