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Friday, Aug 28, 2026

Did Dolly Parton play at Red Rocks in Colorado?

Cassis Tingley, The Colorado Sun
yes

Dolly Parton performed at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison once in 2016. 

Playing a bejeweled guitar, Parton sang hits like “9 to 5,” “Jolene” and “Pure & Simple” to the sold-out venue that holds just over 9,500 people. Although Parton said she’d been to Red Rocks before, a spokesperson for the amphitheater said they had no record of her performing there prior to 2016.

Parton was previously scheduled to play at Red Rocks in 1979, but canceled citing a television appearance.

The country star died Tuesday in Nashville, Tennessee, at the age of 80.

Her child literacy program, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, has provided 3.4 million free books to Colorado children. 

In 2020, Colorado lawmakers approved state funding for the program, which mails one free book every month to participating kids until they turn 5. More than 90,000 children are enrolled in the program in Colorado alone.

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