SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, the Recording Academy® and the U.S. Department of State announced that music icon, global philanthropist, and 10-time GRAMMY® Award winner Dolly Parton is the 2024 recipient of the PEACE Through Music Award, which honors an American music industry professional, artist or group who has played an invaluable role in cross-cultural exchanges and whose music work advances peace and mutual understanding globally. Watch Parton’s award acceptance video here.
Parton will be celebrated tonight at the GRAMMY Museum® in Los Angeles, at an event hosted by the Recording Academy and the Department of State. Generously supported by Coke Studio and the Wasserman Foundation, the event also recognizes the first-ever cohort of the American Music Mentorship Program, which took place in Los Angeles from Oct. 15-25.
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. Parton’s Imagination Library, which provides underserved children the opportunity to learn through reading, stretches from the hills of Appalachia to the outback of Australia. She has been a champion of public health, most recently around the COVID-19 vaccine, which not only reached millions of Americans, but also people worldwide.
“Over the course of her career, Dolly Parton has been committed to enriching communities across the globe, and it’s a privilege to celebrate her dedication to service with the PEACE Through Music Award today,” said Harvey Mason jr., CEO of the Recording Academy. “We are grateful to partner with the Department of State on the Global Music Diplomacy Initiative, which represents an important part of the Academy’s work to support music people across the globe.”
“Dolly Parton represents the best of America — her excellence in music, her servant’s heart in giving back to those in need, and her unique ability to always bring people together,” said Lee Satterfield, Acting Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. “On behalf of the American people and Secretary of State Blinken, we are honored to celebrate all of her contributions to people around the world with the PEACE Through Music Award in partnership with the Recording Academy.”
“To say that I was honored to accept the PEACE Through Music Award from the Recording Academy and the U.S. State Department would be putting it mildly. I was very touched and moved by that. If I have been an inspiration in any way through some act of kindness or through some music that I have written, well, that makes me feel like I have done my job properly. Thanks again for such a great honor.” Love, Dolly.
The PEACE Through Music Award is determined through a nomination process, with U.S. embassies from around the globe submitting nominations to be considered by a selection committee created jointly by the State Department and Recording Academy. The selection committee is represented by Recording Academy members, U.S. Department of State leadership, music industry professionals, and academia. The recommended honorees are approved by the CEO of the Recording Academy, then presented to the Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, who makes the final determination.
The award is an important part of the Global Music Diplomacy Initiative, which was announced by the Recording Academy and the State Department in 2023 to elevate music as a global diplomatic platform that promotes peace, expands economic equity, elevates creative economies, ensures societal opportunity, and increases access to education worldwide. The initiative was developed pursuant to the PEACE Through Music Diplomacy Act, which was championed by the Recording Academy and its members in 2022 at its annual GRAMMYs on the Hill® and Music Advocacy Day events, resulting in the legislation being passed into law in December 2022.
To learn more about the Recording Academy’s work to support global creators, visit here. To learn more about the Department of State’s music diplomacy efforts, visit state.gov/music-diplomacy or email eca-press@state.gov.
ABOUT THE RECORDING ACADEMY
The Recording Academy represents the voices of performers, songwriters, producers, engineers, and all music professionals. Dedicated to ensuring the recording arts remain a thriving part of our shared cultural heritage, the Academy honors music's history while investing in its future through the GRAMMY Museum, advocates on behalf of music creators, supports music people in times of need through MusiCares®, and celebrates artistic excellence through the GRAMMY Awards® — music's only peer-recognized accolade and highest achievement. As the world's leading society of music professionals, we work year-round to foster a more inspiring world for creators.
For more information about the GRAMMY Awards and the Recording Academy, please visit GRAMMY.com and RecordingAcademy.com. For breaking news and exclusive content, follow @RecordingAcad on X (Twitter), "like" Recording Academy on Facebook, and join the Recording Academy's social communities on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and LinkedIn. For media assets, please visit the Recording Academy Press Room.
ABOUT THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
The U.S. Department of State is focused on accomplishing America's mission of diplomacy at home and around the world. The U.S. Department of State manages America’s relationships with foreign governments, international organizations, and the people of other countries. U.S. diplomats and Civil Service professionals carry out the President’s foreign policy and help build a more free, prosperous, and secure world. As part of these efforts, the Department’s Global Music Diplomacy Initiative elevates music as a diplomatic platform to bring people together and promote peace and democracy worldwide. It also supports broader U.S. foreign policy goals to expand access to education, economic equity and opportunity, and inclusion. For more information, please visit state.gov/music-diplomacy.
ABOUT DOLLY PARTON
Dolly Parton is the most honored and revered multi-hyphenate of all time and was recently inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Her current album Rockstar made history by scoring the biggest album debut sales week of her seven-decade career and earning her six #1s on the Billboard charts - Top Rock Albums, Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Country Albums, Top Album Sales, Top Current Album Sales, and Independent Albums. The landmark album also claimed the #3 spot on the Billboard 200 chart, her highest position ever. Achieving 27 RIAA-certified gold, platinum, and multi-platinum awards, she has had 26 songs reach #1 on the Billboard country charts, a record for a female artist. Parton is the first artist to have topped Billboard's Adult Contemporary, Christian AC Songs, Hot Country Songs, Christian Airplay, Rock Digital Songs, Country Airplay, and Dance/Mix Show Airplay radio charts. Parton became the first country artist honored as Grammy MusiCares Person of the Year given out by NARAS. She has 49 career Top 10 country albums, a record for any artist, and 120 career-charted singles over the past 50+ years. On October 17, 2023, she released her second New York Times Best Seller coffee table book in a trilogy called Behind The Seams: My Life in Rhinestones. The first of the series was bestselling coffee table book Songteller: My Life in Lyrics.
In 2014, the RIAA recognized her impact on recorded music with a plaque commemorating more than 100 million units sold worldwide. She has amassed 11 Grammy Awards and 52 nominations, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, 10 Country Music Association Awards, including Entertainer of the Year; five Academy of Country Music Awards, also including a nod for Entertainer of the Year; four People's Choice Awards; and three American Music Awards. In 1999, Parton was inducted as a member of the coveted Country Music Hall of Fame.
Parton has the largest fan base of all measured music artists in the YouGov database at #1 with 198 million. She has the #1 Q Score of all performers, solo and group. She is one of only 25 celebrities in the E-poll database to have an E-score of 100 and has maintained that perfect rating for 8 years. She recently won Best Brand Award, Celebrity, Influencer and Fashion at the 2023 Licensing International Excellence Awards.
To date, Parton has donated over 255 million books to children around the world with her Imagination Library. Her children's book, Coat of Many Colors, was dedicated to the Library of Congress to honor the Imagination Library's 100 millionth book donation. In March 2022, Parton released the book Run Rose Run which she co-authored with James Patterson which sat at # 1 on the New York Times Best Sellers List for five weeks, a record for this decade. She also released an accompanying album of the same name with original songs inspired by the book which reached #1 on three charts simultaneously — Country, Americana/Folk and Bluegrass Albums. From her “Coat of Many Colors” while working “9 to 5,” no dream is too big and no mountain too high for the country girl who turned the world into her stage.
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