Reba McEntire still remembers exactly when she first saw Dolly Parton: Sept. 17, 1977, the night of McEntire’s Grand Ole Opry debut. In an interview with Vogue published Sept. 15, the 71-year-old singer said she was told one of her two songs would be cut that night because Parton had just arrived. She was happy to give up both songs if it meant meeting her.
McEntire’s lasting memory is of Parton arriving in a black chiffon outfit covered in rhinestone butterflies. She said Parton “looked just like an angel.”
An Emmys tribute
The interview came a day after McEntire honored Parton, who died Aug. 25 at 80, at the Emmy Awards. She performed Parton’s 1983 ballad “Appalachian Memories” and ended with a simple “I love you, Dolly.”
She also wore pieces of Parton’s own jewelry on stage: rhinestone earrings and a butterfly ring loaned from Parton’s archive. McEntire’s manager arranged the loan through Parton’s niece, Rebecca, and McEntire said nothing says Dolly more than rhinestones and butterflies.
Before the performance, Parton’s Steel Magnolias co-star Sally Field introduced the tribute, calling Parton an angel on earth and remembering how much she loved her from the day they met.
A friendship that spanned decades
McEntire and Parton went from that brief Opry meeting in 1977 to decades of friendship, and they recorded together, most famously a 2021 duet version of McEntire’s “Does He Love You.” That the jewelry Parton wore in that song’s video was part of the Emmys tribute made the moment especially personal.
Our take
Plenty of tributes followed Parton’s death, but McEntire’s felt the most personal. It connected a nervous young singer’s big night in 1977 to a lifelong friendship, and she told the story with the warmth Parton was known for.
