ASX TV has announced a new 65-minute Dolly biography will premiere Monday night at 11 p.m. Eastern on the cable and satellite network. Dolly Parton: Queen of Country has a preview watchable here or in the media player above.
Dollywood's New Coaster Nears Completion Thanks to Jason Worley for sending in some shots of the construction progress on Dollywood's Lightning Rod roller coaster, opening in just under three weeks.
Feb. 27: 'Blue Smoke' Gone Overseas After a massively successful 89 consecutive weeks in the top 5, most of those at No. 1, Dolly's Blue Smoke this week falls off the top 20 British country compilation albums tally, down from No. 3, Friday's charts revealed. On the same tally, Dolly's The Tour Collection also falls off the top 20, down from No. 20, 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) loses three to No. 16, and her Original Album Series, Vol. 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony) re-enters the top 20 at No. 19, while Ronstadt's own Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) falls off the top 20, down from No. 15. In the U.S., Don Henley's Cass County, which features Dolly on "When I Stop Dreaming," dips five to No. 20 on the country albums chart in its 29th chart week, the March 5 Billboard charts released Tuesday showed.
'Ad Week': 'Coat' Helps NBC Ratings Industry publication Ad Week this week looked at how NBC appears to be winning the most profitable advertising demographic for the third year in a row and credited the ratings success of Dolly Parton's Coat Of Many Colors as one of the major contributing factors. Read the interview with the network head here.
The Best 'Jolene' Covers? Paste magazine this week gave us what they consider the 10 most "awesome" covers of Dolly's classic "Jolene": Grace Potter, Miley Cyrus, Patti Smith, Kelly Clarkson, Allison Krauss, The White Stripes, Olivia Newton-John, Norah Jones, Todd Terje and Laura Marling with Mumford and Sons. Hear them all here.
Let's All Be More Like Dolly The Berry this week gave its reasons why "we all need to be more like Dolly." Read them here.
Branson Stampede Renovations Noticed The local media this week took a look at improvements being made at the Branson, Mo., location of Dolly's Dixie Stampede dinner theatre. Check out coverage from KPLR here and FOX 59 here.
In Memoriam: Sonny James Country Music Hall of Fame member Sonny James passed away Monday and Dolly was among those paying tribute to the 87-year-old singer, releasing a statement saying: "'Sonny James was one of country music's greatest. He was a true gentleman and made some of the greatest country music records of all times, certainly some of my favorites." Read his obituary from The Daily Mailhere or The Boston Globehere.
Feb. 22: MovieGuide Awards With Dolly Air Monday
Don't forget that the Movieguide Faith and Values Awards air Monday night at 7 p.m. Eastern on the REELZ cable network, with a re-run at midnight Feb. 24. Of course, it has previously been reported that Dolly accepts one of the night's two top awards, the $100,000 Epiphany Prize for Most Inspiring Television Program of 2015 for Dolly Parton's Coat Of Many Colors on NBC, which is to be released on DVD here May 3. Also, as has previously been reported, Alyvia Alyn Lind, the star of the film who plays young Dolly, won one of the evening's top acting honors: the Grace Award for Most Inspiring Television Performance. The Lane Twins last week posted to YouTube their red carpet interview from the event, which is viewable here or in the media player above.
U.S., U.K. Chart Updates Dolly's Blue Smoke rises one to No. 3 in the album's 89th week on the British country compilations albums chart, Friday's charts showed. On the same tally, Dolly's The Tour Collection loses one to No. 20, 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 one to No. 13, and her Original Album Series, Vol. 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony) falls off the top 20, down from No. 17, while Ronstadt's own Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) gains three to No. 15. In the U.S., Don Henley's Cass County, which features Dolly on "When I Stop Dreaming," loses two to No. 15 on the country albums chart in its 28th chart week, the Feb. 27 Billboard charts released Tuesday showed.
European Coverage Of Dolly, Stella Dolly last week had a new interview overseas as part of the promotion for the London expansion of her Imagination Library literacy charity. Check it out from The Guardian newspaper here. In related news, sister Stella is currently on tour in Europe with her show of Dolly's songs based on her current CD, Mountain Songbird: A Sister's Tribute, and she's been talking a lot about their upbringing and relationship. Check out interviews with The Daily Mailhere and TV 3here.
Pirates Love Dolly, Too Louisiana publication The Advertiser reported here last week about a local man who was kidnapped off the coast of Africa and held prisoner by a band of "crack-smoking, Dolly Parton-loving pirates" who played her music on their cell phones. It is often noted that Dolly is one of the most popular singers of all time in Nigeria, and news reports have also frequently mentioned the affinity the Boko Haram terrorist group in the same country has for her music.
'Closer' Looks At '9 To 5' Gossip mag Closer Weekly has a story on the 35th anniversary of Dolly's film debut in 9 To 5. Check out a preview here.
Feb. 15: 'Blue Smoke' Still On U.K. Tally Dolly's Blue Smoke slips one to No. 4 in the album's 88th week on the British country compilations albums chart, Friday's charts revealed. On the same tally, Dolly's The Tour Collection re-enters the top 20 at No. 19, 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) re-enters the top 20 at No. 12, and her Original Album Series, Vol. 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony) rises three to No. 17, while Ronstadt's own Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) dips one to No. 18.
Billboard Loves 'I Will Always Love You' In anticipation for the Grammy Awards on Monday, Billboard counted down the best winners of Record of the Year, putting Whitney Houston's cover of Dolly's "I Will Always Love You" at No. 9, saying: "Dolly + Whitney is a match made in Grammy heaven, so it's no surprise their 'collaboration' took top honors. The win was deserved, though, as The Bodyguard hit shows the strengths of each of its key players: Dolly Parton's gift for simplistic but appealing songwriting, David Foster's knack for airtight production, and Whitney Houston's commanding vocals, on unrestrained display here. Mass popularity risks overplay and annoyance, but at its core, 'Always' is a superb effort by everyone involved." Read more here.
Stallone Recalls 'Rhinestone' In Interview Several Oscar contenders are participating in a series of interviews, most recently Creed star Sylvester Stallone, and the topic of Dolly and Rhinestone came up, with the host saying: "I was a little nervous in including a clip of a country duet he does with Dolly Parton in the 1984 musical bomb, Rhinestone but I couldn't resist and apologized to him in advance of showing it. It's not one of his biggest hits to say the least but frankly he held his own with Parton who he said insisted on singing live, rather than dubbed like nearly every other movie musical. He was a good sport about all the clips, especially when he heard literally thunderous applause after that one ended. He revealed that he signed on to the film when Mike Nichols was going to be the original director. 'Instead it ended up being directed by Bob Clark, the guy who did Porkys.' he laughed." Read the full story here.
'The Boot' Celebrates Dolly's Debut Album AOL's country music blog The Boot over the weekend celebrated the 49th anniversary of the release of Dolly's debut album, Monument's Hello, I'm Dolly, with a piece here.
Feb. 12: Order 'Coat Of Many Colors' DVD Today Amazon on Thursday began taking orders for the May 3 DVD release of Dolly Parton's Coat Of Many Colors. Reserve your copy here! (And if you can't wait, the digital download of the movie has been available here since a few days after its broadcast.) And don't forget that on Friday of this week two Dolly products hit shelves: a CD version of her previously-released 1977 concert at New York's Bottom Line Club under the title Country Girl In The Big Apple and a vinyl re-issue of her 1971 classic Coat Of Many Colors.
Dolly Instead Of Left Shark? Katy Perry says she tried to get Dolly as part of her Super Bowl halftime show last year, according to an interview with The New York Timeshere. No word on why Dolly wasn't able to take part but Perry explained the show is "more of a communal process with the NFL and all the different artists."
Feb. 10: 'Coat Of Many Colors' Gets May 3 DVD Release Dolly Parton's Coat Of Many Colors will get a DVD release from Warner Brothers Home Entertainment on May 3, three days before Dolly's annual Homecoming Parade in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., and less than a week before Mother's Day, her publicist announced Tuesday. The set, with a suggested price of $20, will include three bonus features: an alternate version of the movie, deleted scenes plus the featurette Coat Of Many Colors: Bringing the Song to the Screen, which explores Dolly's early life, how she wrote the song and the path the song took to become a made-for-TV movie. As was previously reported here, the film's Dec. 10 debut attracted 13 million viewers, the biggest audience for a broadcast movie on television in nearly five years, increasing to 15.6 million when three-day DVR audiences were added, the largest audience for a broadcast movie on television in more than six years. A rebroadcast on Christmas Day saw an audience of 4 million. Both versions of the film run for 90 minutes each, and the deleted scenes and featurette total 20 minutes together. Subtitles will be provided in both English and Spanish.
Library Book Wins Big Award Dolly's Imagination Library this year selected a new title for this year's program, after which the book won three of the top honors for children's books in the U.S: the Caldecott Award, Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor. Last Stop On Market Street by Matt de la Peņa and illustrated by Christian Robinson will be mailed to children born in 2011, and Dolly's official website this week posted an interview about the book with its author. Read it here.
Henley Still On U.S. Country Chart Don Henley's Cass County, which features Dolly on "When I Stop Dreaming," holds steady at No. 13 on the country albums chart in its 27th chart week but falls back off on the current albums tally, down from No. 86 for a 15th chart week, the Feb. 20 Billboard charts released Tuesday showed.
Feb. 8: 'Coat Of Many Colors' Named 'Most Inspiring TV' Of 2015 Dolly Parton's Coat Of Many Colors was the big winner Friday at the 2016 Movieguide Awards, taking the $100,000 Epiphany Prize for the Most Inspiring Television Program of the year and with its star winning the Grace Award for the Most Inspiring Performance for Television. Dolly's NBC project beat out A.D.: The Bible Continues, Ancient Roads from Christ to Constatine, Blue Bloods: Hold Outs, Saints & Strangers and Chicago Fire: Forgiving, Relentless, Unconditional for the award. Star Alyvia Alyn Lind, who played "Little Dolly" in the film, won the Grace Award over co-stars Gerald McRaney for Grandpa Rev. Jake Owens and Jennifer Nettles for Mother Avie Lee Parton in addition to Gordon Clapp as Chaplain Orlovsky in Chicago Fire: Forgiving, Relentless, Unconditional, Vincent Kartheiser as Mayflower leader William Bradford in Saints & Strangers and Emmett J. Scanlan as Saul, Joe Dixon as Phillip and Juan Pablo Di Pace as Jesus for A.D.: The Bible Continues. In a press release issued Sunday, Dolly said: "I really wanted to celebrate the people, my whole family, who made me who and what I am today. I'm so blessed and thankful for a great cast, producers, director, and for everyone who watched and I'm extremely thankful to the MovieguideŽ Awards for this honor." British newspaper The Daily Mail offered a story (with photos and video) from her red carpet entrance here and The Hollywood Reporter covered the awards here. The award presentations were taped and will be televised on the REELZ Network on Feb. 22. Photos of Dolly with the Epiphany Prize award and with presenter Lily Tomlin are courtesy Webster Public Relations. Photos of Dolly being interviewed on the red carpet by Hollywood To Dollywood stars Gary and Larry Lane for Pop Wrapped are courtesy the Lane Twins.
U.K. Chart Updates Dolly's Blue Smoke slips one to No. 3 in the album's 87th week on the British country compilations albums chart, Friday's charts showed. 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) falls off the top 20, down from No. 19, and her Original Album Series, Vol. 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony) loses five to No. 20, while Ronstadt's own Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) rises three to No. 17.
D.C. Library Announcement Gets Noticed Announcement of Dolly's Imagination Library launch in D.C., which was reported here last week, was covered over the weekend by WJLA here.
Feb. 3: Nation's Capital Gets Dolly's Library
Dolly on Tuesday released a video celebrating the expansion of her Imagination Library literacy project to the nation's capital. Check out the clip on the Washington, D.C., Public Library's YouTube channel here or in the media player above.
Tomlin To Present Award At Movieguide Ceremony Perhaps in a sign of things to come, the Movieguide Faith & Values Awards has announced that Dolly's pal Lily Tomlin will present the Epiphany Prize for Television, for which Dolly Parton's Coat Of Many Colors is nominated against A.D.: The Bible Continues, Ancient Roads from Christ to Constantine, Blue Bloods: Hold Outs, Saints & Strangers and Chicago Fire: Forgiving, Relentless, Unconditional. Winners will be announced Friday and broadcast on REELZ Feb. 22 and 24.
Underwood Does Dolly Song At Concert Carrie Underwood has kicked off her new tour, including a tribute to Dolly with a performance of "I Will Always Love You." Check out a video here.
Sevierville Kids Celebrate Dolly The Mountain Press on Tuesday posted three pictures from the recent Dolly tribute show at the Sevierville Intermediate School. Take a look at them here.
U.S. Chart Update Don Henley's Cass County, which features Dolly on "When I Stop Dreaming," regains five to No. 13 on the country albums chart in its 26th chart week and rises 11 on the current albums tally to No. 86 for a 15th chart week, the Feb. 13 Billboard charts released Tuesday revealed.
Girl Gets Christmas Card From Dolly A New York girl who is undergoing treatment for injuries sustained in a fire and asked for people to send her Christmas cards ended up receiving more than 1 million cards, so many that she is still going through them. In addition to cards they found weeks ago from President Obama and Beyonce, in recent weeks they've found she received cards from other luminaries including the Kardashians and Dolly. Read more from The New York Daily Newshere.
Feb. 1: Lightning Rod Cars Unveiled At Dollywood Some guests got a look at the construction status over the weekend of Dollywood's Lightning Rod coaster, to become the world's fastest wooden rollercoaster when it opens in March, including the unveiling of the ride's cars. Check out coverage from the American Coaster Enthusiasts Southeast on their Facebook page here including a video of the unveiling here.
Dolly's Hometown Kids Pay Tribute To Her Students at the Sevierville Intermediate School near where Dolly grew up in Sevier County, Tenn., will pay tribute to their hometown girl with a show "A Life Of Many Colors" at the school at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Monday as well as 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. Tuesday at the school.
Don't forget that the Movieguide Faith and Values Awards air Monday night at 7 p.m. Eastern on the REELZ cable network, with a re-run at midnight Feb. 24. Of course, it has previously been reported that Dolly accepts one of the night's two top awards, the $100,000 Epiphany Prize for Most Inspiring Television Program of 2015 for Dolly Parton's Coat Of Many Colors on NBC, which is to be released on DVD here May 3. Also, as has previously been reported, Alyvia Alyn Lind, the star of the film who plays young Dolly, won one of the evening's top acting honors: the Grace Award for Most Inspiring Television Performance. The Lane Twins last week posted to YouTube their red carpet interview from the event, which is viewable here or in the media player above.
Dolly Parton's Coat Of Many Colors was the big winner Friday at the 2016 Movieguide Awards, taking the $100,000 Epiphany Prize for the Most Inspiring Television Program of the year and with its star winning the Grace Award for the Most Inspiring Performance for Television. Dolly's NBC project beat out A.D.: The Bible Continues, Ancient Roads from Christ to Constatine, Blue Bloods: Hold Outs, Saints & Strangers and Chicago Fire: Forgiving, Relentless, Unconditional for the award. Star Alyvia Alyn Lind, who played "Little Dolly" in the film, won the Grace Award over co-stars Gerald McRaney for Grandpa Rev. Jake Owens and Jennifer Nettles for Mother Avie Lee Parton in addition to Gordon Clapp as Chaplain Orlovsky 
in Chicago Fire: Forgiving, Relentless, Unconditional, Vincent Kartheiser as Mayflower leader William Bradford in Saints & Strangers and Emmett J. Scanlan as Saul, Joe Dixon as Phillip and Juan Pablo Di Pace as Jesus for A.D.: The Bible Continues. In a press release issued Sunday, Dolly said: "I really wanted to celebrate the people, my whole family, who made me who and what I am today. I'm so blessed and thankful for a great cast, producers, director, and for everyone who watched and I'm extremely thankful to the MovieguideŽ Awards for this honor." British newspaper The Daily Mail offered a story (with photos and video) from her red carpet entrance