Kelsea Ballerini Honors Dolly Parton With Joyful “Here You Come Again” Performance At CMA Tribute
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“Alright, Nashville, I need you guys to sing this with me for our Tennessee queen,” Kelsea Ballerini exclaimed mid-song, adding, “Don’t be shy!”
This was stated as Ballerini sang “Here You Come Again” during the Oct. 21 CMA Presents I Will Always Love You: A Celebration of Dolly Parton.
Missed the show? CMA Presents I Will Always Love You: A Celebration of Dolly Parton is streaming now on Hulu.
Ballerini’s performance showed off Dolly Parton‘s ability to cross genres, showcasing one of the biggest pop hits by the “Queen of Country.”
Watch Kelsea Ballerini Honor Dolly Parton With “Here You Come Again”
For Dolly Parton, the song “Here You Come Again” was truly a pop effort, and that was further evidenced in that it wasn’t penned by Dolly.
Written by husband-wife songwriting duo Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, the song was initially intended to be a comeback song for a different country artist: Brenda Lee.
Speaking with Rolling Stone in 1978, Dolly said of the song, “That’s such a good song a monkey could have made it a hit. Well, you’re looking at a million-dollar monkey.”
In an interview with Rolling Stone from the year before, Dolly spoke on “Here You Come Again” within her own body of work, saying:
“This is a new freedom for me. Just total self-expression and daring to be brave, just to really see music the way that I totally feel it … I am 30 years old. I mean, if you let so many years go by, then you miss out on your chance, and I think that I am in my season now.”
The song went on to be recognized with a nomination at the Grammy Awards for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Ultimately, Dolly lost the Grammy to Barbra Streisand, whose song “Evergreen” from the 1976 film A Star Is Born won instead.
All these years later, “Here You Come Again” remains a staple of Dolly’s body of work.
At the CMA tribute to Dolly, it was Kelsea Ballerini who rose to the occasion, singing “Here you Come Again” with a light and joyous tone.
Her outfit, which was adorned with long sequined fringe, called to mind the dress worn by Dolly Parton in the 1977 music video for the hit song.
As the song concluded, Kelsea said, “We love you, Miss Dolly.”
Watch Kelsea Ballerini’s performance of “Here You Come Again,” here:
Watch Dolly’s music video for “Here You Come Again,” here:
RELATED: Ashley McBryde Keeps Dolly Parton’s Story Alive With Moving Performance Of “Coat Of Many Colors”
