Dolly Parton to Headline Benefit Concert in Nashville

Country icon Dolly Parton is taking the historic stage at the Ryman Auditorium July 31 to benefit the W. O. Smith School of Music in Nashville. The Dustin Wells Foundation hosts the Gift of Music concert annually to benefit the school as one of its initiatives to enrich the lives of young people.

Parton’s set, titled Dolly Parton: Pure and Simple, will be performed for one night only at the legendary venue, and tickets go on sale June 20. The concert will be the first full Nashville show Parton has headlined in 12 years.

“The ‘Gift of Music’ is something that runs deep within my kin folks,” Parton says in a news release about the event. “I love and cherish the Ryman and I am really excited to perform there to help raise money for the Dustin Wells Foundation. This goes to help many young kids that are part of the W.O. Smith School of Music. Through all of us working together we can make a difference in helping a child feel the magic in making music.”

Since it began in 2008, the Gift of Music benefit concert has seen support from artists like Ronnie Dunn, Kellie Pickler, Dierks Bentley, Lady Antebellum and more. The Dustin Wells Foundation was established in memory of Dustin Wells, a young man who passed away in a car accident in 2005, by his family and friends to keep his legacy alive.

Parton is also set to perform two sold out shows at Dollywood in August to benefit her Imagination Library, which provides books to children all around Tennessee.

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