Kacey Musgraves Returned to the VMAs After Five Years Looking Like Dolly Parton — and One Heartbreaking Song Made the Tribute Even More Personal
Kacey Musgraves hadn’t performed on the MTV Video Music Awards stage in five years.
For her return, she didn’t arrive looking like herself.
Dressed in hot pink sequins and feathers, with enormous hair cascading over her shoulders and purple eye shadow completing the look, Musgraves appeared styled in unmistakable tribute to Dolly Parton.
But the clothes were only the beginning.
As the stage darkened, the audience first saw Dolly herself on screen, singing “I Will Always Love You” decades earlier.
Musgraves was about to continue the song without her.
Dolly Sang the Opening First
The tribute began with archival footage from The Dolly Parton Show.
On screen, Parton performed her 1974 classic “I Will Always Love You,” a song she frequently used to close her variety show.
Her sparkling appearance in the vintage footage established the visual inspiration for everything that followed.
When Musgraves took over the song, she stood near a piano surrounded by pink and purple lighting.
Her Miron-designed gown was covered in hot pink sequins, with dramatic feathered cuffs bringing even more Dolly-style glamour to the stage.
Even Musgraves’ makeup appeared connected to the archival footage, with purple eye shadow echoing Dolly’s own look.
And, of course, there was the hair.
The Bigger the Hair, the Closer to Dolly
Musgraves’ hair was styled with enormous volume and height, cascading around her shoulders in a look that immediately recalled Parton’s famous beauty philosophy.
It wasn’t an exact imitation.
Instead, the entire presentation felt like an affectionate visual salute.
The sequins.
The feathers.
The purple makeup.
The towering hair.
Everything surrounding Musgraves pointed back toward the woman whose voice had opened the performance.
But once she began singing, the spectacle gave way to something far more intimate.
‘I Will Always Love You’ Carried a Different Weight
Few songs could have been more fitting.
Dolly wrote “I Will Always Love You” herself, releasing the song in 1974. Its message of love, separation and gratitude has endured across generations.
At the VMAs, those words inevitably carried a different meaning.
Parton had died on Aug. 25 at age 80 following what was described as a brief battle with cancer.
Just over a month later, Musgraves was standing beneath the lights singing Dolly’s farewell song in her honor.
The performance also reflected an admiration that stretched back years.
Kacey Had Called Dolly the ‘Ultimate Songwriter’
Musgraves and Parton never formally recorded a collaboration together, but Dolly’s influence on the younger country star was well established.
Musgraves had previously joined major celebrations of Parton’s music.
At the 2016 CMA Awards, she participated in an all-star Dolly tribute alongside Reba McEntire, Jennifer Nettles, Martina McBride and Carrie Underwood.
Three years later, Musgraves joined another tribute at the 2019 Grammy Awards, sharing the celebration with Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Maren Morris and Little Big Town.
At the time, Musgraves described Parton as the “ultimate songwriter.”
Her reaction to Dolly’s death revealed how deeply that admiration ran.
‘The World Feels a Lot Less Sparkly’
When news of Parton’s death broke in August, Musgraves shared her grief publicly.
“Dolly. This really really hurts,” she wrote.
Another message captured the loss in a way that felt particularly fitting for an artist so closely associated with rhinestones, glamour and joy:
“The world feels a lot less sparkly all of a sudden.”
At the VMAs, Musgraves seemed determined to bring some of that sparkle back.
Her gown glittered beneath the lights.
Her sleeves were covered in feathers.
Her hair was unapologetically huge.
But beneath all that glamour was a performance built around grief and gratitude.
Five Years Away, One Very Special Return
The tribute marked Musgraves’ first VMAs performance in five years.
She also entered the 2026 ceremony as a nominee in the Best Country category for “Dry Spell.”
Yet her return to the stage became less about her own music than the woman who helped shape the kind of country artist she wanted to become.
The performance started with Dolly’s own voice.
Musgraves carried the song forward.
And through the sequins, feathers and towering hair, the visual tribute made its inspiration impossible to miss.
A month after Musgraves wrote that the world suddenly felt less sparkly without Dolly Parton, she stepped onto the VMAs stage covered in sparkle — and sang the song that has always sounded like Dolly’s most beautiful goodbye.