Fans took to social media to praise the iconic singer for doing the responsible thing by avoiding travel and big groups amid the pandemic while remaining as spectacular as always.
The legendary Dolly Parton had a responsible yet special treat for her fans on Thanksgiving day as she put on a festive performance as part of the socially distanced Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on Thursday morning. Although the 74-year-old did not appear live in New York City, she still managed to spread loads of holiday cheer as she sang "Holly Jolly Christmas" from in front of a backdrop of a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Nashville. Fans took to social media to praise the iconic singer for doing the responsible thing by avoiding travel and big groups amid the pandemic while remaining as spectacular as always.
Every musical number in #dollypartonschristmasonthesquare felt like a highlight of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and I am so HERE for that kind of joy and ridiculousness.@DollyParton sure is a damn Christmas angel. pic.twitter.com/fzv00SbHqy
— Andrea Hogue Reynolds (@AndreaHReynolds) November 23, 2020
According to Independent, there was no in-person attendance of the annual Thanksgiving parade this year in light of the Coronavirus pandemic. Instead of the huge crowds that typically line the 2.5-mile route through the heart of Manhattan, the 94th instalment of the event was geared to a TV audience. The parade took place on the block around Herald Square where Macy's flagship department store is located with organizers urging pedestrians to maintain social distancing and avoid congregating in an effort to avoid large crowds.
Watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has been my family’s tradition as long as I can remember.
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) November 26, 2020
I know I’m getting older, though, when I’m more excited to see Dolly Parton than Santa. pic.twitter.com/XtPwYxmwlC
You would think Dolly Parton is too busy saving the world to appear in the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade, but nope, here she is. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/0tD9SBejYt
— Tiffany Yates Martin (@FoxPrintEd) November 26, 2020
The best part of the Macy’s #ThanksgivingDayParade wasn’t even from NYC and I appreciate she wouldn’t risk it! Thank you @DollyParton for brightening this Thanksgiving day morning!🦃🎄🎶 pic.twitter.com/1Hv354sFU9
— Ana Sofía (@anasof) November 26, 2020
"We have to plan this thing about 18 months out, because we do things like select the bands, we design and build our floats, our balloons, and everything," said executive producer Susan Tercero told Variety. "As you can imagine, when we got to March of this past year, we’d already had a parade plan." Although much of the originally planned elements remained, as the pandemic raged on this year, producers realized that they'd have to reinvent the parade this year. "Every year we have two parades: There's the one for New Yorkers who line the parade along the streets, and we knew that couldn't happen, we couldn't march from uptown to downtown," Tercero said. "The other parade is the one that happens on television for 50 million people. We knew that was going to be our safest way of moving forward."
"We found ways to have a balance of both [live and pre-tape]," Tercero told the publication ahead of the event. "We will still be doing it live because there is some magic in that. I think that people are missing live entertainment, one of those things where you never know what’s going to happen. And people will want to tune in to see how we put it all together." The overall number of participants was also reduced by approximately 88 percent and split over three days to avoid putting anyone at risk.
A look back at the visual history of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.https://t.co/luRFOuS3Bs
— The New York Times (@nytimes) November 26, 2020
In addition to Parton, musical appearances included performances by Patti LaBelle, Keke Palmer, Jordin Sparks, Pentatonix, Bebe Rexha, and the Radio City Rockettes. The show was opened by Jimmy Fallon and The Roots. Meanwhile, many Twitter users were of the opinion that it was Parton's involvement and performance that truly made the event special this year. The beloved singer recently also won accolades on social media for having helped fund the groundbreaking Moderna COVID-19 vaccine research. While the internet praised the "Jolene" singer for supporting such an important cause, Parton appeared to be just as surprised as anyone about her role in the scientific breakthrough.
When I donated the money to the Covid fund I just wanted it to do good and evidently, it is! Let’s just hope we can find a cure real soon. pic.twitter.com/dQgDWexO0C
— Dolly Parton (@DollyParton) November 17, 2020
"Yeah, that's what I understand this morning," she told NBC's "Today" Tuesday when asked about the social media buzz. "I haven't read up enough. They told me that just before I went on the air that they may be asking me about that. I'm just happy that anything I do can help somebody else, and when I donated the money to the COVID fund, I just wanted it to do good, and evidently, it is. Let's just hope we find a cure real soon."