Dolly Parton is adding to her accolades, as she will be honored with the Americana Music Association’s lifetime achievement award during the 2026 Americana Honors & Awards. The award honors her commitment to excellence as an artist, songwriter and creator, and her work in building a music catalog that is rooted in Appalachian traditions while also threaded with honest storytelling and a tapestry of sounds including country, folk, bluegrass, Gospel and pop music.
Parton will accept the honor via video during the ceremony, which will be held at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium on Sept. 16.
Previous recipients of the Americana Music Association’s lifetime achievement award include Buddy Guy, Emmylou Harris, Van Morrison, Bonnie Raitt and Willie Nelson.
“We at the Americana Music Association have long admired Ms. Parton’s work as a singer, songwriter, entertainer and one of the greatest ambassador’s music has ever known,” Jed Hilly, executive director of the Americana Music Association, said in a statement. “With all of her extraordinary accomplishments — from philanthropy to television, film and business — our desire is to honor Dolly for what has always been at the heart of her legacy: a definitive songwriter and artist whose songs have shaped generations.”
With a career spanning more than six decades, East Tennessee native Parton has earned 10 Grammys, was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame. She earned two No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hits, including “Islands In The Stream” (with Kenny Rogers) and “9 to 5.” Two of her songs — “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You” — have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Beyond her music, her creative and business endeavors include the Dollywood themepark, her Nashville-located Songteller Hotel, books, work in films and on television, and a myriad of philanthropic endeavors, including Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, which launched in 1995 and has provided books to children in the United States, Australia, Canada and the U.K.
This year’s top nominees for the Americana Honors & Awards ceremony include Margo Price, Brandi Carlile, I’m With Her, Ken Pomeroy and Mon Rovîa. Price, Carlile, Molly Tuttle, Charley Crockett and Jesse Welles are up for the evening’s top prize, artist of the year.