Lauren Alaina Fights Back Tears Singing Dolly Parton’s ‘I Will Always Love You’ at the Grand Ole Opry — After Losing the Woman Who Inspired Her Dream
Lauren Alaina has joined the many country artists turning to one particular song to say goodbye to Dolly Parton — just as Dolly herself once predicted they would.
During an emotional appearance at the Grand Ole Opry, Alaina performed “I Will Always Love You” in honor of the country legend, who died on August 25.
The Opry member delivered a soaring rendition of Dolly’s classic, appearing to fight back tears during the performance as she paid tribute to a woman she has repeatedly credited with helping inspire her own country music dreams.
The response from those watching was immediate, with fans describing the performance as beautiful, chilling and deeply emotional.
Dolly once predicted what would happen after her death
@ashlee_wheatonTonight at the @Grand Ole Opry, @Lauren Alaina sang a beautiful tribute to Dolly Parton! 🦋🥹 #dollyparton #laurenalaina #opry #iwillalwaysloveyou #nashville♬ original sound – Ashlee Wheaton
More than a decade before her passing, Dolly spoke about how she expected people to respond musically when she was gone.
In a 2014 interview with Entertainment Weekly, she said she believed “I Will Always Love You” would inevitably be played following her death.
She had already witnessed something similar after Whitney Houston died in 2012.
Houston famously recorded Dolly’s song for The Bodyguard, transforming it into a worldwide phenomenon. Her recording became the all-time best-selling physical single by a solo female artist.
Dolly believed the song would eventually become part of her own farewell as well.
She was right.
Country stars have repeatedly turned to the same song
@theedwardjames I know @Dolly Parton is up in heaven with the biggest smile on her face, @Lauren Alaina 🫶🏽🦋🤠 @Grand Ole Opry #CountryMusic #LaurenAlaina #DollyParton ♬ original sound – Edward James
Following Dolly’s death, “I Will Always Love You” quickly became one of the songs artists used to honor her.
Vince Gill performed it.
Chris Stapleton performed it.
And Lauren Alaina has now added her voice to the growing collection of tributes.
For Alaina, however, the song carries an especially personal meaning because Dolly was more than simply a legendary performer she admired from afar.
She was one of the women who showed Alaina what was possible.
Lauren fought her emotions at the Grand Ole Opry
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Alaina has been a member of the Grand Ole Opry since 2022, making its stage a fitting setting for her latest tribute.
Standing before the audience, she poured herself into Dolly’s famous farewell song.
At one point, Alaina appeared to be holding back tears.
Audience members captured portions of the performance, and clips subsequently spread online.
The comments were filled with praise.
Some viewers said the performance gave them goosebumps and chills, while others described it as one of the finest versions of the song they had heard.
Another simply admitted they were “crying all over again.”
Dolly’s death had already prompted an emotional message from Lauren
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The Opry performance was not Alaina’s first tribute.
Shortly after news of Dolly’s death emerged, she reflected publicly on the enormous influence Dolly had on both her personally and generations of women in country music.
Alaina also spoke about the memories she had been fortunate enough to make with her.
“The times I got to spend with her meant the world to me,” she wrote.
“I’m so thankful to have had a woman like her to look up to. No one will ever do it like Dolly did.”
Alaina said she found some comfort in believing Dolly had been reunited with her late husband, Carl Dean, and other loved ones who had died before her.
She ended that tribute with words that naturally echoed Dolly’s most famous song: “We will always love you, Dolly.”
Days later, she felt compelled to sing
On August 29, one day after releasing her new album Stages, Alaina returned to “I Will Always Love You.”
This time, there was no elaborate stage production.
She sat down and performed the song a cappella.
Alaina explained that Dolly had remained constantly on her mind throughout the weekend.
Every time she prepared to walk onstage herself, she found herself thinking about the woman whose career had helped convince her to pursue her own.
“I think about how much she influenced me to chase this dream,” Alaina wrote.
“I know I’m not the only one who owes so much to her.”
She described being able to live that dream as a gift — one Dolly had helped inspire.
A song that has become part of Dolly’s goodbye
“I Will Always Love You” has lived many lives since Dolly wrote it.
It became one of her defining compositions, then reached another enormous audience through Whitney Houston.
Now it has taken on another role.
For artists mourning Dolly, the song has become a way of returning her own words to her.
Alaina has now done that more than once — first in the intimate a cappella performance and then beneath the lights of the Grand Ole Opry.
The second performance carried the weight of everything she had already said about Dolly: gratitude for the path she created, appreciation for the moments they shared and sadness at losing someone who had influenced her long before they ever met.
Years ago, Dolly believed people would sing “I Will Always Love You” when she was gone.
Lauren Alaina is among those proving just how right she was.