Dolly Parton to Play the Ryman for W.O. Smith School of Music Benefit

Dolly Parton will perform a stripped-down concert, dubbed "Dolly Parton: Pure and Simple," on July 31 at the Ryman Auditorium, to benefit the W.O. Smith School of Music.

The show is the Dustin Wells Foundation's Gift of Music concert, and all proceeds from the event will benefit the foundation, which was created in 2005, in memory of Dustin Jack Wells, a music major at Belmont University, who was killed in a car accident.

“The ‘Gift of Music’ is something that runs deep within my kinfolks,” Parton says in a statement. “I love and cherish the Ryman, and I am really excited to perform there to help raise money for the Dustin Wells Foundation ... Through all of us working together, we can make a difference in helping a child feel the magic in making music.”

Other artists who have performed for the renowned school's benefit concert since its inception in 2008 include Ronnie Dunn, Kellie Pickler, Dierks Bentley, Lady Antebellum, Peter Cetera, Lee Greenwood, Peter Frampton and Gunnar Nelson, among others.

Parton, who is currently working with NBC on producing several TV movies based on her extraordinary life, said after her 2014 Blue Smoke World Tour that she was going to take time off from performing to work on other projects.

"I do not plan to do any more touring in the near future," Parton stated at the time. “For now, I’m going to concentrate more on the business end of things and creative stuff like the musical, movie and TV.”

However, Parton will perform for two days at her own Dollywood theme park, in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., in honor of the park's 30th anniversary. Those shows are sold out.

Parton's Ryman performance will be her first headlining Nashville show in 12 years. Tickets for "Dolly Parton: Pure and Simple" will go on sale on Saturday (June 20) at Ryman.com. A limited number of VIP packages will also be available at DustinWellsGiftofMusic.com.

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