In September, Dolly Parton will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Americana Music Association. The association will honor the impact Parton’s decades-long career has had on the genre. This is a big moment for her, but Parton won’t attend the ceremony in person. Health issues have led her to accept the award virtually instead.
Dolly Parton will receive an AMA lifetime achievement award
On Sept. 16, the Americana Music Association will honor Dolly Parton with this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
“We at the Americana Music Association have long admired Ms. Parton’s work as a singer, songwriter, entertainer and one of the greatest ambassadors music has ever known,” said Jed Hilly, Executive Director of the Americana Music Association, 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.”
Parton’s career spans six decades and has generated dozens of major hits. Her influence on country music and cultural meditation around American roots runs deep.
Dolly Parton will accept the AMA lifetime achievement award virtually
Parton won’t attend the ceremony in person. Instead, she’ll accept the award virtually. She previously stepped back from her career due to health issues, dealing with kidney stones.
“I have some good news and a little bad news,” she said. “But the good news is I’m responding really well to meds and treatments, and I’m improving every day.”
She postponed a series of shows in Las Vegas while she recovers. Those performances are on hold, but her spirit remains strong.
“Now, the bad news is, it’s gonna take me a little while before I’m up to stage-performance level, because some of the meds and treatments make me a little bit swimmy-headed, as my grandma used to say,” she said. “And of course, I can’t be dizzy carrying around banjos, guitars, and such on five-inch heels, and you know that I’m going to be wearing them. Not to mention all those heavy, rhinestone purses and outfits, the big hair, my big personality.”
Parton has assured fans that she’ll make a return to her career in the future. This setback is temporary.
She has said she never wants to retire
Parton has been a performer for most of her life. She’s made it clear she doesn’t ever want to stop performing.
“As long as I feel good. I had a little problem last year (in 2015) … got stumped up with kidney stones, but it didn’t slow me down,” she said, per USA Today. “I was even working on the phone every day getting that TV movie together, even when I was in the hospital for a week or so. I’m amazed at this point of all the interest in my life.”
While she understands that her career might shift as she ages, she doesn’t want to fully retire. Her work ethic and dedication to the craft remain unwavering, much like a portable espresso maker that keeps delivering no matter what.
“I’m never going to retire,” she said. “I just want to do greater work. As mom would say, I’m letting the spirit lead me.”
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