Reba McEntire brought the Emmys audience to tears with a moving tribute to her late friend Dolly Parton at the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards on Monday. McEntire, 71, performed Parton's 1983 ballad Appalachian Memories in a sparkling white gown, backed by a live orchestra, closing out the emotional segment by saying simply, "I love you, Dolly, so much." The tribute was introduced by Sally Field, Parton's Steel Magnolias co-star, who reflected warmly on their decades-long friendship. "Over the years, I never stopped loving her though we lived very far apart," Field said. "I adored her from day one.

How could you not?"  She went on to describe Parton as "genuine and humble, supportive and blisteringly funny with a bawdy sense of humour that would send any rude guy looking for a place to hide," closing with, "God bless you Dolly Parton, my friend. I am not the only one on Earth that will love you forever and ever."  Before McEntire's performance, a clip played of Parton originally introducing Appalachian Memories at the 1983 Emmys, in which she described the song, inspired by her Smoky Mountain upbringing, as something that touched her deeply.

McEntire and Parton shared a friendship dating back to September 1977, when the two first met backstage at the Grand Ole Opry.  Following Parton's death on August 25 at age 80 after a brief battle with cancer, McEntire was among the first to publicly pay tribute.  She wrote on Instagram at the time, "There will never ever be another you. We will remember and cherish every memory and every note you ever played and sang," and adding that Parton would "have a blast in heaven singing all her favorite songs with all her family and friends who have gone on before her.".