How Dolly Parton honored Leslie Jordan in 'Call Me Kat' tribute episode

Dolly Parton bid a surprise farewell to the late Leslie Jordan in an emotional video tribute that aired during the Jan. 5 winter premiere of "Call Me Kat."

The country music superstar, who turns 77 later this month, kicked off the video by singing a few lines from the song "Where the Soul Never Dies," which she and Jordan recorded together for Jordan's 2021 album "Company’s Comin’."

Parton then went on to address the late Emmy winner directly in the video, which was published by Entertainment Weekly.

“I know usually at a memorial, people talk about somebody. Well, I’m going to talk to you, because there is that place on the other side, and I’m certainly going to see you there, little brother.

"You left a lot of people here with a lot of precious, precious memories. Everybody loved you, but I doubt many of them loved you more than I did," she said.

"Anyhow, I just want you to know that we all love you, we all miss you, and I bet you’re having a big laugh over all of us being sad and sorrowful," added Parton. "And I know that would be the last thing you would want us to be. You made us happy while you were here, and we’re happy that you’re at peace.

"I just want you to know that," she continued, singing, 'I will always love you.'" She added, "Goodbye, my sweet Leslie. See you over there."

Jordan died in a car accident at age 67 on Oct. 24 after suffering a medical emergency while driving.

Mayim Bialik, the star of "Call Me Kat," revealed Jan. 5 on Instagram that she found her own special way to honor Jordan on the episode — by wearing the late actor's rainbow-striped sneakers during filming.

Bialik, 47, posted a photo of herself wearing a pair of Jordan's sneakers, writing, "I didn’t know until Leslie died that he and I wore the same size shoes. For our tribute episode, I am wearing one of his signature rainbow sneakers he’s been wearing on our show. They’re under the table and you may not even see them on camera, but I knew they were under there. Looking for any way to keep him close I guess. 🌈"

The Fox sitcom centers on Kat (Bialik), the owner of a cat cafe in Louisville, Kentucky. Jordan played the cafe’s fun-loving baker Phil. The show also stars Cheyenne Jackson, Kyla Pratt, Christopher Rivas and Swoosie Kurtz.

Earlier this week, Bialik explained to EW that she and her fellow cast members “felt very strongly” that Jordan’s character shouldn’t die on the show. Instead, they and the show's writers opted to have Phil move away. This week's winter premiere found Kat and the others adjusting to Phil's departure.

"So, we found a way for him to live forever," explained Bialik. "His character will live forever, and he can have whatever adventures we all imagine. And because we break the fourth wall anyway, we were able to use that convention to say simply, we gave this character a happy ending, but there’s a lot more going on here."

This article was originally published on TODAY.com