Jan. 30: Overseas Albums Charts Updated The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe this week holds steady at No. 1 British country compilation albums chart in its 20th week, giving the CD 19 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 on the tally, it was announced Friday. On the same tally, Emmylou Harris' Original Album Series: Volume 1 (with two Dolly covers, one track with Dolly harmony and one track with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) inches down one to No. 14 and Ronstadt's Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) moves up one to No. 11. On the overall country albums chart, Dolly's Pure & Simple falls five to No. 9 country in its 23rd week. Down Under, My Dear Companion: Selections From The Trio Collection by Dolly, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt loses two to No. 6 on the Australian country albums chart in its 20th week, it was announced Sunday, rising four on the top 50 pop albums chart to No. 37, while Dolly's Pure & Simple falls off the top 40 country albums tally, down from No. 29 country in its 22nd chart week.
Dolly Presents Tomlin's Award At SAG Dolly received one of the few standing ovations of the night at the Screen Actors Guild Awards when she took to the stage to present the Lifetime Achievement Award to 9 To 5 co-star Lily Tomlin. Fellow co-star Jane Fonda was scheduled to appear but was ill. Dolly joked several times about her breasts (saying she was giving an award for something she's tried all her life to avoid: "sag"). After the program aired, Dolly was in the top 5 of Yahoo's trending topics. Dolly was returning the favor, as Tomlin had presented Dolly with the Country Music Association's Lifetime Achievement Award two months ago. Check out a recap from Gossip Cophere and The Huffington Posthere.
Jan. 25: 'Puppy Love' Coming For Record Store Day The Southern Folklife Collection at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which purchased the masters from Louisiana indie label Goldband several years ago, on Tuesday announced that it plans to begin reissuing archival recordings from the record company, starting with Dolly's childhood single "Puppy Love"/"Girl Left Alone" from 1959, which it has partnered with Yep Roc Records to digitally re-master and release as a limited edition vinyl 45 on Record Store Day April 22. "Like a first love, a first record for a singer will always be remembered above all others," Dolly said in a press release. "Hopefully I've improved since I recorded 'Puppy Love,' so don't laugh…just enjoy."
U.S. Chart Updates Dolly's Pure & Simple sold about 800 copies in its 22nd week last week to rise four spots to No. 13 Americana/folk albums in the Feb. 4 Billboard charts released Tuesday, gaining three to No. 40 country albums. The "Forever Country" mash-up with Dolly dips six to No. 46 hot country songs.
Viral 'Jolene' Toddler Profiled A little girl singing Dolly's "Jolene" has gone viral, earning over 6 million Facebook views in recent days and even getting sent out on Tuesday by Dolly's official social media. Check out a story from WFMY News 2 here.
Jan. 23: Trump Dances To Dolly's Song
Donald J. Trump was inaugurated Friday as the 45th president of the United States, and there were a couple of Dolly connections that evening. One of the early official inaugural balls Friday night featured "9 To 5," and then the official Commander in Chief and First Lady's dance at the Armed Services Ball later in the evening was to a cover of the Whitney Houston version of Dolly's "I Will Always Love You," viewable here or in the media player above, although Dolly almost certainly did not consent to use of the songs since no one has to get permission for music at these events (instead, the facility where they're held obtains a general license from the song licensing firms – BMI and ASCAP – that allows them to use any song written by a composer on their roster). The First Couple's dance drew to a close perhaps the most bizarre national election in the history of democracy, one which saw enternally non-political Dolly thrown into the race. Dolly's humorous and innocent non-partisan remarks were distorted by both the left and right, then possibly altered by the Russian government in their propaganda campaign, and finally resulted in creation of her first Snopes page. Long known as a celebrity who speaks only on select few political issues – most notably pro-LGBT rights, pro-children's issues and pro-armed forces – Dolly expertly deflects most political questions with humor and diplomatic answers that don't favor one side over the other. However, in this highly polarized election, even her usual strategy dragged her into the battle.
She conducted an unusually high number of interviews last year to promote her new CD and largest North American tour in a quarter-century, and in June The New York Times asked what used to be a pretty innocent question: "How do you feel about a female presidential nominee?" Dolly responded with a fairly standard answer for her: making a joke about it, adding what prior to this election would have been a fairly innocuous statement that the Democratic nominee was qualified to be president, and diplomatically affirming that she'd support whoever wins. Her exact words were: "Well, I think that that would be wonderful. Hillary might make as good a president as anybody ever has. I think no matter if it's Hillary or Donald Trump, we're gonna be plagued with PMS either way — presidential mood swings! But I personally think a woman would do a great job. I think Hillary's very qualified. So if she gets it, I'll certainly be behind her." Liberal and conservative media outlets jumped on the quote and mischaracterized it as an endorsement of Hillary Clinton. Liberal fans showered her social media and the comments sections of liberal media outlets with praise, while conservative fans filled her social media and the comments sections of conservative media outlets with insults and threats, including several remarks that she was not a "real" Christian because no "real" Christian could consider supporting Clinton, that she was just another fake and un-American Hollywood celebrity, or that she had been "brainwashed" by Hollywood.
The backlash was so great that a few days later in July her publicist was forced to release a political statement on the matter, which included a quote from Dolly: "This morning while I was watching the news I saw many reports that I had endorsed Hillary Clinton. My comment about supporting a woman in the White House was taken out of context. I have not endorsed Hillary Clinton nor Donald Trump. I try not to get political but if I am, I might as well just run myself 'cause I've got the hair for it, it's huge, and they could always use more boobs in the race. But seriously, I have not decided who I'm voting for, but no matter what we're gonna be suffering from PMS, Presidential Mood Swings." Unfortunately, the statement, while garnering more coverage from the mainstream media, only slightly quieted the flames, as negative comments from the right continued, focusing mostly on their belief that she was either a Clinton supporter lying to keep from alienating her fan base or she wasn't a "real" American or "real" Christian if she was still considering voting for Clinton.
In August, she continued to try to clear things up, offering more jokes in a CNN interview in which she called the campaign "the greatest show on television right now" adding "I don't know where they're going to land but I think they're both nuts. It's like watching the OJ Simpson trial. You just believe whoever's up next. Whoever testified last is who you believe." She added that the two candidates should stop talking about each other and instead talk about the issues: "Let's talk about what we really need -- taking care of us. I think people just want to have a feeling of security. It's just like political terrorism right now, they got us all scared to death about everything."
Even this diplomatic exchange was then taken a few weeks later by the conservative fake news propaganda machine, most of which intelligence agencies later determined to be controlled by the Russian government, and distorted to use as attacks on Clinton. A couple of fake news sites removed the fact that her comments were about both Trump and Clinton and presented them about only Clinton, saying that Dolly had previously endorsed Clinton but "recently, Parton saw the light and realized that Hillary would be quite possible the worst person to be the champion for woman throughout the nation. She now understands that Hillary is a liar; she's as corrupt as they come. In a more recent interview, she called Hillary 'nuts' and that her campaign has been 'just crazy.'" The fake news article was picked up by numerous conservative media outlets and circulated throughout social media, garnering praise from conservative fans. The development resulted in the September creation of Dolly's first-ever entry on the urban legends-turned-fact-checker website Snopes.com debunking the fake story.
Trump won the election, and shortly thereafter when asked by Phoenix television station 12 News on her thoughts after the election, she said this degree of change was frightening but everything is going to be fine in the end, explaining: "Give yourself and everyone else a chance. We have a new president coming in and it's scary to have this much change all of a sudden but I think we're going to be great, and we'll be greater still. . . This is the land of opportunity and I believe we'll always fight for it. No matter who we have to fight for it, we'll make sure to keep our values and principles. I think we're going to be fine."
Australian Chart Updates Down Under, My Dear Companion: Selections From The Trio Collection by Dolly, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt loses two to No. 4 on the Australian country albums chart in its 19th week, it was announced Sunday, losing 10 spots on the top 50 pop albums chart to No. 41, while Dolly's Pure & Simple inches up one to No. 29 country in its 22nd chart week.
Jan. 21: Dolly's Birthday Coverage Dolly's 71st birthday on Thursday brought lots of coverage from various media outlets including an interview with Voguehere, Yahoo profiled the home of superfans Harrell Gabehart and Patric Parkey here, People rated her best live performances here, Vanity Fair talked to her about tattoos and odd fan gifts here, Scary Mommy looked at her Imagination Library here, Yahoo listed her nine most interesting duets here and W magazine had Chris Pine, Michael Shannon and Matthew McConaughey to read her best speech from 9 To 5here.
British Chart Updates, Download History The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe this week holds steady at No. 1 British country compilation albums chart in its 19th week, giving the CD 18 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 on the tally, it was announced Friday. On the same tally, Emmylou Harris' Original Album Series: Volume 1 (with two Dolly covers, one track with Dolly harmony and one track with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) rises three to No. 13 and Ronstadt's Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) holds steady at No. 12, while Harris' Original Album Series, Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) falls back off the top 20, down from No. 17. On the overall country albums chart, Dolly's Pure & Simple loses two to No. 4 country in its 22nd week. Meanwhile, The Official Charts Company on Friday also recognized Dolly's birthday this week by counting down her biggest downloads of her career here: 3. "Jolene" with 255,300 downloads and 6.68 million streams (a No. 7 U.K. pop single), 2. "Islands In The Stream" with 287,200 downloads and 6.68 million streams (a No. 7 U.K. pop single) and 1. "9 To 5" with 340,800 downloads and 8.46 million streams. Her remaining top 10 downloads were 4. "I Will Always Love You," 5. 'Here You Come Again," 6. "Coat Of Many Colors," 7. "Love Is Like A Butterfly," 8. "Together You And I," 9. "Blue Smoke" and 10. "Better Get To Livin'."
Award Watchers Talk Dolly's Category Award watchers Gold Derby on Friday took a look at the Best Country Duo/Group Performance category at this year's Grammy Awards, for which Dolly is nominated. See what they have to say here.
'Dolly' On 'Jeopardy!' Dolly was the Final Jeopardy question on Jeopardy! Friday. The answer was; 'What she calls her 'love of many colors album' a 2016 release by this singer was her first no. 1 country album in 25 years." Only one of the three contestants correctly answered "Who is Dolly Parton?"
'Jolene' Makes Best Songs List Music magazine NME this week selected the 25 best country songs of all time, which includes Dolly's "Jolene." Read the full list here.
'People' Talks To Lily People magazine recently chatted with Lily Tomlin about her experience with Dolly and Jane Fonda on 9 To 5 in recognition of the trio's upcoming reunion at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. Read it here.
Jan. 19: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DOLLY! Happy 71st Birthday, Dolly! In honor of the occasion, The Huntington Herald-Dispatch looks at some of her favorite recipes here, Austin's KXAN brought on a bartender to make a special drink called "Jolene" here and Parade counted down her 10 best songs here.
U.S. Chart Updates Dolly's Pure & Simple loses seven places on the Americana/folk albums chart in the Jan. 28 Billboard list released Wednesday to come in at No. 17 in its 21st chart week, dipping 10 to No. 43 country albums. Dolly's Dec. 2 engagement in Corpus Christi, Texas, at the American Bank Center was No. 34 on the Box Score tally for the week with $350,161 in ticket sales and 56 percent of the 8,452 available seats sold. The "Forever Country" mash-up with Dolly falls five to No. 40 hot country songs and falls back off the country digital songs list, down from No. 22.
British Lip Synch Show Gets A Dolly Number Lip Synch Battle UK contestant Katie Price this week appears on the program in complete Dolly drag to perform "9 To 5," the British media noted here.
Underwood Wins People's Choice Carrie Underwood won Wednesday's People's Choice Award for Favorite Female Country Artist, besting Dolly and other nominees Kelsea Ballerini, Miranda Lambert and Reba.
Jan. 18: '9 To 5' Cast Reunites For SAG Awards Dolly and Jane Fonda next week will reunite to honor fellow 9 To 5 co-star Lily Tomlin with the Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award, People revealed here Tuesday morning before the announcement was picked up by tons of other media outlets. The ceremony airs at 8 p.m. Eastern Sunday, Jan. 29, on TNT and TBS.
My People Fund Reaches Goal Dolly's My People Fund has raised enough money to fulfill its multi-million dollar commitment to provide $6,000 to each family who lost their home or apartment in the Smoky Mountain wildfires, it has been announced, WATE reported here. The Dollywood Foundation is now encouraging donations to the charities working on more long-term recovery at MountainTough.org.
Dolly Up For People's Choice Award Wednesday Don't forget the winner of the People's Choice Award for Favorite Female Country Artist will be announced in a ceremony starting at 9 p.m. Eastern Wednesday night on CBS. Dolly is up against Carrie Underwood, Kelsea Ballerini, Miranda Lambert and Reba.
Jan. 16: 'Trio,' 'Pure' Still Doing Well On Overseas Charts The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe this week holds steady at No. 1 British country compilation albums chart in its 18th week, giving the CD 17 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 on the tally, it was announced Friday. On the same tally, Emmylou Harris' Original Album Series: Volume 1 (with two Dolly covers, one track with Dolly harmony and one track with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) dips three to No. 16 and Ronstadt's Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) gains seven to No. 12, while Harris' Original Album Series, Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) re-enters the top 20 at No. 17. On the overall country albums chart, Dolly's Pure & Simple holds steady at No. 2 country in its 21st week. Down Under, My Dear Companion: Selections From The Trio Collection by Dolly, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt holds steady at No. 2 on the Australian country albums chart in its 18th week, it was announced Sunday, rising four places on the top 50 pop albums chart to No. 31, while Dolly's Pure & Simple drops 10 to No. 30 country in its 21st chart week.
'Happy, Happy Birthday, Baby' Dolly turns 71 on Thursday and in addition to the Indianapolis party last weekend that was reported here, The Sun-Herald reports the Mississippi Gulf Coast repeated their Dolly birthday bash in Bay St. Louis. Read more here.
Magazine: Dolly's Style Teaches Lessons Dolly's style lessons made Southern Living this week. Check out the piece here.
Rare: Five Best Dolly Song Lines Rare has given its opinion on the five Dolly song lines that are the best. Find out which ones they chose here.
Barbie Version Of '9 To 5' Released NPR has taken "Backwoods Barbie" to heart and re-written Dolly's on "9 To 5" to reflect all of the varied occupations which the Barbie doll has had over the years. Listen here.
Teacher's 'Coat' Story Touches Dolly A teacher's attraction to and use of "Coat of Many Colors" in her class and then coming in contact with a student whose mother had a connection to Dolly resulted in Dolly signing her personal copy of the original children's book of the song and a story in The Log Cabin Democrat newspaper here.
Jan. 11: U.S. Chart Updates Dolly's Pure & Simple dips five on the Americana/folk albums chart in the Jan. 21 Billboard list released Tuesday to come in at No. 10 in its 20th chart week, slipping three to No. 33 country albums. The Christmas charts return after being gone for one week with Once Upon A Christmas with Kenny Rogers inching down one to No. 27 holiday albums but falling back off the country catalog albums list, down from No. 4. The "Forever Country" mash-up with Dolly dips four to No. 35 hot country songs and rises three on the country digital songs list to No. 22.
Jan. 9: British, Aussie Chart Updates The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe this week holds steady at No. 1 British country compilation albums chart in its 17th week, giving the CD 16 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 on the tally, it was announced Friday. On the same tally, Emmylou Harris' Original Album Series: Volume 1 (with two Dolly covers, one track with Dolly harmony and one track with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) gains one to No. 13 and Ronstadt's Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) inches up one to No. 19. On the overall country albums chart, Dolly's Pure & Simple rises one to No. 2 country in its 20th week. Down Under, My Dear Companion: Selections From The Trio Collection by Dolly, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt holds steady at No. 2 on the Australian country albums chart in its 17th week, it was announced Sunday, dipping 13 places on the top 50 pop albums chart to No. 35, while Dolly's Pure & Simple drops four to No. 20 country in its 20th chart week.
Celebrate Dolly's 71st In Indie Don't forget that the Indianapolis Dolly Birthday Bash is returning for a sixth year this Saturday at Forty Five. The 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. event features live performances and prize drawings as well as a Dolly look-a-like contest judged by drag performer Dolly Woods. There is a $10 suggested donation at the door with proceeds to benefit The Good House, a home that shelters patients visiting the area for bone marrow transplants. The event's Facebook page is here.
Jan. 5: 'Pure & Simple' Still Selling Well Dolly's Pure & Simple continues to sell well after 19 chart weeks, moving 3,500 copies for the week to bring its cumulative sales of 106,400 units since release. The week's sales allowed the album to remain steady for another week at No. 5 on the Americana/folk albums chart in the Jan. 14 Billboard list released Wednesday, slipping three to No. 30 country albums. The Box Score list of concerts sees Dolly at No. 27 for her Sept. 24 engagement at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, Calif., with $646,203 collected from 11,951 tickets sold, just over half of the 22,000 seats available. Her collaboration of "Jolene" with Pentatonix falls off the top 50 Hot Country Songs, down from No. 44. The Christmas charts are gone for the year but Once Upon A Christmas with Kenny Rogers inches down one to No. 4 country catalog albums and falls back off Canadian pop albums, down from No. 41, overall catalog albums, down from No. 19, top 100 overall album sales chart, down from No. 93, and pop Hot 200, down from No. 133. The "Forever Country" mash-up with Dolly gains nine to No. 31 hot country songs and re-enters the country digital songs list at No. 22.
Dolly Parade Set For May 5 The Pigeon Forge Department of Tourism, which organizes Dolly's annual parade through the city, has confirmed the date for this year's event: Friday, May 5. The parade traditionally starts at 6 p.m. and runs from traffic light 6 to traffic light 3 on the Parkway. Dollywood opens for its new season on March 18. While Dolly's other appearances have not been announced, she usually appears for season passholder preview day the day before opening and then again for opening day.
'Curve' Chats With Dolly Lesbian magazine Curve recently sat down with Dolly for a chat. Read the result here.
Dolly Talks Of First Job CNN's "Money" section recently asked Dolly about her first "real" job, which was when a neighbor during her early Nashville days hired her to answer phones at Northern Outdoor Sign. Hear the segment here.
Jan. 2: Dolly Ends 2016, Repeats Tennessean Of Year Dolly over the weekend gave her fans a year-end greeting, saying on her official Facebook page here: "2016 was a memorable year! A #1 record, a great tour, CMA's lifetime achievement award, a Grammy nomination... plus, the opportunity to help so many with #MyPeopleFund. I couldn't do any of it without the love and support from all of you. Thank you all! <3" Just hours later, The Tennessean editorial board announced they had named Dolly and the survivors of the Smoky Mountain wildfires as 2016's "Tennesseans Of The Year" for the recovery efforts for the victims which Dolly has spearheaded through her My People Fund at the Dollywood Foundation, apparently the first time the newspaper has repeated a winner, as Dolly also received the award for 2006 in appreciation of her work to spread her Imagination Library literacy program statewide. Read what they had to say about her, including: "Tested under pressure this year, she proved she was more than worthy of that honor, and while it was unusual to award it to someone a second time, this is an unusual circumstance," here and an accompanying Q&A with her about the fires here. Tax-deductible donations continue to be accepted at dollywoodfoundation.org or by mail to My People Fund, c/o Dollywood Foundation, 111 Dollywood Lane, Pigeon Forge, TN 37863. Donations are also being accepted by texting DOLLY to 501501 for a onetime $10 donation or DOLLY25 to 501501 for a onetime $25 donation. Messaging and data rates will apply. Knoxville television station WBIR offered a wonderful year-in-review on Dolly here. And several newspapers named stops on Dolly's Pure & Simple Tour in their cities as among the best concerts of the year including The Pensacola News-Journalhere, The Baton Rouge Advocatehere, The Greenville Newshere, New York's Flavor Wirehere and The Tampa Bay Timeshere.
British, Aussie Charts Updated The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe this week holds steady at No. 1 British country compilation albums chart in its 16th week, giving the CD 15 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 on the tally, it was announced Friday. On the same tally, Emmylou Harris' Original Album Series: Volume 1 (with two Dolly covers, one track with Dolly harmony and one track with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) gains one to No. 14 and Ronstadt's Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) holds steady at No. 20. On the overall country albums chart, Dolly's Pure & Simple inches up one to No. 3 country in its 19th week. Down Under, My Dear Companion: Selections From The Trio Collection by Dolly, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt holds steady at No. 2 on the Australian country albums chart in its 16th week, it was announced Sunday, sliding eight spots on the top 50 pop albums chart to No. 22, while Dolly's Pure & Simple loses four to No. 16 country in its 19th chart week.
