Here’s the Best Thing About Dolly Parton Being Chosen to Host the ACM Awards

When the news broke on Thursday, Feb. 3, that Dolly Parton will host the 2022 Academy of Country Music Awards, the emphasis was, rightly, on the fact that the ACMs landed a living legend to host the show that will carry them into the streaming era. (The show is set to stream exclusively on Prime Video on March 7.)

Few even mentioned a second fact that is just as important: At 76, Parton will be one of the oldest people ever to front a major awards show.

Parton is breaking down age barriers just as she broke down genre walls in the 1970s with such crossover hits as “Here You Come Again,” and defied gender expectations time and time again.

Parton will be the oldest host in the history of the ACM Awards. Parton previously made history as the oldest host in the history of the rival CMA Awards. She was 73 in November 2019 when she co-hosted that show.

Parton is two years older than Bob Hope was in April 1978 when he hosted the Oscars for the 19th and final time. She’s also two years older than Henry Fonda was in June 1979 when he co-hosted the Tony Awards. She’s six years older than John Forsythe was in August 1988 when he hosted the Emmys for the third and final time. Those are the oldest performers to front those EGOT-level shows since they became nationally televised broadcasts in 1953, 1967 and 1955, respectively.

The Grammys, the fourth EGOT-level show, have put more of a premium on having youthful hosts, because their focus is squarely on music. Andy Williams was 43 in March 1971 when he hosted the first live Grammy telecast, and 49 in February 1977 when he hosted the show for the seventh and final time. The following year, the baton passed to John Denver, then 34. All subsequent Grammy hosts have also been under 50.

Parton has always seemed ageless. She was 31 in 1977 when she burst through to mainstream popularity with “Here You Come Again,” but in some ways she seemed older, perhaps because her persona then borrowed elements from such stars of an earlier era as Mae West.

Parton has the energy and drive of an entertainer half her age. She has never been one to rest on her laurels — and they are considerable. In the late ‘70s, she became just the second woman to be named entertainer of the year at both the ACM Awards and the CMA Awards. (Loretta Lynn was the first.)

Parton was voted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999, was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001, received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2006, received a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy in 2011 and this year is nominated to join the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (At least one pundit thinks she’s a cinch to get in. As Billboard‘s Andrew Unterberger opined here the day the nominations were announced: “She’s arguably as widely beloved across all ages and demographics as any living entertainer right now.”)

Parton has maintained her visibility and relevance over the decades, so she’s never been out of the public eye. She’s simply always been there – a joyful, radiant presence in our lives.

In that, Parton is similar to Betty White, whose star power grew as the decades went by and who, by the time of her death in December just shy of 100, was universally beloved. White famously made history in March 2010, when, at 88, she became the oldest person ever to host NBC’s Saturday Night Live.

Could Parton break White’s record by hosting SNL in 2034? You’d be foolish to bet against this dynamo, who proves, more than just about any other entertainer, that age is just a number.