Reba McEntire is reportedly set to honor Dolly Parton at the 2026 Emmy Awards on Monday night, giving the telecast a tribute built around one of country music’s most familiar names. The performance is expected to come during the show at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.
Deadline said on Sunday that McEntire would pay tribute to Parton, but the shape of the segment has not been disclosed. That leaves the main question for viewers simple: whether the tribute will be a performance, a spoken salute, or something in between.
The timing matters because Parton died at 80 last month after a brief battle with cancer, and the tribute arrives while the industry is still marking her loss. McEntire and Parton were longtime friends, and Parton’s cameo on a 2005 episode of Reba gave that connection a public touchpoint that fans still remember.
The Emmy telecast is already stacking up other marquee moments. The Television Academy has said Noah Kahan will perform Bridge Over Troubled Water in the In Memoriam segment, while the ceremony will also celebrate the 30th anniversary of Buffy the Vampire Slayer with David Boreanaz and Sarah Michelle Gellar and the 50th anniversary of Charlie's Angels with Kate Jackson, Cheryl Ladd and Jaclyn Smith. Mariska Hargitay will host, and Michael J. Fox will receive the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award.
What remains unresolved is not whether McEntire will appear, but what kind of farewell she will deliver. In a broadcast built around memory and legacy, the tribute will likely be judged less by surprise than by whether it feels like the right close to a friendship that stretched from Reba to the final chapter of Parton’s life.
