The 76-year-old country legend has been speculated by sources to be the recipient of the prestigious award, which she will be honoured with at the glitzy award ceremony early next year.
According to New York Post’s Page Six column, several sources have named the ‘9 to 5’ hitmaker as the honouree for the gong, but said that a Recording Academy spokeswoman could not confirm her selection, stating that “nothing has been finalised” as of the time of writing.
If Dolly does get the award, she will be the first country and western star ever to win the coveted prize, and one of only six individual female artists.
Previous winners have included the likes of the late Aretha Franklin – who passed away last month – Sir Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel and Paul Simon.
Outside of her chart-topping music career, the ‘Jolene’ singer is an active philanthropist, and recently revealed her initiative to inspire children to read more books, by assisting with the YouTube Kids’ global Reading Month.
Dolly – whose father Lee, couldn’t read or write – said: “I believe initiatives like Reading Month in YouTube Kids that encourage kid’s love of reading at an early age are so important.
“These are the moments when dreams are born and these are the memories that last forever.”
In 1995, Dolly launched her own book-gifting scheme that provides free books to children between birth and the age of five in communities in the US, the UK, Canada and Australia.
Dolly’s not-for-profit organisation donated its 100 millionth book earlier this year, and the chart-topping star remains as enthusiastic about the cause as ever.
The star launched the scheme in memory of her late father, and previously said: “It’s a fact that the most important thing we can do to inspire kids to be lifetime learners is to read to them as much as possible.”