Zac Brown Honors Dolly Parton With Emotional Performance Of Their Duet “Butterfly”
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Zac Brown took center stage at the CMA’s Dolly Parton tribute on Wednesday (Oct. 21).
Following Dolly Parton’s passing on August 25th, the Country Music Association announced a special tribute to the country legend to take place on October 21st called CMA Presents I Will Always Love You: A Celebration of Dolly Parton.
Zac Brown was announced as one of the performers alongside Vince Gill, Lukas Nelson, Lainey Wilson, Ashley McBryde, Carrie Underwood, Carly Pearce, Darius Rucker, Ella Langley, Little Big Town, Lady A, and many more.
Zac Brown Honored Dolly With An Emotional Performance Of “Butterfly”
When Zac Brown was announced as a performer, fans immediately thought he would be singing their duet and the CMA’s comment confirmed it.
In a promotion to sell VIP experiences for the evening, CMA revealed that “Zac Brown will perform with special guests Amy Grant and Kimberly Williams-Paisley.”
Taking the stage with a gorgeous backdrop of flowers and butterflies, Zac Brown performed as Dolly’s voice from the original track could be heard along with him, marking a beautiful last duet between the two!
Zac Brown Band And Dolly Parton Released “Butterfly” In 2025
Zac Brown Band and the country legend teamed up to release the duet “Butterfly” in September 2025.
The band said they were “Honored to bring this story to life with the one and only Dolly Parton.”
To accompany the song, they released a beautiful music video.
At The Voice‘s Season 28 live finale, Noah Cyrus stepped in for Dolly Parton and performed the song with Zac Brown.
Brown recently performed the song along to Dolly’s vocal recordings at the CMA Foundation’s Music Teachers of Excellence 10 Year Anniversary Celebration, where he also introduced a message from Dolly Parton that she recorded shortly before her passing.
Watch Zac Brown perform “Butterfly” in honor of Dolly Parton below.
