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Reba McEntire wore stunning jewelry pieces from Dolly Parton’s personal collection when she delivered an emotional tribute at the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards.
McEntire, 71, performed Parton’s “Appalachian Memories” on Monday evening (September 14) at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles, California. She said as she ended the song, “I love you, Dolly, so much.”
“After bravely facing a brief battle with cancer, Dolly departed her Earthly life today at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center surrounded by loved ones,” Parton’s representatives confirmed in a statement to PEOPLE on August 25. She was 80. Parton, who opted to keep her battle with cancer private, has been laid to rest beside her husband of nearly six decades, Carl Dean. Dean died in March 2025. He was 82.
McEntire shared on Instagram that part of the reason the tribute was “so special” was because of the subtle wardrobe choices and accessories.
“It was so special to have Dolly with me on stage. I’ll never forget getting to wear her jewelry,” McEntire wrote in a caption on Instagram on Tuesday (September 15). “Thank you to [The Dolly Archive] for lending me these treasures and to [Vogue] for helping me share the story!”
McEntire caught up with Vogue to talk about the tribute to her late friend and fellow country artist. McEntire said 1983’s “Appalachian Memories” has “always been one of my favorite Dolly songs. She wrote it about her family and I think it’s just so beautiful and perfect to honor who she was and where she came from. She always carried her upbringing with her, and I admired that. there will never be another Dolly Parton.”
The Oklahoma-born country star shared with Vogue that she’d opted to wear a white gown decked in sequins to deliver the performance. McEntire knew she didn’t want to wear black, a traditional mourning color, and she wanted to “wear something sparkly, just like Dolly would have done.” She noted that Parton wore “a white fringed gown” when she filmed her first TV special in 1983, Live in London, “so my white gown is a little nod to that moment.”
Justin McIntosh, McEntire’s manager, surprised McEntire with another special nod to Parton. McIntosh asked Parton’s niece, Rebecca, whether McEntire could wear some of Parton’s jewelry. The family “graciously said yes, and it was an honor to have a little piece of her on stage with me,” she told Vogue. McEntire wore a butterfly ring — Parton had a lifelong appreciation for butterflies — and rhinestone earrings. “There’s nothing that says Dolly more than rhinestones and butterflies!”
Parton wore the rhinestone earrings in a music video she filmed with McEntire. The pair teamed up on a new rendition of “Does He Love You,” a duet that McEntire originally released with Linda Davis in 1993. Parton joined McEntire on the song in 2021 on her collection, Revived Remixed Revisited.
McEntire told Vogue that Parton “was maybe even more beautiful in person than she was on stage.” Watch McEntire’s performance (and actress Sally Field’s tribute to her fellow Steel Magnolias star) here: