Dolly Parton’s legacy is getting a two-hour live television tribute following the country music icon’s death at 80. The special arrives as tributes continue to trace the extraordinary reach of her music, films, business ventures, and philanthropy. From Appalachian ballads to Hollywood soundtracks, Parton built a career that rarely stayed inside one lane.

There is a fitting irony to the timing: Parton spent her life turning personal stories into songs that outlived the moment that inspired them, and now the culture around her is doing something similar. 

CMA Presents I Will Always Love You: A Celebration of Dolly Parton will air live on October 21 on ABC and Disney+, with the special becoming available to stream on Hulu the following day. The two-hour event will be filmed at Belmont University’s Fisher Center for the Performing Arts in Nashville, placing the tribute in the city that became inseparable from Parton’s career. 

A portion of the proceeds will benefit Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, the early childhood book-gifting program operated through The Dollywood Foundation. 

The title itself reaches back to one of the most consequential songs Parton ever wrote. As Variety reports, ‘I Will Always Love You’ began as her farewell to Porter Wagoner in 1974, became a country chart-topper for Parton and later became a global pop phenomenon through Whitney Houston’s version for The Bodyguard. Parton famously retained the publishing rights when Elvis Presley wanted to record it, a business decision that later proved enormously significant when Houston’s rendition became a worldwide hit. 

The CMA describes the evening as a celebration of Parton the artist, songwriter, entertainer, humanitarian and entrepreneur, combining performances, archival footage and personal stories. That range matters because her career was never simply a country-music success story. She moved from songs such as ‘Jolene’ and ‘Coat of Many Colors’ into 9 to 5, Steel Magnolias, television, Dollywood and an expansive philanthropic legacy, earning recognition across music, film and entertainment.

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And while Nashville prepares a stage for her, farmers across North America have found a rather more literal canvas.

Twenty farms across the United States and Canada have created Dolly Parton-themed corn mazes this fall, with proceeds supporting the Imagination Library. The designs stretch across roughly a dozen states and two Canadian provinces, turning her instantly recognizable silhouette, enormous hair and signature smile into an agricultural tribute. The mazes also include Parton-themed trivia, photo opportunities and other activities for visitors. 

The timing carries extra weight because the mazes were planned months before Parton died on Aug. 25 at age 80. One five-acre maze at Twins BBQ Co. in Brookfield, Connecticut, features her portrait surrounded by the words “Dolly” and “An American Treasure,” while visitors have been arriving in cowboy hats, boots and Dolly-themed shirts. The organizers originally created the annual country-music maze campaign to honor stars including Reba McEntire, Luke Bryan and Lainey Wilson, but this year’s tribute has taken on a different meaning. 

As the ABC and Disney+ special prepares to revisit that remarkable journey, audiences will once again have the chance to see just how many corners of American culture Parton touched.

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What are your favorite memories, songs or performances from Dolly Parton’s career? Share your thoughts in the comments.