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Kelly Clarkson reflected on her powerful tribute to Dolly Parton in 2022.
Clarkson appeared on TODAY on Monday (September 21), and shared the story behind her show-stopping performance of “I Will Always Love You” at the 57th Academy of Country Music Awards. Parton hosted the show at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.
“(Parton) was a beautiful soul to be able to meet,” Clarkson said in a clip from the interview on Instagram. She said of the performance, “she trapped me, man. …They were like, ‘will you do a tribute?’ And I was like, ‘of course, I’ll show up. Where do you want me?’ And then they were like, ‘oh, she [Parton] picked this song.’ And I was like, ‘what?’ I was like, ‘you want me to sing which one?’ And I was very nervous because that’s not a song anyone wants to touch.
“There was a huge thing that happened in my world literally 30 minutes before going on stage. And it was kind of momentous that I was singing that song at the same time,” Clarkson said. “And she [Parton] just was very sweet. She was very cool.”
Parton died “peacefully” on August 25, an official announcement from her team confirmed, along with a recorded message from Parton’s nephew, Bryan Seaver. She was 80. Her representatives later confirmed in a statement to PEOPLE, “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, who opted to keep her battle with cancer private, has since been laid to rest beside her husband, Carl Dean. She and Dean were married for nearly six decades. He died in March 2025. He was 82.
The country music community and many others mourned Parton’s loss in an outpouring of tributes. Watch Clarkson’s 2022 tribute to Parton here: