According to WKRN News 2, Wednesday's 60th Annual CMA Awards at Bridgestone Arena will honor Dolly Parton, who the outlet reports has just passed away. "Dolly is so beloved," Belmont University music industry professor Don Cusick told the station.

The same broadcast will also mark Taylor Swift's return to the CMA stage after 13 years, a pairing of mourning and celebration that makes this anniversary show unlike any in recent memory.

WKRN frames the 60th CMA Awards as six decades of country music history leading to a single night, and the loss of Parton gives that milestone a somber undertone.

Cusick told the station that Swift, who announced her attendance after earning a Single of the Year nomination for "I Knew It, I Knew You," remains a "force to be reckoned with," and that country is "defined more by the singer than the song," keeping her roots country even after years of pop-oriented work.

The syndicated FOX station reports — per KOKH's coverage — that Brothers Osborne, Luke Bryan, Halestorm, HARDY and Marcus King will come together for a tribute to Brooks & Dunn as the duo receives the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award.

That multi-artist salute, alongside the Dolly Parton tribute whose performers remain unannounced, gives the 60th anniversary show two separate honors beyond the competitive awards.

Lainey Wilson will host for the third consecutive year, and announced performers include Luke Combs, Ella Langley and Chris Stapleton, with the full presenter list still unreleased as of Friday's announcements.

WKRN reports that this year's show spotlights the women shaping where the genre goes next, with Ella Langley leading all nominees at nine nods and Miranda Lambert close behind with seven. Kacey Musgraves and songwriter Ben West each picked up five nominations, per the FOX station coverage.

Cusick told WKRN that women are "leading the charge" — getting radio airplay and awards — while cautioning that "it's still rough for women to succeed. There's a barrier there that men tend not to have."

One detail in the pack stands out for Swift watchers: WKRN identifies her Single of the Year nominee "I Knew It, I Knew You" as coming from Toy Story 5, an unexpected source for a country awards nod that adds to her 25 previous CMA nominations.

The FOX stations note she first attended the CMA Awards in 2006, won her first award in 2007, and remains the youngest artist ever to win Entertainer of the Year, which she took home in 2009.

WKRN quotes Cusick arguing that even after crossing musical boundaries, her return to this stage is unsurprising — her country roots have never really left.

The show airs Wednesday, Nov. 18, from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, with organizers still holding back the list of Dolly Parton tribute performers and the full slate of presenters, according to the FOX station coverage.

WKRN points to the longer stakes: Cusick told the station that keeping audiences engaged through the 70th anniversary depends on how well the broadcast delivers, saying "live is live; you can't replace live."

The outlet reports FOX 17 News will cover the red carpet and the ceremony from inside, so fans will get full coverage of both the tributes and the competitive races when country music's biggest night finally arrives.