Jan. 31: 'Rockstar' Sells Another 3,500 Copies, Rises On Charts The re-issue of Dolly's Rockstar: Deluxe with bonus tracks sold about 3,500 copies to reach about 250,000 sold in its first 10 weeks of release. The Feb. 3 Billboard charts announced Tuesday see the bonus track "Jolene" with Maneskin debut at No. 13 rock digital song sales and Dolly jump up 38 spots to No. 59 on the Artist 100. The full album re-enters the 50-position independent label albums chart and country albums chart at No. 44 and No. 31, respectively, earning an eighth week on each, while rising 12 to No. 18 album sales and six to No. 16 current album sales for a 10th week on each.
Dolly Gets Audiobook Award Nomination Dolly, Holly George-Warren, and Rebecca Sever were nominated Tuesday for the Audio Publisher's Association's Audie Awards for the year's best audiobooks. Their Behind The Seams: My Life In Rhinestones was nominated for Best Memoir/Autobiography against Corky Parker's La Finca: Love, Loss, and Laundry on a Tiny Puerto Rican Island, Patrick Stewart's Making It So, Brandon J. Wolf's A Place For Us, and Benajmin Hall's Saved.
'National Geographic' Honors Dolly Dolly was also named Tuesday as one of National Geographic's nine Travelers Of The Year as their "Hospitality Hostess" for her Smoky Mountain vacation empire here and Dollywood's HeartSongs Resort made their 22 hotels they love for 2024 here. People covered the honors with an interview here. In a press release, Dolly commented: "We just opened HeartSong Lodge in October, so I'm honored to know that it is already receiving such an outstanding recognition as this one. Like I always say, though, we don't do what we do to win awards. As we've continued to grow and expand our parks and resorts, we've taken a lot of great care in making sure our guests feel like a member of our family and that they are making precious memories they're always going to remember. But that's just one part of it. We're also blessed to be right here in the beauty of the Great Smoky Mountains. After all my traveling around the world, I still feel like the Smokies are one of the most beautiful places God created."
Jan. 29: 'Pet Gala' Coming To CBS Feb. 21 Dolly last week announced a new special airing at 9 p.m. Eastern Feb. 21 on CBS to promote her pet line, Doggy Parton. Dolly Parton's Pet Gala will feature pink carpet coverage of a dog show co-hosted by Dolly and Jane Lynch. Dolly will perform several of her hits with guest artists. Songs listed included "9 To 5," "I Will Always Love You," "Puppy Love," and "Jolene." Guest performers listed include Lainey Wilson, Carly Pearce, Chris Janson, KC of KC and the Sunshine Band, and more to be announced. Non-singing guests to appear with their pets are Iam Armitage, Drew Barrymore, Kristen Bell, Kristin Chenoweth, Margaret Cho, Neil Patrick Harris, Carson Kressley, Kelly Osborne, Jessica Simpson, and Rachel Smith. In a press release, Dolly said: "I have hosted or co-hosted many shows throughout my career, but I have never been more excited about co-hosting a show than I am about being part of this pet gala! I love animals. I've got all kinds, and of course, I've always had little dogs around, and big ones! We're going to have some of all kinds and colors on the show, and there is nothing more fun to me than when little animals do what they do best, and I'm looking forward to it! There is so much fun stuff, and I know all the animal lovers out there are going to love this show." Watch her quick video reel announcing the show from social media here.
'Rockstar' Sees U.K. Bump From Reissue The digital release of Rockstar: Deluxe pushed it back onto the top 100 U.K. album downloads this week, but it wasn't enough for the album to return to the overall top 100 sales chart. The title earned a ninth week on the British downloads tally re-entering at No. 56 plus a 10th week on the Americana albums chart, where it gains one to No. 9. Very Best Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 remains steady at No. 1 U.K. country compilations albums, where No. 2 album Diamonds & Rhinestones, The Greatest Hits Collection also remains steady while The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe falls six to No. 18, Original Album Series from Linda Ronstadt holds steady at No. 7 and from Emmylou Harris's second volume (each of which contains Dolly appearances) stays at No. 16. Down Under, Rockstar slips one on the Australian country albums chart to No. 26, as Diamonds & Rhinestones, The Greatest Hits Collection inches up one to No. 14.
'People' Chats Broadway, Grammys Dolly has a couple of interviews in People magazine's online version this week including one in which she says she plans to include some non-traditional open auditions to find the Dollys to play her in the Broadway story of her life she plans to premiere on The Great White Way in late 2025 here. In the other, she wishes her goddaughter Miley Cyrus to win all of the awards she is nominated for at next Sunday's Grammys, where she is one of the night's leading nominees. Dolly herself is also nominated for the 54th time that night for Best Country Solo Performance for "The Last Thing On My Mind." Read the story here.
Dolly Cuts Posthumous Campbell Duet Dolly is among the artists announced last week as appearing on a posthumous duets album with the late Glen Campbell. Producers mixed new vocals from artists such as Dolly, Eric Church, Sting, Brian Wilson, Carole King, Elton John, and Eric Clapton with songs from Cambell's 2011 album Ghosts On Canvas. Dolly performs on "A Better Place." The project will be released April 19. Read more from Rolling Stonehere.
Jan. 24: 'Rockstar' Sells Another 3,000 Copies Dolly's Rockstar sold about 3,000 copies in the week before it was reissued in a deluxe edition to reach about 246,000 sold in its first nine weeks of release. I would expect a sales bump on next week's charts when downloads of the bonus tracks released on her birthday are counted, but on the Jan. 27 Billboard tallies announced Tuesday the album dips a dozen digits to No. 30 album sales and nine to No. 22 current album sales. Dolly falls 36 places to No. 97 on the Artist 100.
Dolly Expanding Food Line At Groceries
Dolly on Tuesday revealed her expanded partnership with Duncan Hines parent company Conagra for her own personal food line. According to a press release, the new line will include frozen, refrigerated, grocery and snack items inspired by down-home comfort cuisine. Dolly commented in the release: "I loved co-creating my Duncan Hines line with Conagra and I'm thrilled we're going well beyond the baking aisle with new items across the store. We're looking to continue to inspire special moments in the kitchen, with some of my family's favorite recipes, and I think people are really going to love them!" First, new baking items (chocolate cake mix, yellow cake mix, cinnamon crumb cake mix, blueberry muffin mix, and banana nut muffin mix) are out this month in the Duncan Hines partnership and are part of the third Dolly baking box which becomes available online here at 3 p.m. Eastern Wednesday, and the overall Dolly brand launches with pancake mix. Additional items, including frozen products, will debut throughout 2024. Check out part of the announcement on Facebook here or in the media player above. Dolly also appeared on NBC's Today, which has stories here and here, and she was interviewed on Sherri. She's scheduled for CBS Mornings on Wednesday.
Dolly Helps Pigeon Forge Game Show The City of Pigeon Forge has announced a new web series competition show, Pigeon Forge Family Challenge, which will feature Dolly in the final episode as several families from around the country compete against each other at various attractions in the city. The show starts next week and ends March 6. Photo of Dolly with the contestants courtesy Business Wire. Click on it for larger view.
Jan. 22: Expanded 'Rockstar' Edition Released Digitally Dolly celebrated her 78th birthday Friday by unexpectedly releasing a deluxe digital version of her rock album. Rockstar: Deluxe features the original 30 tracks plus nine bonus recordings: "Rockin' It (Live)," "Hit Me With Your Best Shot," and "Mama Never Said" previously released on the HSN edition of the album, "Two Tickets To Paradise" and "Jolene" featuring Maneskin previously available Dolly's official store download version, and previously unreleased tracks "Stay Out Of My Bedroom," "Bridge Over Troubled Water," "The Entertainer," and "Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)." Get your copy here!
Elle King Pays Drunken Tribute To Dolly Singer Elle King went viral over the weekend for her behavior while performing at the second annual Grand Ole Opry Dolly birthday tribute Friday night. From the stage of the historic Ryman Auditorium, she sang off key and off rhythm, dropped over a dozen "f-bombs," forgot lyrics, admitted she was "f****** hammered," and argued with audience members. The episode was reminiscent of Johnny Cash's drunken tirade in the 1960s when he kicked out the Opry footlights – and was banned from the show for three years – or in the 1970s when Jerry Lee Lewis cursed throughout his set and played for 40 minutes instead of the 8 minutes he was scheduled – and was banned from the show for a decade. Fans complained online and while the Opry hasn't released a general public statement they did respond to one fan from the institution's official account on X, saying: "Hi Judas, we deeply regret and apologize for the language that was used during last night's second Opry performance." Attendees posted clips to the Internet from the performance including one here of her yelling at the audience and one here of her trying to sing "Marry Me."
New Dolly TV Appearances In addition to Dolly's Tuesday appearance on Sherri, she is also booked Wednesday for CBS Mornings and Tuesday for NBC's Today, presumably to discuss whatever major announcement she is making with Duncan Hines on Tuesday.
U..K., Aussie Chart Updates Across the pond, Dolly's Rockstar loses three to No. 11 Americana albums chart in its ninth week on the British tally but falls out of the top 100 sales, downloads, and physical sales charts, down from No. 76, No. 87, and No. 78, respectively. Very Best Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 remains steady at No. 1 U.K. country compilations albums tally, where No. 2 album Diamonds & Rhinestones, The Greatest Hits Collection also remains steady while The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe slips five to No. 12, Original Album Series from Linda Ronstadt rises seven to No. 7 and from Emmylou Harris's second volume (each of which contains Dolly appearances) gains four to No. 16. Down Under, Diamonds & Rhinestones, The Greatest Hits Collection holds steady at No. 15 country, and Rockstar re-enters the top 40 Australian country albums at No. 25.
Jan. 18: 'Rockstar' Falls Off Most Charts It looks like Dolly's Rockstar is nearing the end of its run, as it sold only about 3,500 the previous week to reach about 243,000 sold in its first eight weeks of release but it falls off the Top 200 albums, 50-position independent label albums chart, 50-position country albums chart, 50-position rock and alternative albums, and 50-position rock albums chart, down from No. 118, 13, 21, 23, and 17, respectively. The album drops eight to No. 18 album sales and five to No. 13 current album sales. Dolly slides 22 to No. 61 on the Artist 100, and Diamonds & Rhinestones, The Greatest Hits Collection falls back off the top 50 country albums chart, down from No. 49.
Duncan Hines Promises Big Dolly News Tuesday Duncan Hines this week revealed a huge announcement with Dolly will be coming next week. No clues on what it is but the company, with which Dolly has partnered the past year on a line of baking kits, sent out a notice that directs to a page here proclaiming: "It's Almost Showtime! Duncan Hines & Dolly Parton Are Getting Ready to Rock Your World! Duncan Hines and Dolly Parton's recipe for deliciousness is bring you something new and exciting. Come back on January 23rd for legendary news." Dolly also this week added a Jan. 23 appearance on the syndicated Sherri show, so that may be tied into the announcement. We'll have to wait until Tuesday to find out.
Public Radio Raffles Dolly Guitar Louisville Public Media is raffling off an autographed Dolly guitar. Tickets are $20 each and may be bought here through noon, Feb. 26, with the drawing at noon that day. The Taylor GS Mini-e Special Edition acoustic with built-in electric pick-up featuring an equalizer and built-in digital tuner features a butterfly design and a case.
Jan. 15: U.K., Aussie Chart Updates Across the pond, Dolly's Rockstar tumbles 59 digits to No. 76 sales, 70 to No. 87 downloads chart, and 41 to No. 78 physical sales, dipping four to No. 8 Americana albums in its eighth week on the British charts. "Islands In The Stream" with Kenny Rogers falls back off the top 100 downloads chart, down from No. 98. Very Best Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 falls back off the sales chart and downloads chart at No. 88 but retakes the U.K. country compilations albums tally, where it and No. 2 album Diamonds & Rhinestones, The Greatest Hits Collection switch spots while The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe rises eight to No. 7, Original Album Series from Linda Ronstadt gains three to No. 14, while Original Album Series Vol. 2 from Emmylou Harris (each of which contains Dolly appearances) hold steady at No. 20. Down Under, Diamonds & Rhinestones, The Greatest Hits Collection slides two to No. 15.
'Seams' Falls From NYT List After 11 weeks on the 15-position New York Times Best Seller List, Dolly's Behind The Seams: My Life In Rhinestones falls off the Hardcover Fiction titles, down from No. 12.
Jan. 10: 'Rockstar' Rises On The Charts Dolly's Rockstar sold between 8,500 and 10,500 copies the previous week to reach about 240,000 sold in its first seven weeks of release (and if it hasn't passed RIAA's credits of 500,000 units for gold status, it should any day now, but certification is dependent on her record label submitting documentation and fees). Consequently, on the Jan. 13 Billboard charts it mostly rises due to it being the first week after Christmas albums tend to fall back off the charts for the year. The title loses five places to No. 118 on the Top 200 but gains four to No. 10 album sales and three to No. 8 current album sales. The collection inches down one to No. 21 country albums, five to No. 13 independent label albums, one to No. 17 rock albums, and three to No. 23 rock and alternative albums. Dolly gains 23 to No. 39 on the Artist 100. Dolly's Diamonds & Rhinestones, The Greatest Hits Collection re-enters the top 50 country albums chart at No. 49.
Jan. 8: 'Weird,' 'Beef' Beat Out 'Mountain Magic' At Emmys Dolly Parton's Mountain Magic Christmas lost both of the Emmy Awards for which it had been nominated. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, a Roku Channel mock bio-pic "about" the parody musician, bested Dolly's 2022 NBC holiday special for Outstanding Television Movie, the top award handed out in Saturday night's Emmy Awards first night ceremony. And Netflix's Beef beat out the project's team for Outstanding Contemporary Costumes for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for (Provi Fulp, Costume Designer; Jose Ramos, Costume Supervisor; and Steve Summers, Dolly's Wardrobe). This marked Dolly's fourth nomination as a producer in the Outstanding Television Movie category, which her Netflix special Dolly Parton's Christmas On The Square won in 2021.
'Seams' Earns 11th Week On NYT Best Sellers List Behind The Seams: My Life In Rhinestones slips three to No. 12 in its 11th week on the New York Times Best Seller List of Hardcover Nonfiction titles, but the tome falls off the top 15 Combined Hardcover and Ebook Nonfiction list, down from No. 12 in its sixth week.
U.K., Aussie Chart Updates Across the pond, Dolly's Rockstar rises 18 places to No. 17 sales, 26 to No. 17 downloads chart, and seven to No. 29 physical sales, holding steady at No. 4 Americana albums in its seventh week on the British charts. "Islands In The Stream" with Kenny Rogers re-enters the top 100 downloads chart at No. 98. Very Best Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 re-enters the sales chart and downloads chart at No. 88. On the U.K. country compilations albums tally, Diamonds & Rhinestones, The Greatest Hits Collection holds steady at No. 1 and Very Best Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 stays at No. 2, while The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe gains five to No. 15, Original Album Series from Linda Ronstadt loses three to No. 17, while Original Album Series from Emmylou Harris (each of which contains Dolly appearances) sees Vol. 1 fall out of the top 20, down from No. 20, and Vol. 2 re-enter the top 20 at No. 20. Down Under, Dolly's Rockstar falls out of the top 40 country albums chart, down from No. 34 n its sixth week in Australia, where Diamonds & Rhinestones, The Greatest Hits Collection holds steady at No. 13 and Very Best Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 also falls out of the top 40, down from No. 32.
Jada Star Talks About Relationship With Dolly Dolly's niece Jada Star had a great interview about growing up in the Parton family and her own musical journey with public radio's Audacious with Chion Wolf podcast. Check it out from Connecticut Public Radio here.
Jan. 4: 'Rockstar' Sells Another 10,000 Copies In Sixth Week Dolly's Rockstar sold between 10,000 and 11,000 copies the previous week to reach about 230,000 sold in its first six weeks of release (and about 485,000 credits toward the 500,000 gold status). Consequently, on the Jan. 6 Billboard charts it drops 51 spots to No. 113 on the Top 200, five to No. 14 album sales, three to No. 11 current albums sales, six to No. 20 country albums, six to No. 13 independent label albums, eight to No. 16 rock albums, and eight to No. 20 rock and alternative albums. Dolly loses 15 to No. 62 on the Artist 100. Elsewhere on the charts, A Holly, Dolly Christmas Ultimate Deluxe Edition falls back out of the 50-position Top Country Albums chart, down from No. 50.
Dolly Sends Guitar To Drag Activist Last year, a drag queen named Brigitte Bandit testified before the legislature at the Texas Capitol against the anti-trans, anti-gay, and anti-drag laws being passed and carried with her a children's book about Dolly. Dolly's niece saw the photo of her and showed Dolly, who sent her in appreciation and support an autographed rhinestone-studded guitar, KXAN reported here.
'Finding Your Roots' Wants Dolly Henry Louis Gates Jr., host of Finding Your Roots on PBS, kicked off the new season of the series appearing on Today, and when asked who his dream guests are, he said Dolly near the top of his list. Watch the clip here.
Patterson Confirms 'Rose' Film Delayed James Patterson this week confirmed that the recent Hollywood strikes delayed production of the film adaptation of his and Dolly's novel Run, Rose, Run, noting he's hopeful it will be rescheduled soon. On social media, he said: "An update, as some of you requested: Scheduling problems have gotten in the way of the "Run Rose Run" movie. It seems a damn shame to me. The writers' and actors' strike definitely got in the way. But we have Dolly Parton's terrific songs, a great script by Mark Bomback, and a terrific young actor ready to play AnnieLee Keyes. So I haven't lost hope. (p.s. I love Miley Cyrus's "Flowers" and "I Used to Be Young." I haven't lost hope.)"
Dolly In New 'June' Documentary Paramount+ on Wednesday released the trailer for its documentary June premiering Jan. 16 about June Carter Cash, and they saved part of Dolly's interview for the end. Check it out here or in the media player below.
Jan. 1: HAPPY NEW YEAR!
'Seams' Makes Week 10 On 'NYT' Best Seller List Behind The Seams: My Life In Rhinestones holds steady in its 10th week on the New York Times Best Seller List of Hardcover Nonfiction, coming in at No. 9 also remaining at No. 12 Combined Hardcover and Ebook Nonfiction, where it is in its sixth week.
U.K., Aussie Chart Updates Down Under, Rockstar falls two to No. 34 country albums in its sixth week in Australia, where Diamonds & Rhinestones, The Greatest Hits Collection holds steady at No. 13 and Very Best Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 gains three to No. 32. Across the pond, the rock album regains 16 to No. 35 sales, 35 to No. 43 downloads chart, 16 to No. 36 physical sales, and one to No. 4 Americana albums in its sixth week on the British charts. On the U.K. country compilations albums tally, Diamonds & Rhinestones, The Greatest Hits Collection holds steady at No. 1 and Very Best Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 stays at No. 2, while The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe remains at No. 13 and Original Album Series collections from Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris (each of which contains Dolly appearances) holds steady at No. 14 and loses four to No. 20, respectively. And yet another interview about the rock album appears in Louder and was shared by Yahoo here.
Dollywood Nears End Of Season If you want to visit Dollywood this season, you'd better hurry, as the park's 2023 season closes at the end of the night Saturday. If you'd like a season pass for the 2024 season which begins with passholder preview day on March 8, you'd also better hurry, as Diamond Passes will only be sold through Sunday, and Gold and Silver season pass prices will have their second price increase of the year next Monday.
Dolly on Tuesday revealed her expanded partnership with Duncan Hines parent company Conagra for her own personal food line. According to a press release, the new line will include frozen, refrigerated, grocery and snack items inspired by down-home comfort cuisine. Dolly commented in the release: "I loved co-creating my Duncan Hines line with Conagra and I'm thrilled we're going well beyond the baking aisle with new items across the store. We're looking to continue to inspire special moments in the kitchen, with some of my family's favorite recipes, and I think people are really going to love them!" First, new baking items (chocolate cake mix, yellow cake mix, cinnamon crumb cake mix, blueberry muffin mix, and banana nut muffin mix) are out this month in the Duncan Hines partnership and are part of the third Dolly baking box which becomes available online here at 3 p.m. Eastern Wednesday, and the overall Dolly brand launches with pancake mix. Additional items, including frozen products, will debut throughout 2024. Check out part of the announcement on Facebook here or in the media player above. Dolly also appeared on NBC's Today, which has stories here and here, and she was interviewed on Sherri. She's scheduled for CBS Mornings on Wednesday.
Dolly last week announced a new special airing at 9 p.m. Eastern Feb. 21 on CBS to promote her pet line, Doggy Parton. Dolly Parton's Pet Gala will feature pink carpet coverage of a dog show co-hosted by Dolly and Jane Lynch. Dolly will perform several of her hits with guest artists. Songs listed included "9 To 5," "I Will Always Love You," "Puppy Love," and "Jolene." Guest performers listed include Lainey Wilson, Carly Pearce, Chris Janson, KC of KC and the Sunshine Band, and more to be announced. Non-singing guests to appear with their pets are Iam Armitage, Drew Barrymore, Kristen Bell, Kristin Chenoweth, Margaret Cho, Neil Patrick Harris, Carson Kressley, Kelly Osborne, Jessica Simpson, and Rachel Smith. In a press release, Dolly said: "I have hosted or co-hosted many shows throughout my career, but I have never been more excited about co-hosting a show than I am about being part of this pet gala! I love animals. I've got all kinds, and of course, I've always had little dogs around, and big ones! We're going to have some of all kinds and colors on the show, and there is nothing more fun to me than when little animals do what they do best, and I'm looking forward to it! There is so much fun stuff, and I know all the animal lovers out there are going to love this show." Watch her quick video reel announcing the show from social media 