Kacey Musgraves will lead a tribute performance honoring Dolly Parton at the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards, set for Sept. 27. The appearance will mark Musgraves' first time performing on the VMAs stage in five years.
Parton died in August, prompting an emotional response from Musgraves on X. "The world feels a lot less sparkly all of a sudden," she wrote. "Dolly. This really really hurts." Musgraves also found some solace in thinking of Parton reuniting with her husband, Carl Dean, who died in March 2025. "So glad she's with her Carl Dean," Musgraves wrote, adding, "No one talk to me today."
Musgraves is currently touring behind her album Middle of Nowhere, and she has already paid onstage tribute to Parton during stops in Boston and New York, performing "Here You Come Again" and "9 to 5." At Madison Square Garden, she told the crowd, "I'm not over it, and I'm never gonna be over it. 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 is also nominated in the Best Country category at this year's VMAs for her song "Dry Spell." She joins a growing list of announced performers for the ceremony, including Raye, Sombr and Teddy Swims, who will pay tribute to George Michael, who died nearly a decade ago. Gunna, Lisa, Shaboozey, Gener8ion, Sienna Spiro and Yung Lean are also set to perform. Madonna will open the show, marking 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.
Photo: Andy Witchger, CC BY 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
