University of Louisville Archives and Special Collections has released never-before-published photographs of Dolly Parton performing in Louisville, pulling images from a massive newspaper archive that had sat largely unseen for decades. The photos capture Parton sharing the stage with Kenny Rogers during a 1977 concert at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center, part of a collection that also includes shots of her performing at Louisville Gardens in 1993.
The release comes as tributes to Parton pour in following her death on August 25, 2026, at age 80, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal. The 1977 concert at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center featured Kenny Rogers, according to a Facebook post from UofL archivists.
UofL Archives officials, in the same post, said Parton “wove complex and caring tales of the region’s people and history through song,” and that she helped people “find meaning and value in their words and how they shared them.” The photographs are part of the Barry Bingham Jr. Courier-Journal Photograph Collection, a trove held by UofL Archives and Special Collections.
A Pulitzer-Winning Photographer’s Lens
The man behind the camera at the 1977 show was Bryan Moss, a staff photographer for the Courier-Journal and Louisville Times who was part of the paper’s 1976 Pulitzer Prize-winning team for its coverage of court-mandated school busing in Louisville, according to the Indiana University Media School. Moss worked at 13 newspapers across nine states over a four-decade photojournalism career, the same profile notes…