Dolly Parton gets a live send-off on American network television next month. The Country Music Association has announced "CMA Presents I Will Always Love You: A Celebration of Dolly Parton," a two-hour special airing live on Wednesday, October 21, at 9 pm on ABC and Disney+. It lands on Hulu the day after.

Parton died on August 25 following what her representatives called a brief battle with cancer. She was 80.

The special will be shot live at Belmont University's Fisher Center for the Performing Arts in Nashville, a venue with its own Parton history. The Fisher Center hosted the 2025 world premiere of her biographical musical, Dolly: A True Original Musical, and the university runs Dolly U, an educational partnership she launched to give students hands-on entry into entertainment and media careers. CMA describes this as a continuation of an ongoing tie-up with Belmont, not a one-off booking.

What the show actually looks like is still being worked out. CMA's own description promises performances, archival footage and personal stories tracing what it calls her journey from the mountains of East Tennessee to global fame, but no performers have been confirmed. Tickets, additional partners and the full lineup are expected to be announced in the coming weeks, according to CMA.

CMA CEO Sarah Trahern framed the special as an industry debt being repaid. "Dolly Parton belonged to the whole world, but she was born of this industry, and this industry owes her a debt of gratitude that words alone cannot repay," she said, adding that honouring her legacy is "our responsibility," not just an opportunity.

Executive producer Robert Deaton, who also produces the CMA Awards, put it more personally. "Dolly gave country music its heart, and giving some of that heart back to her is an incredible honor," he said, calling her a friend and saying he hopes the evening "feels like the tribute my friend deserves."

Belmont University president Dr Greg Jones tied the tribute to Parton's reach beyond music, calling her a symbol of "creativity, generosity, entrepreneurial spirit and a commitment to lifting others up."

There's a charitable arm to this too. CMA and Belmont will direct a share of the special's proceeds to Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, the free book-gifting programme she founded and ran under the Dollywood Foundation. Disney is separately backing the Imagination Library's mission, per Deadline's reporting.

For now, the date is locked and the venue is set. The names on the bill are not. Expect that list, and likely a wave of Nashville's biggest, to surface well before October 21 rolls around.