There are plenty of moments from Dolly Parton’s remarkable career that fans will remember for years, but one quiet 2020 television appearance has taken on a deeper emotional weight following her death.
During a virtual appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Parton began talking about the songs her mother used to sing when she was growing up. She eventually launched into an impromptu performance of the old folk song “Bury Me Beneath the Willow.”
Within moments, Stephen Colbert was wiping away tears.
The clip has resurfaced in the days following Parton’s death on Aug. 25, 2026, at age 80. Her representatives confirmed that she died after a brief battle with cancer.
Watching the moment now, the tenderness of the exchange is especially striking. What began as Parton reminiscing about her childhood quickly became an intimate reminder of the way music can carry memories from one generation to the next.
Dolly Parton Remembered the Songs Her Mother Sang
During the 2020 interview, Parton explained that her mother, Avie Lee Owens, often sang old songs from the family’s musical traditions.
Her mother would sing without accompaniment, Parton recalled, and many of the songs were deeply sad. Parton described some of them as particularly heartbreaking.
One song stood out in her memory: “Bury Me Beneath the Willow.”
Parton explained that the song tells the story of a woman whose wedding day has gone tragically wrong. Her boyfriend has left her, apparently for another woman, and the song follows her despair and desire to be remembered after her death.
Then, rather casually, Parton began singing it.
Her performance was completely unplanned and a cappella, making the moment feel less like a television performance and more like a childhood memory suddenly being shared with an audience.
The song itself is an old folk standard, and Parton had previously spoken about the powerful role such songs played in her upbringing. Her mother’s singing was part of the musical foundation that stayed with Parton throughout her life.
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Stephen Colbert Couldn’t Hold Back the Tears
As Parton continued singing, the camera turned toward Colbert.
The late-night host was visibly moved. At first, he laughed and pointed toward Parton in apparent disbelief at how quickly the simple song had affected him.
But the emotion soon became impossible to hide.
Colbert wiped away a tear as Parton continued with the mournful story. She noticed his reaction while she was singing and paused long enough to ask if he was crying.
Then she went right back into the song.
The contrast was classic Parton: she treated the sadness of the song with genuine feeling while also finding humor in the fact that her host was becoming increasingly emotional.
Contemporary coverage of the appearance confirmed that Colbert was genuinely crying during the performance.
Parton eventually decided she had made her point.
With Colbert still struggling to compose himself, she joked that she had better stop before he cried himself to death and was unable to finish the show.
It was a small joke, but it captured the warmth of the exchange. Parton could move effortlessly between heartbreak and humor, even within the space of a few seconds.
Stephen Colbert Cries During Dolly Parton Interview
A Simple Song Became an Unforgettable Television Moment
The moment was particularly memorable because there was nothing elaborate about it.
Parton did not need a stage, a band or a large production. She simply remembered a song from childhood and sang it the way she had heard it growing up.
The performance came during an appearance in which Parton was discussing her book Songteller: My Life in Lyrics and her holiday album A Holly Dolly Christmas. The conversation naturally turned toward her memories of songwriting and the songs that had shaped her early life.
Colbert’s reaction gave the exchange another layer. He was not simply responding to the sadness of the lyrics. He was hearing Parton connect the song to her mother, her childhood and a musical tradition that had stayed with her for decades.
The result was one of the more unexpectedly emotional moments from The Late Show.
Why the Clip Feels Different After Dolly Parton’s Death
Parton died on Aug. 25, 2026, at the age of 80, after a brief battle with cancer. Her death was announced by her family, and an official statement said she died peacefully in Nashville, Tennessee.
In the immediate aftermath, videos and memories from across her extraordinary career began circulating again.
That has brought renewed attention to the Colbert interview, particularly because of the subject Parton chose to sing about. The song was already tied to memories of her mother and childhood. After Parton’s death, the performance naturally carries another sense of farewell.
Parton spent her career turning personal memories, family stories and ordinary experiences into songs that could reach enormous audiences. In this case, she did something much simpler: she passed along a song that her own mother had once sung to her.
More than five years after the original interview, Colbert’s tears make the moment feel even more poignant.
The clip remains a striking snapshot of Parton’s ability to connect with people without needing a grand production. A story about her mother, an old and sorrowful song, and a few moments of singing were enough to leave Stephen Colbert in tears.
And now, following Parton’s death, that same performance offers fans another glimpse of the woman behind the rhinestones and the decades of fame: someone who carried the music of her childhood with her and could still make it feel deeply personal many years later.
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