Brandi Carlile Pays Emotional Tribute To Dolly Parton In Nashville
The singer-songwriter closed her Bridgestone Arena show with a Dolly Parton tribute, joined by Gregory Alan Isakov, Sarah Jarosz and Jeb Bows.
By Andy Kahn Aug 31, 2026 • 8:06 am PDT
Brandi Carlile headlined Bridgestone Arena in Nashville for the first time on Saturday as part of The Human Tour. The encore presented an extended tribute to country music legend Dolly Parton, who died in Nashville last week at age 80.
Carlile’s set drew from throughout her catalog, including “Human,” “The Story,” “The Joke” and “You And Me On The Rock.” During “Sinners, Saints And Fools,” SistaStrings played a snippet of Parton’s “Jolene.”
Carlile closed the show with an encore dedicated to Parton, who was born in Pittman Center, Tennessee and was a longtime Nashville resident. The encore began with a cover of “Coat Of Many Colors,” one of Parton’s signature songs that Carlile has recently been performing. “Coat Of Many Colors” featured opener Gregory Alan Isakov on guitar and vocals and Sarah Jarosz on banjo and vocals.
Carlile followed with a cover of “Jolene,” joined by Isakov’s fiddler Jeb Bows. Images of Parton were then projected on the screen behind Carlile while she performed “I Will Always Love You” to complete the tribute to Parton.
The encore continued with a cover of Alanis Morissette’s “Uninvited” and closed with “A Long Goodbye.”
“I wouldn’t be where I am without Nashville but most importantly I wouldn’t be who I am without Nashville,” Carlile wrote in an Instagram post following the show. “It was my dream to make it here… and I got to headline Bridgestone!! [E]ven if it only happens once… it happened. It’s impossible for me to cross the state line and not think of our beloved Dolly. I know we’re on our knees right now. But we were all together and it was one of the best nights of my life.
“I hope our celebration of her made it up to heaven last night and that her family in attendance felt proud.”
Watch Brandi Carlile’s touching tribute to Dolly Parton and read her statements regarding the show and Parton’s passing below:
Setlist
- Returning to Myself
- Human
- Mainstream Kid
- A War With Time
- A Woman Oversees
- Right on Time
- Pride and Joy
- If She Ever Leaves Me
- You Without Me / The Mother
- The Story
- You and Me on the Rock
- No One Knows Us
- Church & State
- Sinners, Saints and Fools
- Hold Out Your Hand
- The Joke
- Coat of Many Colors
- Jolene
- I Will Always Love You
- Uninvited
- A Long Goodbye
- (Dolly Parton cover) Eagle When She Flies
- Pink Pony Club
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