Oct. 25 (UPI) — The U.S. State Department and the Recording Academy Friday announced Grammy-award winning Dolly Parton is the 2024 winner of the PEACE Through Music Award.
The award honors an American music industry artist, professional or group that has “played an invaluable role in cross-cultural exchanges and whose work advances peace and mutual understanding globally.”
An award celebration was scheduled for Friday night at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles.
In a videotaped acceptance, Parton sang a few lines of a song about peace.
“Is that not what we’re all looking for? A little peace,” Parton said. “We all want it. Some of us, all around this whole world can only dream about it. But as people, we all deserve it.”
She said she started writing songs even before starting school. She said writing and singing brought her peace and it was a way to express herself through her music.
“To this day I get my personal peace from writing, from singing, from sharing with you,” Parton added in the video. “It’s my way of communicating and hoping that every word or line in one of my songs might bring the listener some kind of peace.”
The State Department said in a statement, “An icon and force across the music industry, having reached audiences at home and abroad for generations, — with future generations to engage still — Parton embodies all that the PEACE Through Music Award represents: understanding, peace, inclusion, and unity. While her selection as this year’s awardee is grounded in her music and public persona, Parton’s commitment to serving others is unparalleled.”
The State Department cited her Imagination Library for underserved children from the hills of Appalachia to Australia’s outback and her work a “a champion of public health.”
The PEACE Through Music Award is part of the State Department’s Global Music Diplomacy Initiative launched by Secretary Antony Blinken in 2023.
Parton is a country music star who was also recently inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Her recent album Rockstar earned her six #1s on the Billboard charts.
During her music career, she has had 27 albums certified gold, platinum and multi-platinum. Parton also scored 26 #1 songs on the Billboard country charts.
Recently Parton donated $1 million to the Mountain Ways Foundation to assist Hurricane Helene relief efforts while her Dollywood Parks & Resorts and The Dollywood Foundation donated an additional $1 million.
