www.dollymania.net                News                          December 2018

Dec. 31:
Chart Updates Down Under For 'Dumplin',' 'Very Best Of'
Dolly's Dumplin' Original Motion Picture Soundtrack loses eight spots to No. 19 in its fourth week on the Australian country albums chart, it was revealed Sunday, while the "gold series" re-issue of The Very Best Of Dolly Parton (Australian Tour Edition) holds steady at No. 9 in its 380th chart week since its original 2007 release.

'Jolene' Cover Receives Grammy Nomination
Although Dolly wasn't nominated for a Grammy this year, one of her songs is. A jazz version of "Jolene" arranged by Dan Pugach and Nicole Zuratis is nominated for Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals, at this year's ceremony. Art Voice notes here that while the couple has been working together professionally for a decade, they recently married. The song appeared on the Dan Pugach Nonet album Plus One featuring Ingrid Jensen on trumpet, Zuratis on vocals and Pugach on drums.


Dec. 29:
'Dumplin'' Soundtrack Rises Again Overseas
In its fourth week on the charts across the pond, Dolly's Dumplin' Original Motion Picture Soundtrack regains two to No. 2 British Country Albums and one to No. 15 British Soundtrack Albums Chart. In other overseas chart news, The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe by Dolly, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt slips one to No. 2 British country compilation albums chart in its 120th chart week. Also on the U.K. country compilation albums chart, Harris's Original Album Series: Volume 1 (with two Dolly covers, one track with Dolly harmony and one track with Trio harmony by Dolly and Ronstadt) holds steady at No. 7, while her Original Album Series, Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) drops out of the top 20, down from No. 20, and Ronstadt's Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) loses five to No. 15. The Essential Dolly Parton drops three on the country compilation tally to No. 19.


Dec. 27:
New 'Dumplin'' Interview, Review As Awards Shows Near
Although the promotional campaign for Dolly's Dumplin' Original Motion Picture Soundtrack has died down, a new interview with Dolly on the project surfaced Wednesday with Deadline here. In addition, Blue Ridge Public Radio profiled the comic who played Aunt Lucy, Hilliary Begley, here, and Vice reviewed the film here.

Soundtrack Slides On U.S. Charts
Now that the film has been out, it appears the descent of Dolly's Dumplin' Original Motion Picture Soundtrack has begun with the Dec. 29 Billboard charts released this week reflecting its third week of release. The album loses a dozen places to No. 28 country albums, one spot to No. 6 Americana/folk albums and six spaces to No. 14 soundtrack albums. The collection falls off the Top 200, down from No. 143, top 100 album sales, down from No. 60, and top 25 digital album sales, down from No. 14. Once Upon A Christmas with Kenny Rogers slips six on the Country Albums Chart to No. 40 and falls off the overall top 100 album sales tally, down from No. 97, while Dolly's "Hard Candy Christmas" falls five to No. 36 Holiday Digital Song Sales Chart. Dailey & Vincent's The Sounds Of Christmas, featuring a Dolly collaboration on "Road To Bethlehem," earns a 10th consecutive week at No. 1 Bluegrass Albums. Dolly's original recording of "Jolene" falls back off the digital country song sales tally, down from No. 22.

A Look At Dolly's Helping Hand In Wildfires
Blue Ridge Public Radio also took a look back at Dolly's efforts to help victims of the 2016 Smoky Mountain wildfires and the opportunity for social scientists to study the impact a temporary guaranteed income for those she helped had on them. Check it out here.


Dec. 24:

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

'Dumplin'' Slips Slightly On Australian Albums Charts
Dolly's Dumplin' Original Motion Picture Soundtrack inches down two digits to No. 11 in its third week on the Australian country albums chart, it was revealed Sunday, while the "gold series" re-issue of The Very Best Of Dolly Parton (Australian Tour Edition) gains four to No. 9 in its 379th chart week since its original 2007 release.


Dec. 22:
'Circle Of Love' Makes Google's Top Holiday Films List
Dolly Parton's Christmas Of Many Colors: Circle Of Love was watched by so many people two years ago that it is now a holiday classic. Google Trends this week revealed the nation's most popular Christmas films based on the number of Google searches recorded by the search engine, and Dolly's movie ranked No. 7. It was the No. 1 holiday movie search in four states: Tennessee, Missouri, Mississippi and South Carolina. Read more from Today here. The top 15 were:

  • 1. 'Twas The Night Before Christmas
  • 2. Bad Santa
  • 3. Elf
  • 4. A Christmas Story
  • 5. Country Christmas Album
  • 6. The Grinch
  • 7. Dolly Parton's Christmas Of Many Colors: Circle Of Love
  • 8. I'll Be Home For Christmas
  • 9. White Christmas
  • 10. Holiday Inn
  • 11. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
  • 12. Once Upon A Christmas Miracle
  • 13. The Santa Clause 3
  • 14. Eloise At Christmastime
  • 15. The Year Without Santa Claus

    Dolly's Recent Fallon Appearance To Repeat
    NBC announced Friday that it will repeat Dolly's November appearance on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon the evening of next Friday, Dec. 28. Dolly appears in an interview segment to promote her Netflix film Dumplin', performs a medley of Christmas songs with Fallon, and sings "Girl In The Movies" from the film soundtrack. Nick Kroll also appears, with a recurring joke about how much he dislikes Dolly, a gag that the audience did not appreciate very much, although his entire segment was pre-empted on the original broadcast night with a special news report on the death of former President George H. W. Bush.

    Overseas Chart Updates
    In its third week on the charts across the pond, Dolly's Dumplin' Original Motion Picture Soundtrack loses two to No. 4 British Country Albums and four to No. 16 British Soundtrack Albums Chart. In other overseas chart news, The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe by Dolly, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt remains at No. 1 British country compilation albums chart in its 119th chart week. Also on the U.K. country compilation albums chart, Harris's Original Album Series: Volume 1 (with two Dolly covers, one track with Dolly harmony and one track with Trio harmony by Dolly and Ronstadt) falls two to No. 7, while her Original Album Series, Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) drops three to No. 20 and Ronstadt's Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) dips three to No. 10. The Essential Dolly Parton re-enters the top 20 country compilation tally at No. 16.


    Dec. 20:
    Cast For Dolly's 'J.J. Sneed' Netflix Film Announced
    Netflix on Wednesday revealed the cast for another of Dolly's Heartstrings anthology series, the Western "J.J. Sneed." Once Upon A Time star Colin O'Donoghue stars as the titular outlaw in the 1880s, Willa Fitzgerald of the Scream television series as Maddie (presumably his girlfriend from whose perspective the song's story is told), David Denman of 12 Hours as Deke Fletcher, Dolly pal Mac Davis as Rev. Riggs and Vanessa Rubio of Cobra Kai as Cimmaron. Learn more from Deadline here.

    Another Positive 'Dumplin'' Review
    The Scary Mommy blog gushed over Dolly's Dumplin' Netflix film with a very positive review posted here Wednesday.


    Dec. 19:
    'Dumplin'' Sees Movement On U.S. Charts
    Thanks to a small increase in sales and significant increase in streams following the movie's premiere on Netflix, Dolly's Dumplin' Original Motion Picture Soundtrack sees movement on the Dec. 22 Billboard charts released Tuesday reflecting its second week of release. The album holds steady at No. 16 country albums, gains 17 spots to No. 143 Top 200, and rises five places to No. 14 digital album sales. It slides a dozen digits to No. 60 album sales, one to No. 5 Americana/folk albums and one to No. 8 soundtrack albums. Once Upon A Christmas with Kenny Rogers holds steady on the Country Albums Chart at No. 34 and on the overall top 100 album sales tally at No. 97 while falling off the top 100 Canadian Albums Chart, down from No. 90, while Dolly's "Hard Candy Christmas" gains 12 to No. 31 Holiday Digital Song Sales Chart. Dailey & Vincent's The Sounds Of Christmas, featuring a Dolly collaboration on "Road To Bethlehem," earns a ninth consecutive week at No. 1 Bluegrass Albums. Presumably due to the film, her original recording of "Jolene" re-enters the digital country song sales tally at No. 22.

    Garth, Trisha, Miley, Katy Added To MusiCares Bill
    The Recording Academy announced Tuesday the addition of Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, goddaughter Miley Cyrus and pop star Katy Perry to the performers paying tribute to Dolly at February's MusiCares Person of the Year gala for the Grammys. They join previously-announced performers Dolly, Vince Gill, Don Henley, Norah Jones, P!nk, Kacey Musgraves, Willie Nelson, Mark Ronson, Mavis Staples, Chris Stapleton, Leon Bridges, Lauren Daigle, Linda Perry and Shawn Mendes.


    Dec. 18:
    'Girl In The Movies' Makes Oscar Shortlist
    Dolly and Linda Perry's "Girl In The Movies" from the Dumplin' Original Motion Picture Soundtrack on Monday cleared its first hurdle toward an Academy Award, making the 15-song shortlist for this year's Best Original Song Oscar from which Academy voters will select the five final nominees. The song had previously been nominated for the Golden Globe and three of its four competitors for that honor are on the shortlist as well (frontrunner "Shallow" from A Star Is Born, "All The Stars" from Black Panther and "Revelation" from Boy Erased; missing was Annie Lennox's "Requiem For A Private War" from A Private War). Mary Poppins Returns earned two spots on the list with "The Place Where Lost Things Go" and "Trip A Little Light Fantastic." The others on the list were "I'll Fight" from RBG, "Suspirium" from Suspiria, "When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings" from The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, "Treasure" from Beautiful Boy, "We Won't Move" from The Hate U Give, "The Big Unknown" from Widows, "OYAHYTT" from Sorry to Bother You, "Keep Reachin'" from Quincy and "A Place Called Slaughter Race" from Ralph Breaks the Internet. Coverage is available from Variety here. In related news, The New York Times shared a cute piece detailing how congenial she was with the press at a campaign event for the song here, and Billboard interviewed Ginger Minj about her work on the film and the drag video for Dolly's "Jolene" remix here.

    Have A Holly, Dolly Spotify Christmas
    Dolly over the weekend released her Spotify holiday music list. Check it out here!


    Dec. 17:
    'Dumplin'' Gains On Australian Albums Charts
    Dolly's Dumplin' Original Motion Picture Soundtrack inches up one place to No. 9 in its second week on the Australian country albums chart, it was revealed Sunday, while the "gold series" re-issue of The Very Best Of Dolly Parton (Australian Tour Edition) rises six spots to No. 13 in its 378th chart week since its original 2007 release.


    Dec. 15:
    British Charts, 'USA Today' Recognize 'Dumplin''
    In its second week on the charts across the pond, Dolly's Dumplin' Original Motion Picture Soundtrack holds steady at No. 2 British Country Albums but slides four spots to No. 12 British Soundtrack Albums Chart. In other news, USA Today named the soundtrack here one of the 19 best albums out of Nashville this year, and Glamour Magazine interviewed Dolly and star Jennifer Anniston about the project here. Finally, positive reviews came out Friday from Variety here, Autostraddle here or Harpers Bazaar here.

    Overseas Chart Updates
    In other overseas chart news, The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe by Dolly, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt remains at No. 1 British country compilation albums chart in its 118th chart week. Also on the U.K. country compilation albums chart, Harris's Original Album Series: Volume 1 (with two Dolly covers, one track with Dolly harmony and one track with Trio harmony by Dolly and Ronstadt) inches up one to No. 5, while her Original Album Series, Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) loses six to No. 17 and Ronstadt's Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) moves up three to No. 7.

    Kathie Lee Says Dolly Project In The Works
    In an interview with Entertainment Tonight about her upcoming departure from Today, Kathie Lee Gifford noted she is working with Dolly and Roma Downey for a project together. Read more here. Thanks, Chuck!


    Dec. 13:
    Drag Queen 'Jolene' Video Premieres


    RuPaul's Drag Race alums Ginger, Alaska, Dela, Bebe and Katya take on the remix of "Jolene" that appears on the streaming version of Dolly's Dumplin' Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Netflix released the music video for the track on Wednesday to continue promotions of the film. Watch it on YouTube here or in the media player above. In other news, Dolly was interviewed about the film by The Hollywood Reporter in a piece published Wednesday here where she discusses why goddaughter Miley Cyrus's vocals had to be removed from the soundtrack (although she believes Miley plans to record her own version of the song sometime in the future) and how she preferred "Red Shoes" for the Oscar campaign but the studio decided "Girl In The Movies" would have a better chance at awards. And The Blast reports here that following the premiere of the movie, Dolly's online music streams shot up 132 percent compared to the previous month and that streams of the film's soundtrack increased a third, so we may see its chart performance increase next week.

    Dec. 12:
    'Dumplin'' Debuts On Charts In Mid-Level Numbers
    With first-week sales of about 6,000 units, Dolly's Dumplin' Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was the week's 48th-biggest-selling album, the Dec. 15 Billboard charts released Tuesday confirmed. The album debuts at No. 16 country albums. Once streaming totals are added in, its No. 48 Album Sales ranking drops to No. 160 on the overall Top 200 albums chart. The set also comes in at No. 4 Americana albums, No. 7 soundtrack albums and No. 19 digital albums. Once Upon A Christmas with Kenny Rogers gains 10 on the Country Albums Chart to No. 34 and falls off the 50-position overall Holiday Albums Chart, down from No. 48, but it re-enters both the overall top 100 album sales tally at No. 97 and Canadian Albums Chart at No. 90, while Dolly's "Hard Candy Christmas" re-enters the 50-position Holiday Digital Song Sales Chart at No. 43. Dailey & Vincent's The Sounds Of Christmas, featuring a Dolly collaboration on "Road To Bethlehem," earns an eighth consecutive week at No. 1 Bluegrass Albums.

    Dolly, Family React To Brother's Death
    Dolly on Tuesday addressed the passing of her brother, Floyd, which was reported here Monday evening, releasing a statement on behalf of her family: "Dolly, and the entire Parton Family, wish to thank everyone for their kindness. Yesterday, we laid our sweet baby brother to rest. We all sang his lovely song, 'Rocking Years,' together as a family at the service to say goodbye to him. He lived a short life of love and beautiful songs. Friends, fans and family may make a donation in his honor to the My People Senior Activity Center in Sevierville, Tennessee. Thank you, The Parton Family." Several national media outlets on Tuesday shared news of his passing.


    Dec. 11:
    'Girl' Nominated For Critics Choice Award
    The Broadcast Film Critics Association and Broadcast Television Journalists Association on Monday announced nominations for the 2019 Critics' Choice Awards, another precursor to the Academy Awards, and Dolly and Linda Perry scored a nod for "Girl In The Movies" from the Dumplin' Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. It will compete for Best Song against "All The Stars" from Black Panther, "I'll Fight" from RBG, "The Place Where Lost Things Go" from Mary Poppins Returns, "Shallow" from A Star Is Born and "Trip A Little Light Fantastic" from Mary Poppins Returns. Winners will be revealed live on the CW Network Jan. 11. Also, reviews came Monday from The Young Folks here and Culturess here as well as interviews with star Danielle Macdonald in The Hollywood Reporter here and director Anne Fletcher with Bustle here.

    In Memoriam: Floyd Parton
    The Parton family is mourning the death of Dolly's youngest brother, Floyd Estel Parton, who passed away Thursday at age 61. The twin to Freida Parton, he dabbled in entertainment like many of his siblings, mainly as a songwriter. Under the pen name Floyd Estel, he co-wrote with Dolly the song "Nickels & Dimes," which Dolly released in 1978 and performed again in the NBC movie Dolly Parton's Christmas Of Many Colors: Circle Of Love and has been covered by several artists including Buck Owens and George Burns. Using the Parton name, he wrote Dolly's No. 1 track "Rockin' Years" as well as the song "Tennessee, I Long To See You" which their brother, Randy, performed on Dolly's 1976-1977 variety show. He also performed the Dolly-penned "Waltz Me To Heaven" on the Rhinestone soundtrack and appeared in the film as a musician. Although unconfirmed word of his passing, including many notes of condolence from fans, began circulating on social media Friday morning, the family waited until Monday afternoon to release his obituary after a private funeral service had already been held. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be sent to the My People Senior Activity Center, 1220 West Main Street, Sevierville, TN 37862.

    Reba Sings 'Hard Candy Christmas'
    Reba hosted and performed on the CMA Christmas special Monday night, offering fans her cover of the Dolly holiday classic "Hard Candy Christmas." Check it out courtesy of Rolling Stone here.

    Dolly Christmas Special From 1969 Available For Viewing
    In 1969, Porter & Dolly were featured in a holiday special that also included the Wilburn Brothers, Loretta Lynn, and other Grand Ole Opry stars. Your webmaster came across a copy of An Old-Time Country Christmas and uploaded it to YouTube for your enjoyment. Watch here or in the media player below. Merry Christmas!


    Dec. 10:
    'Dumplin'' CD Debuts Down Under, Film Gets More Reviews


    The next set of charts for Dolly's Dumplin' Original Motion Picture Soundtrack came out over the weekend, showing good sales Down Under. The album debuted at No. 10 on the Australian country albums chart, the same position held last week by the "gold series" re-issue of The Very Best Of Dolly Parton (Australian Tour Edition), which this week lost nine places to No. 19 in its 377th chart week since its original 2007 release. In other news:
  • Coverage of the film continued over the weekend with an NPR interview with Dolly here and in the media player above, an interview by Danielle Macdonald with Teen Vogue here and another clip of Dolly and Jennifer Anniston on Entertainment Tonight which is available here.
  • Additional reviews came out from Hypable here, Pajiba here, IndieWire here and The Mary Sue here.
  • Although Dolly didn't get a Grammy nomination on Friday, her producer Linda Perry did. She became the first woman since 2014 nominated for Producer of the Year. In an interview about the nomination with Rolling Stone here, she noted she is doing another session in the studio with Dolly, Sheryl Crowe and Grimes.
  • Chinese Theatres posted to YouTube a video from Thursday night's premiere of the film at their Hollywood location. Check it out here or in the media player below. Thanks, Greg!

    Dec. 8:
    First 'Dumplin'' Chart Positions Revealed, Tons Of Reviews
    U.S. charts won't come out until Tuesday, but preliminary sales estimates from Hits Daily Double's Building Sales Chart show Dolly's Dumplin' Original Motion Picture Soundtrack should debut on the American charts somewhere around No. 3 country albums sales and No. 31 overall all-genre sales. Once streaming counts are added, which are included as part of the official Billboard Top 200 albums chart, the collection doesn't enter the top 50. Overseas, Friday's British charts see the CD debut at No. 8 soundtracks and No. 2 country albums but doesn't make the top 100 overall album sales chart or top 100 albums once streaming counts are added. In other news:

  • The film's Friday debut spawned numerous reviews, mostly positive with good marks for the lead actors and Dolly's music but less enthusiasm for its sentimentality and script. These included Polygon here, Slate here, The Wrap here, The Stranger here, Vox here, The Chicago Sun Times here, The Knoxville News-Sentinel here, The Los Angeles Times here and Screen Rant here.
  • Some interviews included star Danielle Macdonald with Time here and Dolly with the Associated Press here, The Los Angeles Times here, Elle here and Kix Brooks Radio here.
  • The picture had a premiere at Hollywood's Grauman's Chinese Theatre Thursday night, and The Hollywood Reporter interviewed Dolly and producer Linda Perry from the red carpet here and pictures from Lainey Gossip here.
  • Dolly and Jennifer Anniston's appearance on The Late, Late Show With James Corbin was recapped by Radio here.
  • Dolly promoted the picture Friday with a social media posting of her famous chicken and dumplings recipe, which WBIR noted here.
  • Variety noted Dolly and Perry want to perform their nominated song, "Girl In The Movies," on the Golden Globes Awards next month here but added that producers say no performances are planned at this time. And Entertainment Tonight shared Dolly's nomination reaction here.

    Trio Recaptures British Chart No. 1 Spot
    In other overseas chart news, The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe by Dolly, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt this week moves up two to recapture the No. 1 spot on the British country compilation albums chart in its 117th chart week. Also on the U.K. country compilation albums chart, Harris's Original Album Series: Volume 1 (with two Dolly covers, one track with Dolly harmony and one track with Trio harmony by Dolly and Ronstadt) inches up one to No. 6, while her Original Album Series, Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) gains two to No. 11 and Ronstadt's Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) re-enters the top 20 at No. 10.

    Producers: No Grammy Nom, But Dolly Will Appear On Awards
    Although the Grammy performers have not yet been announced, and Dolly did not pick up any nominations on Friday, Music Academy President Neil Portnow has announced she is expected to appear on the Feb. 10 broadcast in her role as 2019's MusiCares Person of the Year honoree, KIII reported here.

    New Dolly Doll Released By Dollywood
    Dollywood has a new $100 Dolly doll modeled after her NBC Coat Of Many Colors movies, and it's flying off the shelves, WBIR reports here.

    Dolly's LGBTQ Advocacy Lauded
    The Advocate on Friday shared eight times Dolly "cemented her status as an LGBTQ icon." Check them out here.

    Sleep 'With' Dolly In These Awful Adult Onesies
    Some truly, um, interesting-looking sleepwear has been released featuring Dolly. Check out these adult onesies here.


    Dec. 7:
    'Dumplin'' Movie Arrives, Soundtrack Sales Solid, Globes Reaction


    The Netflix movie Dumplin' arrives for streaming today (Friday)! Dolly and Linda Perry reacted with glee to their Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song from the project on Thursday, with Dolly saying in a brief social media video available here or in the media player above: "We're so excited that we've got our Golden Globe nomination for 'Girl In The Movies' that we wrote together. Thank you!" In other news:
  • In what could be a sign of much better-than-expected sales, Amazon.com sold out of physical CD copies of Dolly's Dumplin' Original Motion Picture Soundtrack in less than one week of release. The online retailer on Thursday began showing a two-to-four-week delay in shipping the CD due to being out of stock. Meanwhile, the Hits Daily Double Building Charts of preliminary sales information has the soundtrack at No. 1 country, No. 18 all-genre overall for sales with 55 percent of retailers reporting as of press time Thursday.
  • Dolly and Jennifer Anniston stopped by Ellen on Thursday, and you may watch the clip of Dolly performing "Girl In The Movies" with Linda Perry here or in the media player below. Also, their Good Morning America segment together aired Thursday and is viewable from ABC here. Their promotions tour continues with The Late, Late Show With James Corden Friday morning and Dolly on The Talk Friday afternoon.
  • Variety is among those that covered the Globe nomination with a story here which noted that in a change this year, the Oscars will require eligible music nominees to be reduced from all possible entries to just 15 finalists to be announced on a shortlist Dec. 17 and from which the final nominees will be chosen, but that all five Globes nominees for Best Original Song are expected to be on the Academy's shortlist as well.
  • Billboard on Thursday exclusively premiered a behind-the-scenes video from Netflix of Dolly talking about working on the music for the project. Check it out here.
  • Other interviews included Anniston on The Jimmy Kimmel Show, a recap from which is available here from Billboard, and USA Today here, while costar Danielle Macdonald spoke with The New York Post here.
  • The movie earned a review from CNN here, while the soundtrack received four out of five stars from Metro Weekly here.

    Billboard Lauds Dolly's 'Jingle Bells'
    Billboard on Thursday included Dolly's version of "Jingle Bells" from her 1990 Home For Christmas among the 10 best recordings of the holiday classic ever. Check out who else made their list here.


    Dec. 6:
    UPDATE: Dolly Snags Golden Globe Nomination For 'Dumplin''
    Dolly and Linda Perry's composition "Girl In The Movies" from the Netflix film Dumplin' was nominated Thursday by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for a Golden Globe Award in the Best Original Song category. The track faces off against this year's juggernaut, "Shallow" from A Star Is Born written by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando, and Andrew Wyatt as well as "Requiem For A Private War" from A Private War, which is Annie Lennox's first new music in eight years; Kendrick Lamar, Anthony Tiffith, Mark Spears, Solana Rowe and Al Shuckburgh for "All The Stars" from Black Panther; and "Revelation" by Troye Sivan, Jónsi, Jon Thor Birgisson and Brett McLaughlin from Boy Erased.Winners will be revealed Jan. 6. While Dolly has yet to win a Golden Globe, often seen as a predictor of the year's most likely Oscar contenders, this marks her sixth nomination and third in this category. Her most recent nod for Best Song was in 2005 for "Travelin' Thru," while her first was for "9 To 5" in 1981. Her acting nominations were Best New Film Star in 1981 and Best Actress for 9 To 5 in 1981 and for The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas in 1983. (In addition, a song she performed but didn't write, "The Day I Fall In Love," a duet with James Ingram, was nominated for Best Song in 1994 but since she wasn't a composer on it, she isn't credited with the nomination.) Next up are Grammy nominations on Friday, but due to release date eligibility, only the single "Here I Am" with Sia is eligible for consideration (likely for Best Country Duo/Group Performance) this year from the soundtrack.

    'Dumplin'' Press Intensifies As Premiere Draws Near
    With Netflix premiering Dumplin' on Friday, Dolly's appearances are heating up. Her Good Morning America stop got bumped Wednesday for coverage of President George H.W. Bush's funeral, but the pre-recorded spot is slated for broadcast Thursday on ABC with her and Jennifer Anniston interviewing each other. Appearances remain scheduled for Thursday's Ellen, Thursday night/Friday morning's The Late, Late Show With James Corden and Friday's The Talk.

  • The two were also interviewed by Access and Entertainment Tonight. Access shared footage to YouTube of their interview being interrupted by Sandra Bullock with cocktails here, while Entertainment Tonight talked about Anniston's reaction to recording with Dolly in the studio here.
  • E! got Anniston's reaction to Dolly's threesome joke on The Tonight Show here, as did USA Today here.
  • Dolly spoke with Entertainment Weekly about the project here.
  • Reviews came out from Deadline here, The New York Times here and Pittsburgh City Paper here.
  • Finally, Golden Globe nominations come out Thursday, and The Wrap noted here they expect Dolly's "Girl In The Movies" to get a nod alongside "All The Stars" from Black Panther, "The Place Where Lost Things Go" from Mary Poppins Returns, "Requiem For A Private War" from A Private War and "Shallow" from A Star Is Born.

    U.S. Chart Updates
    Dolly's annual holiday chart return continues this week, the Dec. 8 Billboard holiday charts showed. Once Upon A Christmas with Kenny Rogers re-enters the Country Albums Chart at No. 44 and slips four to No. 48 on the overall Holiday Albums Chart, while Dolly's "Hard Candy Christmas" falls off the 50-position Holiday Digital Song Sales Chart, down from No. 48.


    Dec. 4:
    'GMA' Appearance Announced, Others Coming Up
    ABC announced Monday that Dolly and Jennifer Anniston will appear on Wednesday's Good Morning America to promote Dumplin', which Netflix premieres Friday. As was previously reported here, they will also appear on Ellen Thursday (which is syndicated, so check local listings for time and channel) and The Late, Late Show With James Corden Thursday night/Friday morning, while Dolly will appear on The Talk Friday. Dolly's official social media on Monday posted a photo to advertise the appearances this week but listed all of them as airing a day earlier than they actually will. The posting was up a few hours before someone realized the mistake and deleted it without replacing it. In related news, the film's director spoke with Collider here about the project, including how they got Dolly involved, and The San Francisco Chronicle's "Datebook" reviewed the film as "sentimental and bland" here.


    Dec. 3:
    Watch Dolly's 'Tonight Show' Performance
    NBC on Saturday posted the video of Dolly's performance of "Girl In The Movies" from The Tonight Show here. Also, over the weekend Refinery 29 shared a review of Dumplin' Original Motion Picture Soundtrack here.

    Australian Chart Update
    Down Under, the "gold series" re-issue of The Very Best Of Dolly Parton (Australian Tour Edition) regains six places this week on the Australian country albums chart to No. 10 in its 376th chart week since its original 2007 release.


    Dec. 1:
    'Dumplin' Soundtrack Arrives, Dolly Promotes


    Dolly's publicity train to promote Friday's release of Dumplin' Original Motion Picture Soundtrack rolled into New York City, where she had a morning interview and performance on Today (check out a story about that appearance here) and interview on Today with Kathie Lee and Hoda as well as interview, medley of Christmas carols with host Jimmy Fallon (viewable on YouTube here or in the media player below), and performance of "Girl In The Movies" on The Tonight Show. A story and clip about the appearance is available from Taste Of Country here focusing on a joke she told about her husband fantasizing about a three-way with her and Jennifer Anniston. Her appearance was almost cut short due to a special news report about the death of former President George H.W. Bush at the age of 94, but NBC pre-empted the night's second guest's entire appearance for its special coverage of Bush's life and presidency, leaving Dolly's portion of the show intact. In other publicity:
  • Parade published a Dolly interview here.
  • Esquire gave the album a positive review here
  • Forbes talked with the CD's producer, Linda Perry, here.
  • CMT posted the entire episode of Dolly & Friends: The Making Of A Soundtrack to its website here, but your cable or satellite package must carry CMT for you to log in and view it.
  • First day sales of the album had it at No. 14 all genres, No. 2 country, on iTunes and No. 15 all genre downloads, No. 25 physical CD sales, No. 2 country downloads, No. 6 soundtrack physical CD sales on Amazon.
  • Finally, the streaming version of the album also became available Friday featuring remixes of "Here You Come Again" and "Jolene" from the film not included on the download or physical CD of the album as well as her original studio recordings of nine songs that appear in the film: the original versions of five out of the six songs re-recorded for the album as duets (missing is "Here I Am") plus "9 To 5," "Just Because I'm A Woman," "Better Get To Living" and "High And Mighty." Stream it from Amazon here or in the media player above as an Amazon Music Unlimited customer.

    Dolly Breaks Opry Ticketing System
    The Grand OIe Opry apparently had no idea the interest that a 50th anniversary celebration of Dolly's membership in the institution nearly a year away on the calendar would have when it was announced Thursday and tickets went on sale Friday because their infrastructure was ill-equipped to handle the demand when the sale began. The massive number of fans seeking tickets caused the Opry's ticketing system servers to constantly crash for several hours and its box office phone lines to malfunction. As was reported here Thursday night, the Opry will celebrate Dolly's half-century milestone with four shows in October, the last two of which will feature her as a performer. However, when tickets went on sale Friday at noon Eastern, fans were met with busy signals on the phone and error messages on the Internet. Numerous fans posted to social media complaints about half-hour to one-hour hold times once their calls finally went through to the box office and online orders cancelling themselves due to server crashes. Your webmaster can personally attest to probably 2,000 attempts during an hour to purchase tickets online which resulted in only eight successes in reaching the actual ticketing queue, half of which then ended due to server crashes prior to reaching the ticketing process and the other half of which ended due to server crashes during the ticket selection process, with one ending due to a server crash during the check-out process. I also logged more than 100 calls in the first half-hour before a call went through and placed me in the telephone ordering queue, with a 32-minute hold time before an order could be placed. The fan complaints led to the Opry releasing a statement via social media: "Our sincerest apologies for the ticketing issues experienced on our site today. Guest satisfaction is always our top priority, and we truly appreciate your patience. We look forward to celebrating Dolly Parton's 50th Opry Anniversary with you all next October!"

    Gerland McRaney, Delta Burke In Dolly's Anthology Series
    Deadline on Friday revealed the cast for another of Dolly's Netflix Heartstrings movie anthologies: If I Had Wings. The project will star Gerald McRaney and bring his wife, Delta Burke, out of retirement to play his girlfriend (she hasn't acted in seven years). Brooke Elliott from Drop Dead Diva, Ben Lawson from Designated Survivor and Michele Weaver from Love Is _________ play his estranged children who return to their Mississippi farm for his 70th birthday to "test the bonds of blood and issues of faith, all to confront the sins of their father." Tim Reid of Greenleaf also appears as McRaney's character's best friend. Jim Strain wrote and Timothy Busfield directs. Of course, Dolly made a famous guest appearance spot on Burke's series Designing Women in 1989, and Burke also guest-starred on Dolly's 1987-88 variety series. McRaney recently played Dolly's grandfather, the Rev. Jake Owens, in the two Coat Of Many Colors movies on NBC. Read more here.

    London '9 To 5' Gets Another Cast Member
    Dolly on Friday announced a cast addition to the London West End production next year of her 9 To 5: The Musical with a video on Facebook here. Bonnie Langford, a former Doctor Who companion, who played Roz in the U.K. national touring company version of the show, will reprise the role for England's equivalent of Broadway.

    Overseas Chart Updates
    The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe by Dolly, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt this week moves up four at No. 3 on the British country compilation albums chart in its 116th chart week. Also on the U.K. country compilation albums chart, Harris's Original Album Series: Volume 1 (with two Dolly covers, one track with Dolly harmony and one track with Trio harmony by Dolly and Ronstadt) gains five to No. 6, while her Original Album Series, Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) loses two to No. 13.