During his monologue as the guest host for Jimmy Kimmel Live last night (August 25th), Jelly Roll paid homage to the late great Dolly Parton, who passed away earlier that day.

Parton's death was confirmed via a pre-recorded video message from Parton's nephew and longstanding Head of Security, Bryan Seaver. The country legend's family later shared via an official statement that Parton had died after a brief cancer battle.

With Jelly stepping in for Jimmy Kimmel this week on the late night talk-show, the ’Need a Favor’ hitmaker made sure to take time to pay homage to Parton in his opening monologue.

Jelly began, “We lost a legend today. She was such an inspiration to so many, myself included. We’re both from Tennessee and she meant a lot to my family, y’all. We used to sit around the kitchen table and listen to her music together as a family. I’ll never forget it”.

He continued, “I learned so much from Dolly over the years about songwriting, how to handle this crazy business, and how to support your community. So I want to send my love to East Tennessee and Sevier County right now and representing her”.

Jelly concluded, “We love you, Dolly. We miss you. She was infinitely talented. She was relentlessly funny, and adored by all. She might be the last American that everyone liked. We will miss her dearly. Rest in peace, Dolly. We will always love you”.

Jelly has spoken regularly about how influential Parton's music has been throughout his life, with the country-rock maverick recalling sitting at home with his family and listening to her catalogue during a heartfelt Instagram post shared in 2023.

In that post, he outlined how special it was getting to meet Parton, “Growing up in Tennessee Dolly Parton was right there next to Jesus, Lynyrd Skynyrd and College Football. Having an opportunity to just express my gratitude for everything Dolly did for my family, music and Tennessee was a blessing . Many of nights we sat around the kitchen table and listen Dolly Parton. And just like the queen she is, Dolly dropped a new album today called Rockstar because she said if she was going to be in the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame she needed to earn it. Everything I’ve ever learned about how to do interviews in the music business and how to carry myself I’ve learned from watching Dolly Parton. This is UNREAL!”

Jelly's fond tribute joins countless others from across the country music world and beyond, with artists like Elton John, Beyoncé, Eminem, Lainey Wilson, Ella Langley, Tim McGraw, George Strait, Alan Jackson, Paul McCartney and more honouring Parton.

Elsewhere in his Jimmy Kimmel Live monologue, Jelly addressed the outrage he sparked with his jabs at President Trump the night before, underlining that he felt like every President should be able to take jokes and sending a few more jibes his way.