Harry Styles pays tribute to Dolly Parton at Madison Square Garden
Harry Styles paid tribute to Dolly Parton during the opening night of his Madison Square Garden residency in New York on Wednesday.
The British singer honoured the country music legend, who died on Tuesday at the age of 80, by playing her original version of I Will Always Love You during his concert.
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Styles paused the show to acknowledge the musicians who have influenced him throughout his career, before addressing Parton directly.
“I wanna say a proper thank you to all the musicians over the years that’ve inspired me. Dolly, we love you, thank you so much,” he told the audience.
Parton’s 1974 recording of I Will Always Love You then played through the arena, with fans holding up their phone lights as the song filled Madison Square Garden.
The tribute came during the first of Styles’ 30 scheduled concerts at Madison Square Garden, part of his Together, Together tour.
The 32-year-old also made several changes to his usual show for the opening night, rearranging the order of songs, introducing new versions of older tracks and performing a previously unreleased song live for the first time.
Styles also reflected on his long connection with Madison Square Garden, recalling his first performance there with One Direction in 2012 when he was 18.
His New York residency is due to continue until 31 October, before the tour heads to Australia in December.