Dolly Parton Sings ‘Rocky Top’ At Tennessee Game

Author Nancy Brooks // Country Writer, Beasley Media Group

November 20th, 2023 3:40 PM

Dolly Parton walked out on the field of a Tennessee/Georgia college football game at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville on Saturday (11/18) on the arm of Tennessee Vols football legend and country music lover Peyton Manning. Parton sang the team song “Rocky Top” as the fans screamed and cheered in the stadium.

They screamed so loud Dolly later told a sports reporter on CBS that she could not hear herself sing. She said, “I was honored to be here, and I love Peyton, and I love the crowd. It’s just good to be home always.”

CBS then cut to action on the football field. As they cut away, you could hear Dolly start to sing a bit of “Rocky Top.” When they returned, the reporter said she was so pleased to get a little personal concert from Parton and wished they had stayed on the field longer.

Dolly expressed why it is so vital to stay so connected to her East Tennessee roots. Parton said, “It’s not far from here (her hometown), Sevier County, Tennessee, and of course, I’ve got a lot of family still here.” The country icon added that she also has a “whole lot of friends” at home, and they all love UT, and she’s always excited to come home for a ball game.”

RELATED: Dolly Parton: The ‘Rockstar’ Album is Finally Here

Dolly released a special edition of her new Rockstar album just for Tennessee Vol fans and folks back home in East Tennessee with a special bonus track of her singing a bluegrass version of “Rocky Top.”

The cover art of the Tennessee Vols version shows Parton dressed in Vols orange and white with a football field background. You can get your copy of the limited edition CD here.

When she announced the special Tennessee Vols CD version, she told us, “My East Tennessee roots run deep, and I am so proud to be partnering with the Vols on a line of merchandise. I’ve performed ‘Rocky Top’ so many times live in my concerts through the years, and I know how much that song means to Vols fans. I am thrilled to have the chance to include my version of the song on a special edition of my new Rockstar album as part of this partnership.”

Dolly has a long association with the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. In 2009, Parton delivered the commencement speech to the graduating class, where she was awarded an honorary doctorate of humane and musical letters. In both 2011 and 2014, Parton brought her world tours to the campus arena.

Five Of Country Music's Biggest Givers

• Carrie Underwood

  Carrie has always been a giver and offers her name to several charities. Most recently, she made a significant donation to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation of $420,316. The money was  raised by her fans who bought tickets to her 43-city arena tour, “The Denim & Rhinestones Tour.” This contribution will go directly towards supporting America’s heroes and their families. Carrie said, “I’m so proud of the fans that came out to the tour and making this donation possible. They have always shown up to support great organizations like Tunnel To Towers, making the world a better place while coming out to see us.”

  Since early in her career, Underwood has designated a portion of ticket sales from her tours to support worthwhile charities and organizations. In 2009, her C.A.T.S. Foundation was created to help to improve Checotah, Oklahoma, by assisting with causes, fulfilling needs, and providing services to the community and surrounding area.

• Brad Paisley

  Brad and his wife Kimberly Paisley started The Store in Nashville, a nonprofit free-referral-based grocery store that they co-founded. Brad said when he and his wife broke ground on The Store in 2019, “Our goal is to give dignity to parents. They can go to The Store and shop in a completely normal way, from choosing the food to checking out, but with no money exchanging hands. The kids can even ride a mechanical pony out in front of The Store – no charge. Kids do not need the stress of wondering how their parents are going to feed them. In Nashville, we have the power of the benevolence of the residents to support The Store.”

• Miranda Lambert

  Miranda’s love of animals is legendary in Music City. Lambert’s MuttNation Foundation and Tractor Supply Company teamed up for the third consecutive year in June to donate more than $250,000 to animal shelters nationwide. Through MuttNation’s Mutts Across America program, one outstanding shelter or foster-based rescue in every state is being honored with a surprise $5,000 grant.

  Miranda said, “Mutts Across America is MuttNation’s cornerstone – it was our first signature program. These grants give us the chance to show our appreciation and spotlight shelters across the country for their hard work, year-round, to improve the lives of shelter pets. We’re so proud to partner with Tractor Supply on this and other programs, allowing us to elevate our goals and increase the number of animals’ lives we can change.”

  Since the initiative’s origin nine years ago, MuttNation’s Mutts Across America has supported more than 450 shelters with over $1.75 million in grants.

• Darius Rucker

  Fifteen years ago, Darius first visited St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The organization moved him, and he was immediately inspired to pledge his support. Rucker continues to do so via his annual benefit concert, “Darius & Friends.”  The shows have surpassed the $3.6 million mark with this year’s 14th annual “Darius and Friends” benefit concert in June (6/5). The event is paired with a corresponding golf tournament and silent auction. This year’s event raised an all-time high of $560,000 for the cause.

  The decade-plus history of “Darius & Friends.” Prior guests have included Lauren Alaina, Jason Aldean, Brooks & Dunn, Brothers Osborne, Kane Brown, Luke Bryan, Luke Combs, Sheryl Crow, Charles Kelley of Lady A, Ashley McBryde, A.J. McLean of the Backstreet Boys, Brad Paisley, Kenny Rogers and Tommy Thayer of KISS, among many others.

• Dolly Parton

  Dolly’s kindness knows no bounds, and she’s been giving back since she began receiving early in her carer. Dolly started the Imagination Library in 1995, and since that time has expanded to give books monthly to children all over the world. In 2023, the program has gifted over 213 million books to children.

  Then there is the million-dollar donation to Vanderbilt and Moderna for research on the COVID-19 vaccine in 2020. In November of 2022, Parton received the Bezos Courage and Civility Award, which comes with $100 million to distribute to the charities of her choice. Jeff Bezos told CNN, “Look at what she’s done, and the way she’s led her life and the way she’s done is bold things and always with civility and kindness. She’s a unifier. You know we have big problems in the world, and the way you get big problems done is you have to work together.” He added, “We have too many examples of conflict and people using attacks on social media and so and so. You won’t find Dolly Parton doing that.”

  Bezos’ partner Lauren Sanchez added, “And when you think of Dolly, look, everyone smiles, right? And all she wants to do is bring light into other people’s worlds, that’s all. And so we couldn’t have thought of someone better than to give this award to Dolly.”

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Author Nancy Brooks // Country Writer, Beasley Media Group

Category:

• 107.9 Coyote Country
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Dolly Parton,Peyton Manning,Tennessee Vols