National R&B Hall of Fame will induct singer Dolly Parton in its 2027 class

The National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame Foundation will posthumously induct Dolly Parton with its Class of 2027, the Detroit-based organisation said on August 27.

Parton died in Nashville on August 25, 2026, at 80. The foundation's founder and chairman, LaMont "ShowBoat" Robinson, extended condolences to her family and friends on behalf of its board of trustees and what he called the worldwide R&B community.

Robinson framed the induction around reach rather than category. He said he had admired her since he was a child, that she always seemed genuine and connected to ordinary people however famous she got, and that she did not build walls between musical genres. The honour, he added, does not take her away from country music but recognises all of her.

The case for an R&B institution claiming a country singer rests largely on two songs. Parton wrote and first recorded "I Will Always Love You", which Whitney Houston turned into one of the defining vocal recordings of the modern era, and in 2024 Beyonce reworked "Jolene" for Cowboy Carter, carrying the story to another generation and another audience.

She is already in two other halls. The Country Music Hall of Fame inducted her in 1999 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame followed in 2022, the latter after she initially tried to decline the nomination on the grounds that she had not earned a rock honour.

Her death has been marked from stages all week, from Harry Styles playing "I Will Always Love You" over the PA at Madison Square Garden to Turnstile walking on to "Islands In The Stream" in Halifax. Parton died at 80 shortly after she had taken the Americana Music Association's lifetime achievement award. The induction is logged on award watch, and she sits in both the site's country and rnb and soul coverage.