CMA Honors Dolly Parton With Lifetime Award, Despite Sometimes Overlooking Her Prime

At Wednesday night’s CMA Awards, Dolly Parton will be honored for a lifetime of success.

In a statement, the CMA calls Parton a “trailblazer” and a “treasure” who made “undeniable contributions to the success of Country Music, today.”

Sometimes it takes hindsight to recognize an all-time talent.

Parton has 44 CMA nominations over her career but only received the association’s top honor once. She won Entertainer of the Year in 1978.

“I Will Always Love You” went to number one in 1974 but wasn’t nominated by the CMA that year (“Country Bumpkin” by Cal Smith took the top song prize) or when it hit the top of the charts again in 1982. However, CMA did feature the classic heavily in its recent mashup of all time hits promoting the show’s 50 year anniversary.

Parton will get
The Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award, which recognizes significant musical and philanthropic accomplishments. It’s the fourth time the CMA has handed out the honor and the first time it has gone to a woman.

“It’s just hard,”
Parton told Got Country Online in 2014, speaking of women trying to make it in the country music business. “Especially for, like, women in any kind of business, but especially in music, too.”