Dolly Parton Receives $100 Million Award From Amazon’s Jeff Bezos

Dolly Parton has won a lot of prizes in her life. The beloved country legend has a long list of laurels from the Grammys, Emmys, ACMs, CMAs, AMAs, Billboard, and People’s Choice awards and even holds three Guinness World Records and the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy. Now, she has one more honor to add to her long list of accolades and it’s a doozy. The Country Queen has been awarded the Bezos Courage and Civility Award from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his partner Lauren Sanchez and it comes with a hefty prize—$100 million. 

“Jeff [Bezos] and I are so proud to share that we have a new Bezos Courage and Civility Award winner — a woman who gives with her heart and leads with love and compassion in every aspect of her work,” Sanchez, posted on Instagram alongside a video of their speech. “We can’t wait to see all the good that you’re going to do with this $100 million award, @DollyParton.”

Naturally, Dolly immediately sent a thank you note via social media.  “I try to put my money where my heart is. I will do my best to do good things with this money,” Parton tweeted. “Thank you @JeffBezos #LaurenSanchez”.

The massive award comes with only one string attached—the money has to be given away. That can be done either through her own charity, like the Dollywood Foundation and the Imagination Libarary, or given to other organizations that the recipient thinks are doing great work.

Dolly, of course, has a long history of doing incredible good deeds. Whether she’s helping fund a pandemic-busting vaccine, helping fight pediatric illnesses, or helping kids tap into their love of books with Imagination Library, she has made giving back a priority. We can’t wait to see what she does with this latest prize.