There will doubtless be tributes to Dolly Parton on many upcoming awards shows – the CMA Awards, the ACM Awards, the Grammys and the Oscars, to name a few. But the Primetime Emmys, airing on Monday (Sept. 14) — just three weeks after Parton died of cancer at age 80 — were the first.

Sally Field, who co-starred with Parton in the 1989 film Steel Magnolias, presented the tribute, which featured a performance by Parton’s longtime friend, Reba McEntire.

The spot was extremely well-produced, though it didn’t mention that Parton first rose to prominence in 1967 on a TV program, The Porter Wagoner Show, or that she soared to stardom in the late 1970s with winning appearances on such programs as The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, or that she won a Primetime Emmy five years ago.

“If there are truly angels on Earth, then we just lost one, Dolly Parton,” Field said. “It was my great good fortune to have worked with Dolly in a film called Steel Magnolias, and over the years, I never stopped loving her. Though we lived very far apart, I adored her from day one. How could you not? She was genuine and humble, supportive, and blisteringly funny, with a bawdy sense of humor that would send any rude guy looking for a place to hide. I couldn’t see then what a real giant Dolly was – not just as an artist, but as a human. She was a humanitarian whose contributions had made a profound difference in the lives of so many in her home state of Tennessee and across our country. God bless you, Dolly Parton, my friend. I am not the only one on earth that will love you forever and ever.”

The show then aired a clip of Parton performing in 1983. “I’m very very proud of the fact that I had the kind of parents that I did and grew up in the Smoky Mountains, the Appalachian Mountains, and I’ve written a song that touches me very deep, and I’m sure that in your own way, that you certainly will relate to this. This song, like I say, is very important to me, and I hope you like it. And if you don’t like it, well, if you don’t mind, I would rather not hear about it later. OK? It’s a song that I call ‘Appalachian Memories.’”

Parton included the song on her 1983 album Burlap & Satin. The song wasn’t a hit, even on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart, but it was a great choice here because it meant a lot to Parton. And it showed the depth of her catalog.

McEntire performed it live, with her characteristic class and warmth. “I love you, Dolly, so much,” she said at the end of her performance.

Parton won a Primetime Emmy five years ago as executive producer of Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square, which was voted outstanding television movie. She received her first Primetime Emmy nod 48 years ago as a guest on Cher’s ABC special, Cher … Special. She received three more nominations as executive producer of the specials Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love (2017), Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings: These Old Bones (2020) and Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas (2023), all of which were nominated for outstanding television movie.

The segment saluting Parton aired prior to the annual In Memoriam segment, which included a Noah Kahan performance.

Noah Kahan soundtracked an especially emotional “in memoriam” segment at the 2026 Primetime Emmy Awards on Monday night (Sept. 14), which was introduced by the movie and TV children of late actress Catherine O’Hara.

Home Alone star Macauley Culkin tearfully remembered how O’Hara showed up for him in life just like a real parent would after first portraying his mother in the 1990 Christmas classic. Then Schitt’s Creek stars Annie Murphy and Dan Levy both shared joyful memories of O’Hara on set as their quirky mother in the 2015-20 television comedy as well as sweet recollections of how strangers rallied around them in the wake of her death at age 71 in January.

Following their intro, Kahan took the stage to perform Simon & Garfunkel‘s “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” playing acoustic guitar and backed by a mournful string section. The folk duo’s 1970 six-week Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit has long soundtracked poignant moments, thanks to its sad-but-hopeful lyrics: “When darkness comes and pain is all around/ Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down.”

Once Kahan finished his performance, Jamie Lee Curtis took the stage to pay tribute to Rob Reiner, the actor/director who first made a name for himself playing Michael “Meathead” Stivic on the 1970s sitcom All in the Family and was tragically murdered alongside his wife, Michelle, in December. Curtis sobbed throughout her remembrance to the Hollywood legend. “He was generous and kind and funny as hell and a friend to all.”

Earlier in the Emmys broadcast, there was a stand-alone tribute to Dolly Parton, who died last month of cancer at age 80. Sally Field, who co-starred with Parton in Steel Magnolias, introduced the tribute and Reba McEntire performed “Appalachian Memories.”

She might not have been at the Emmy Awards on Monday night (Sept. 14), but Taylor Swift was still on our TV screens thanks to Monday Night Football.

Swift opted to attend husband Travis Kelce’s season-opening Kansas City Chiefs game against the Denver Broncos. She was joined by her mom Andrea, dad Scott and brother Austin in the suite, as well as her newly minted in-laws, Donna and Ed Kelce, and a surprise face: Tom Cruise.

The blockbuster actor sat next to Swift in the suite and was spotted during the broadcast chatting up the pop superstar and even sharing a hug to celebrate a Chiefs touchdown. Cruise is clearly a friend of newlyweds Swift and Kelce, as he was in attendance at their July 3 nuptials, according to post-wedding anecdotes from sportscasters Joe Buck and Greg Olsen.

While we haven’t yet gotten a full look at Swift’s game day outfit, online fashion sleuths have already pinpointed that she’s wearing the red-and-white gingham polo dress from Guest in Residence based on the brief glimpse we’ve gotten on TV. The instantly in-demand dress appears to already be sold out in Swift’s color scheme.

While Swift chose the Chiefs/Broncos game over Monday’s Emmys, she did pre-tape a Law & Order: SVU sketch with her longtime friend Mariska Hargitay, who hosted the awards show. The sketch was all about decoding whether Swift would attend the show — seeing as she was nominated this year for outstanding variety special (pre-recorded), among five nominations for Disney+’s Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour | The Final Show; The Muppet Show special starring Sabrina Carpenter took the prize instead.

The IFPI, the international trade body that represents the recorded music business, has launched a new initiative through which participants commit to baseline practices to prevent, detect and respond to streaming fraud.

Dubbed the “Streaming Integrity Initiative,” or SII, it has so far been supported by Absolute Label Services, ADA, AWAL, CD Baby, CmdShft, Ditto Music, FUGA, GoDigital, HYBE, IDOL, IMPALA, InnerCat Music Group, Merlin, Redeye, Revelator, RouteNote, Secretly Distribution, Symphonic, Sony Music Group, The Orchard, Too Lost, Universal Music Group, Virgin Music Group and Warner Music Group. Notably, the largest DIY music distributor, Distrokid, has not yet signed on.

To be part of SII, participants sign on to five core commitments, including:

SII is the latest move by the recorded music industry to get a handle on the persistent issue of streaming fraud, or the manipulation of digital service providers (DSPs) to siphon royalties from plays that are not from genuine fans. Experts say that the problem is significant, costing artists and platforms hundreds of millions, or even billions, each year — and as AI makes it easier than ever to perform these schemes, it’s become a hot topic.

In recent years, Trust and Safety, a symposium run by by Music Business Association, was formed for the express purpose of educating the music establishment about the issue. Two years ago, a coalition of industry players formed the Music Fights Fraud Alliance (MFFA) in the U.S. to band together distributors and streaming services and establish a way to share data and coordinate anti-fraud efforts. A representative for SII says that while the initiative liases closely with the MFFA, it is not directly connected.

SII is part of a wider campaign from the IFPI called End Streaming Fraud that aims to raise awareness for the issue. According to French streaming service Deezer, the problem is deeply tied to the rise of generative AI music online: The service reported earlier this year that up to 80% of streams on AI songs are artificial. The development of agentic AI also poses a threat, allowing bad actors to more easily scale illegal bot farms.

“Streaming fraud misleads fans and deprives legitimate artists and songwriters of income that should rightfully flow to them,” Victoria Oakley, CEO of IFPI, said in a statement. “This is theft, plain and simple. We welcome the leadership shown by the first distributors to publicly support the Streaming Integrity Initiative, and hope this leads to direct, effective and coordinated action to protect artists, songwriters and fans from streaming fraud.”

“Tackling illegitimate activity effectively requires every part of the industry to move together,” added Sarah McNabb, Merlin’s director of content integrity. “These commitments reflect Merlin’s own position and align closely with what Merlin already requires of its members. It’s encouraging to see so many of our members already putting their names to this announcement, and we’re glad to stand alongside IFPI in this initiative as it continues to grow.”

Helen Smith, IMPALA’s executive chair, said: “IMPALA’s Digital Music Plan adopted earlier this year set out our recommendations for growing the market and identified industry collaboration on a new scale as a top priority. With recommendations for DSPs and labels as well as distributors, working together on integrity, promoting human artistry and other key aspects across the whole chain is vital.”

Taylor Swift’s Law & Order: SVU dreams all came true Monday night (Sept. 14), as she and her cat Olivia Benson co-starred alongside the original Olivia Benson in a surprise Emmys sketch.

Hilariously, the premise of the sketch — which saw Emmys host Mariska Hargitay embodying the role she’s played for 27 seasons on the NBC crime drama — was whether or not Swift would be attending that night’s 2026 Primetime Emmy Awards.

Hargitay and her SVU co-stars — including rapper-turned-actor Ice-T as Sgt. Odafin “Fin” Tutuola — all gathered around an elaborate evidence board connected by pushpins and strings making increasingly outlandish connections between the night’s nominated television shows and Swift’s musical universe.

All of a sudden, Swift emerged wearing her best detective suit to let the group know: “Hey guys, this isn’t adding up.” After Ice-T let the “rookie” speak, Swift said the answer might be hiding in plain sight and rattled off four clues that are sure to send Swifties into a tizzy: “Saccharide. Aries. From the Vineyard. North or South.”

“This rookie’s weird,” Ice-T responded.

Swift regained her composure and came to this conclusion: Her category came up during the first two nights of the Emmys last weekend, so why would she attend Monday’s show? Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour | The Final Show was nominated for five Emmys this year, while Swift herself was up for one: outstanding variety special (pre-recorded), which ended up going to The Muppet Show.

Then came the real answer: Swift’s husband Travis Kelce and his Kansas City Chiefs teammates were playing the Denver Broncos at the exact same time on Monday Night Football. “OK then she’s not gonna be there, ’cause her husband’s got a work thing,” chimes in Aimé Donna Kelly as Captain Renee Curry.

And that was the correct answer: Swift could be seen sharing a suite with Tom Cruise at the Chiefs’ home opening game on Monday night.

Below, watch the full surprise sketch: