John Mayer paid tribute to Dolly Parton during a SiriusXM concert in Amagansett, New York, by including a short instrumental tribute in his final song. Mayer worked the melody of Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” into the introduction of his hit single, “Gravity.” The audience quickly picked up the iconic melody and cheered in appreciation.
Speaking in an interview with Bravo’s Andy Cohen, which aired on SiriusXM in conjunction with the concert, Mayer elaborated on his thoughts on Parton: “I think Dolly would be really happy to see that on the day of her passing, the world came together in a way that it hadn’t in a very long time to celebrate someone. I haven’t felt connected like that for a long time, and here’s a human being who carried herself through every decade of her life perfectly. I don’t know that there are many people in this world left that can galvanize a very fractured world to come together and share love for one person.
“And so this is one human being who’s left this incredible testament to love throughout their whole life, and you can feel it,” he said. “This is what a life well-lived looks like, feels like, sounds like and you take apart every layer of herself and career, and it’s a brilliant, classy, talented, fully artistic rendering. That is how you give your life to the thing you love.”
