Dolly’s reaction was anything but reserved,
"I broke my high heels jumping up and down. It is one of the biggest thrills of my bluegrass life."
In addition to earning Dolly her sixth GRAMMY Award, 'The Grass Is Blue' won Album of the Year Award in 2000 from the International Bluegrass Music Association. The award ceremony was held in October of 2000 in Louisville, Kentucky.
On March 22, 2000, Dolly was recognized for her work with her Imagination Library with the Association of American Publishers (AAP) Honors Award. Dolly was the third recipient of the award which was established in 1997.
The AAP President said,
"This is a woman who is really making a difference. The same love that makes her such an extraordinary performer is transforming the lives of kids in Tennessee, opening up a world of books for them. Soon pre-schoolers all over the country will have a chance to build their own 'Imagination Library.' What a gift!"
The award was presented to Dolly by Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley. The award is intended to "acknowledge the contributions of individuals and organizations who have helped focus attention on American books." Dolly was specifically honored for her efforts to improve the lives of children through books.”
In her acceptance speech, Dolly mentioned how her experiences reinforced the importance of education and motivated her to start the Imagination Library,
“But all the things I ever dreamed of I never believed that I'd be in front of a distinguished group of people like you accepting an award like this. And it's a long way, truly, from the Smoky Mountains to what I call the top of the world, and bein' able to be in the presence of great people like this for a very worthy cause like the education program that we have back in Sevier County [Tennessee] means a great deal to me... As a matter of fact one of the reasons that I decided to get involved with the education and with the kids was because a lot of my family were not able to read and write.”
Dolly also performed several songs at the show, most memorably "Coat of Many Colors" (video below). Dolly’s longtime friend and duet partner Kenny Rogers presided over her induction which included a montage video of her career highlights.
Portions of Dolly's acceptance speech - (RAW video)
Footage courtesy of Country Music Hall Of Fame And Museum Nashville
Dolly went on to say,
“I want to thank everybody that's ever played a part in my career. And there's so many I couldn't possibly mention them, but there's a few people that I really need to thank special. Porter Wagoner played a big part in my life. And Porter couldn't be here tonight, but, I want to thank him. I know he's out there watching 'cause it was because of him that I had all those great RCA records back in the early days and all our duets and a lot of wonderful things happened to me because he gave me that first big break.”
Dolly performs "Coat of Many Colors" (RAW video)
Footage courtesy of Country Music Hall Of Fame And Museum Nashville
Dolly, along with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt, won the 1999 GRAMMY Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals for their version of the song "After the Gold Rush" from their album "Trio 2." The song, a cover tune written by Neil Young, originally appeared on his 1970 album "After the Gold Rush." Emmylou Harris accepted the award on February 23, 2000, in a pre-show ceremony. This is Dolly's fifth GRAMMY win.
Dolly was recognized as being part of the 'Vocal Event of the Year' (the category name was changed to 'Musical Event of the Year' in 2005) at the Country Music Association's (CMA) annual awards show for her song "I will Always Love You," released as a duet with Vince Gill on her album "Something Special."
The song, "I Will Always Love You," has had a long history of success for Dolly and for the artists who have covered it (most famously Whitney Houston). It was originally written by Dolly as a thank you to Porter Wagoner, her long time singing and television partner because she had decided to leave the partnership. Dolly said,
"It's saying, 'Just because I'm going don't mean I won't love you. I appreciate you and I hope you do great and I appreciate everything you've done, but I'm out of here…’ And I took it in the next morning. I said, 'Sit down, Porter. I've written this song, and I want you to hear it.' So I did sing it. And he was crying. He said, 'That's the prettiest song I ever heard. And you can go, providing I get to produce that record.' And he did, and the rest is history."
The Dolly and Vince collaboration of "I Will Always Love You" was also honored with a GRAMMY nomination and a TNN/Music City News nomination for Vocal Performance of the Year and ultimately reached number 15 on the country charts.
