Feb. 23:
Taylor Swift Ties 'I Will Always Love You' Record
Billboard announced here Monday that when the Feb. 27 charts are released on Tuesday, Taylor Swift's re-recorded "Love Story (Taylor's Version)" will debut at No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart, making her just the second artist after Dolly to top the chart with a cover of their own previous No. 1 hit. The original of Swift's song topped the chart in 2008 but she is re-recording and re-releasing her first several albums after the owner of the masters refused to sell them to her. Dolly first achieved this feat when her adieu to Porter Wagoner, "I Will Always Love You," topped the country chart in 1974 and a new version recorded for the soundtrack of the film The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas hit No. 1 in 1982. (She made it to No. 15 with a third recording as a duet with Vince Gill in 1995.)

Ole Miss Charity Event Pushed To September
Dolly's acceptance of the Legacy Award from the Ole Miss Women's Council for Philanthropy has been rescheduled for a second time due to Covid not yet being under enough control, it has been announced. She was first scheduled to accept the honor in April 2020, which was then delayed to April 2021, and now has been delayed to September. She will participate in a free but ticketed storytime event at the Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts on Sept. 25 and then the Legacy Award dinner on Sept. 26.

PBS 'Opry' Anniversary Show Reminder
Don't forget that many PBS stations will launch their spring pledge week this weekend and broadcast a special repeat of Dolly Parton & Friends: 50 Years At The Opry as part of the biannual event. Catch their promo for the show in the media player below or by visiting YouTube here and check local listings for broadcast times. For example, Mountain Lake PBS (which posted the preview clip) will air it at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, New Orleans will show it at 7 p.m. next Monday, Cincinnati at 8 p.m. Saturday (with a repeat at 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 3) and Dayton at 8 p.m. Thursday, March 4, on its Think 14 channel and 9 p.m. Friday, March 5, on Think 16.

Feb. 20:
New Piano Version Of 'There Was Jesus' Released

Dolly Declines Statue But Legislator Hasn't Given Up
Dolly this week asked the Tennessee Legislature to not proceed with passing a bill to erect a statue in her honor on the State Capitol grounds, but the legislator who proposed it told The Tennessean here that he will not withdraw the bill and will instead encourage Dolly's fans to change her mind on allowing the honor. Dolly's complete statement, available on Facebook here and her other social media accounts, is: "I want to thank the Tennessee legislature for their consideration of a bill to erect a statue of me on the Capitol grounds. I am honored and humbled by their intention but I have asked the leaders of the state legislature to remove the bill from any and all consideration. Given all that is going on in the world, I don't think putting me on a pedestal is appropriate at this time. I hope, though, that somewhere down the road several years from now or perhaps after I'm gone if you still feel I deserve it, then I'm certain I will stand proud in our great State Capitol as a grateful Tennessean. In the meantime, I'll continue to try to do good work to make this great state proud." Rep. John Windle replied: "I believe it's totally appropriate. I certainly respect her wishes but I'm gonna give her fans a chance to change her mind. Because she's wrong. She does deserve this."

Irish 'Late Late Show' Appearance Recap
Dolly and Barry Gibb appeared via video on Friday's The Late Late Show in Ireland on RTE One to discuss their recent collaboration and other topics. Check out a recap from The Sun here.

U.S., U.K., Aussie Chart Updates
Former No. 1 Barry Gibb's Greenfields: The Gibbs Brothers Songbook (Vol. 1), which features his Dolly duet on "Words," dips two places to No. 31 British pop albums in its sixth week, it was revealed Friday, although it gains two to No. 7 sales and No. 7 physical sales, increases one to No. 2 Americana and falls 39 to No. 64 downloads. Down Under, the collection remains at No. 9 on the Australian pop albums chart. Back in the U.K., Very Best Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 falls off the pop albums list, down from No. 82, overall sales list, down from No. 96, and physical sales chart, down from No. 98. On the British country compilation chart, Very Best Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 holds steady at No. 3, The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe dips one to No. 10, Emmylou 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 Linda Ronstadt) rises four to No. 14, The Essential Dolly Parton dips two to No. 13, and Ultimate Dolly Parton falls back off the top 20, down from No. 16. In the U.S., the Feb. 20 Billboard: charts released Tuesday saw Gibb's Greenfields: The Gibbs Brothers Songbook (Vol. 1) re-enter the top 200 pop albums chart at No. 195, gain six to No. 10 album sales, rise one to No. 9 current albums, No. 5 Americana/folk albums and up five to No. 21 country albums. Ultimate Dolly Parton dips one to No. 47 country albums, and . Dolly and Zach Williams' "There Was Jesus" falls seven to No. 20 Christian streaming songs and two to No. 9 Christian digital song sales.

Feb. 13:
No, Dolly Didn't Confirm 'Grace And Frankie' Appearance

Dolly Valentine's Cards Released
Dolly this week released a Valentine's Day-themed video on her official website here as American Greetings announced special printable cards and virtual postcards for the holiday in their partnership with Dolly here.

LGBTQ Entertainment Group Nominates Dolly
Dolly has been nominated for an honor by the Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), it was announced this week via The Hollywood Reporter here. She is up against Chadwick Boseman, Chloe Zhao, Elliot Page and Regina King for the Wilde Artist Award, named in honor of Oscar Wilde and given to "a truly groundbreaking force in entertainment." Winners will be revealed in a special to air on the queer platform Revry April 18.

'Tonight Show' To Re-Run Recent Dolly Interview
NBC has announced next week's The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon will be on vacation and airing repeats, including re-running Dolly's appearance from last week on Tuesday night.

U.K. Chart Updates
Former No. 1 Barry Gibb's Greenfields: The Gibbs Brothers Songbook (Vol. 1), which features his Dolly duet on "Words," loses another nine spots this week on the British pop albums chart in its fifth week, it was revealed Friday, coming in at No. 29. The collection also slips five to No. 9 sales and No. 9 physical sales, one to No. 3 Americana and gains seven to No. 25 download sales. Very Best Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 rises 14 to No. 82 U.K. pop albums, falls off the streaming albums chart, down from No. 90, and re-enters both the overall sales list at No. 96 and physical sales chart at No. 98. On the British country compilation chart, Very Best Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 shoots up four to No. 3, The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe holds steady at No. 9, Emmylou 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 Linda Ronstadt) falls five to No. 18, The Essential Dolly Parton dips three to No. 11, and Ultimate Dolly Parton slips two to No. 16.

Feb. 11:
Dolly And Barry Appear On 'Lorraine' Thursday
Barry Gibb and Dolly will appear on Thursday morning's British talk show Lorraine on the ITV network at 9 a.m. U.K. time to talk about their collaboration on the song "Words" from his current album Greenfields: The Gibbs Brothers Songbook (Vol. 1). Meanwhile, on the Feb. 13 Billboard U.S. charts released Tuesday, the album falls off the streaming-heavy top 200 albums chart after just three weeks, down from No. 157, even though it stands at No. 10 current album sales in its fourth week, down five, and No. 16 overall album sales, down 11. It also drops off the Americana/folk albums tally, down from No. 4, but slips 12 on the country list to No. 26, where Ultimate Dolly Parton gains two to No. 46. Dolly and Zach Williams' "There Was Jesus" loses seven to No. 13 Christian streaming songs and holds steady at No. 7 Christian digital sales singles.

'NME' Names Dolly Track A Top Love Song
Music magazine NME this week had its critics name the 20 best love songs of all time and included Dolly's original 1974 recording of "I Will Always Love You" alongside fellow classics like The Beatles' "Yesterday" and Elvis Presley's "Suspicious Minds" and several newer songs like Adele's "Someone Like You." They noted that while Whitney Houston's cover is equally as iconic, Dolly's original has "a certain melancholy resignation." Read more here.

Dolly Statue Clears First Legislative Hurdle
The legislative committee considering adding a statue of Dolly to the State Capitol grounds in Nashville unanimously approved the bill, WBIR reported here, moving the bill to the full legislature for an eventual vote before it can become law and fundraising for it may begin.

Feb. 9:
Super Bowl Airs, Is Commended, Criticized
Dolly's "5 To 9" Super Bowl spot aired Sunday and was talked about a lot. Some commentators included it in their lists of the night's best ads, while many included it in their lists of the night's worst ads, namely criticizing that she had taken one of music's greatest protest anthems of the working class and turned it into ad agency propaganda with spin about following one's dreams when in reality nearly all Americans who pursue "side hussles" only do so because income hasn't kept pace with inflation and consequently, workers are not paid enough in full-time jobs to get by and have to moonlight to survive. Her manager noted this criticism in an interview Monday in Billboard's "Bulletin" here saying: "It's not so much that we're encouraging working from 5 to 9, it's just there are a lot of people doing that, and we want to support them," He added that her perfume briefly plugged in the ad – but promoted heavily in each of the media stories about the ad in advance of the Super Bowl – sold 10,000 sample bottles in its first hour of availability. In related news, fans who use the Shazam app on IOS devices to identify the song (you may play the YouTube version since the game is over) may sign up for Apple Music and get five months free. The deal is available through March 31.

Dolly Does Fallon Game
Dolly talked about the ad, the perfume, her collaboration with Barry Gibb and more Friday on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon. She even had fun with the show's "True Confessions" game against actor Noah Centineo, which you may watch here. tonight show game

'Odd Jobs' Celebrated For 40th Anniversary
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the album 9 To 5 And Odd Jobs, Dolly sat down with Sonos' Songteller Radio to give her recollections about various tracks on the CD. Take a listen here.

'Opry' Anniversary Adds Dolly
Dolly has been added to the performer list for NBC's Grand Ole Opry: 95 Years of Country Music special airing Feb. 14, the network announced last week.

U.K. Chart Updates
Entertainment Tonight Canada last week spoke with Dolly and Barry Gibb to promote their recent duet and discussed how their collaboration with Kenny Rogers on "Islands In The Stream" changed all of their lives. Watch it here. The album that contains their track "Words," Barry Gibb's Greenfields: The Gibbs Brothers Songbook (Vol. 1), tumbles 17 places this week on the British pop albums chart to No. 20 in the U.K. in its fourth week, sliding one to No. 4 sales and No. 4 physical sales, 23 spots to No. 32 downloads and one digit to No. 2 Americana. Very Best Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 loses another four to No. 96 on the pop albums chart and holds steady at No. 90 streaming. On the country albums chart, The Grass Is Blue and Dolly's Original Album Classics 2 both fall out of the top 20, down from No. 7 and No. 13, respectively. On the British country compilation chart, Very Best Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 gains one to No. 7, The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe loses one to No. 9, Emmylou 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 Linda Ronstadt) gains six to No. 13, The Essential Dolly Parton dips three to No. 8, Linda Ronstadt's Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) falls out of the top 20, down from No. 17, while Ultimate Dolly Parton slips three to No. 14.

Feb. 3:
Super Bowl Commerical Premieres, Single Released, Perfume Teased

The cologne, which she has said is supposed to smell like her, won't be released in full-sized bottles until July but $10 sample sizes were announced as being available for order starting Sunday night after the commercial airs, but her partners at Scent Beauty began taking orders online here on Tuesday.

The perfume is described as having top notes of mandarin, blackcurrent, crisp pear, and fresh peony blossom; heart of jasmine, lily-of-the-valley, and vanilla orchid; and base of sandalwood, fir, musk, tonka bean, amber, and patchouli.

Dolly is actually quite well-known for her unique scent, which she said is a mixture of bath oils and various other perfumes, and Megan Hilty once described as "a mixture of like, baby powder, and love, and pixie dust." The sweet yet spicy scent is known to enter a room a couple of seconds before Dolly herself, and you can even smell it if you're close enough to the front of the stage at a concert.

As for the commercial, Dolly also released the re-recording as a single, available for download from Amazon here or from your favorite retailer and for streaming from YouTube here or in the media player below or from your favorite streaming service. The extended one-minute version of the commercial is available in the media player above or on YouTube here, while the 30-second version that will air on the Super Bowl is available on You Tube here.

Squarespace has dedicated a page of its main website to the promotion here with the video, links to download or stream the song, a Q&A with Dolly, and a link to her perfume website, which currently allows you to sign up for email updates.

She debuted the commercial and talked about the perfume, Presidential Medial of Freedom, her brother's passing, and more Tuesday morning on NBC's Today With Hoda and Jenna, with her appearance available for viewing here. Also, CNN re-posted its story that had mistakenly spilled the beans on the projects early a few days ago and quickly scrubbed from the Internet, now available here and leading with her decision to wait a little while to get the Covid vaccine so it didn't look like she was jumping ahead in line because she donated $1 million to help create it. (In a separate Associated Press interview here, she noted she plans to get the shot and will likely get it on camera to encourage others to do so.)

Dolly. Barry Talk 'Words,' Move On U.S. Charts
City News up in Canada on Tuesday posted a great remote interview with Dolly and Barry Gibb about their collaboration on "Words," from Gibb's Greenfields: The Gibbs Brothers Songbook (Vol. 1), and their excitement at the album hitting No. 1 in many countries. He also reveals he has a song in mind for Dolly to sing with him on Volume 2 of the project. Watch the interview here. Meanwhile, on the U.S. charts, the album tumbles 60 more spots in its third week on the U.S. top 200 albums tally to No. 157 on the Feb. 6 Billboard charts. Again showing the importance of streaming and how older acts don't typically get many streams, the album actually gained two to No. 5 overall U.S. album sales and current album sales, holding steady at No. 4 Americana/folk albums. On the country albums chart, where streaming is also a huge factor, it slips four to No. 14, and Ultimate Dolly Parton slips three to No. 48. Dolly and Zach Williams' "There Was Jesus" drops off Hot Christian Songs, down from No. 7, while holding steady at No. 6 Christian streaming songs and sliding one to No. 7 Christian digital sales singles.

PBS Gets Dolly's Opry 50th Anniversary Special
Dolly's 50th anniversary NBC special at The Grand Ole Opry from 2019 will be broadcast again in the U.S. PBS has picked up the special here and will air it on many of its stations at the end of February and start of March. Check local listings for dates and times if it is airing in your market.

Pirates Voyage Pigeon Forge Nears Third Season
Dolly's Pigeon Forge location of her Pirates Voyage Dinner & Show announced Tuesday that its third season will kick off Feb. 12. Show times and reservations are available by calling (865) 505-2469 or visiting www.piratesvoyage.com.

Feb. 2:
Dolly Tells 'Today' She Turned Down Freedom Medal
Today on Monday previewed Dolly's Tuesday interview with Hoda and Jenna here where she reveals in response to the semi-joke that Obama said his worst failure as president was not giving the Medal of Freedom to Dolly because he thought she had already received it and that he'd suggest President Joe Biden give it to her that she was twice offered the honor by Donald Trump but turned it down (giving the excuse the first time that her husband was too ill for her to leave him and the second time that she didn't want to travel due to coronavirus) so now if she accepts it from Biden it may appear too political.

The screen teaser also discloses a Super Bowl ad. (A now-deleted CNN story from a few days ago revealed she had re-written and re-recorded "9 To 5" for website builder Squarespace as "5 to 9," about how so many people have side gigs outside of their normal workdays. Squarespace will also host the site for her new perfume line, and what appears to be a perfume bottle also appears in the shot.)

Dolly is notorious for keeping out of partisan politics and has worked with both Democratic and Republican leaders. She received several honors from the administration of George W. Bush, a Republican and Jenna Bush's father, including the National Medal of Arts in 2005, although she was touring at the time of the award ceremony so she was unable to attend, although she accepted the Kennedy Center Honor from Bush at the White House in 2006. During his tenure she also received the U.S. First and Wildlife Service's Partnership Award, U.S. Library of Congress Living Legend Award and Smithsonian Institution's Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service. She was friendly with Bush and President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat, and close friends with Texas Gov. Ann Richards, and Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredensen, both Democrats.

Opry Announces Dolly Guitar Auction
The Grand Ole Opry on Monday night announced Dolly has designed and donated a guitar to raise money for the Opry Trust Fund. The auction, open here through Feb. 19, features the guitar with a butterfly on the head and a rainbow ribbon across the body with the logo from her 9 To 5 musical saying "9 To 5 Honors Opry 95th Celebration." It is also adorned with sparkling crystal rhinestones and Dolly's autograph. With a stated value of $2,500, bids as of press time were at $825.

Feb. 1:
Dolly Plans TV Appearances This Week
I suspect we'll soon learn what Dolly's surprise project for February is that she had teased in some interviews around the holiday season but said she couldn't announce yet, as she is scheduled for some media appearances this week. She's booked for Tuesday's Today show on NBC for both the first program which starts at 7 a.m. Eastern and its fourth hour Today With Hoda and Jenna that begins at 10 a.m. She'll also appear on the network's The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon Friday night at 11:35 p.m.

Team Dolly Warns Of Fake Dolly Accounts
Dolly's team last week had to take to social media to warn fans of scammers pretending to be her on fake "Dolly Parton" accounts who contact fans through direct messaging or commenting on their social media posts and eventually ask them for private information that could be used in identify theft or demand money. Noting Dolly's official account has Facebook's verified blue check mark next to her name and the fake accounts don't, they posted to Facebook here: "It has come to our attention that there are numerous fake accounts pretending to be Dolly on social media. This is her only official Facebook page, which you can differentiate with the blue checkmark. Dolly Parton does not have any other pages and any messages or comments from those pages are fraudulent. She will never ask for personal information or money on any social media platform. Please report any accounts claiming to be Dolly so we can get them taken down to keep this platform safe and fun for all. – Team Dolly"

Mardi Gras Float House Focuses On Dolly
With Mardi Gras parades cancelled due to coronavirus, New Orleans has seen the popping up of "Float Houses," homes and businesses decked out in themes in place of the usual parade floats. One business set up a Dolly theme, complete with a mural out front, and the family member of an employee turned out to work for Dolly's team and had them sent more than 70 pounds of Dolly memorabilia to decorate and give out to customers. Learn more from NOLA.com here.

U.K., Aussie Chart Updates
Barry Gibb's Greenfields: The Gibbs Brothers Songbook (Vol. 1), featuring his duet with Dolly on "Words," remains in the top three British pop chart this week but falls off Down Under, dropping one to No. 3 in the U.K. in its third week and falling off the top 50 Australian pop albums tally, down from No. 8 in its second week. Elsewhere on the British tallies, the CD was No. 3 sales, No. 3 physical sales, No. 9 downloads and No. 1 Americana. On other British charts, Very Best Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 slips 38 places to No. 92 on the pop albums chart, dips 27 to No. 90 streaming, and falls off the top 100 downloads, overall sales, and physical sales, down from No. 21, No. 49, and No. 77, respectively. On the country albums chart, The Grass Is Blue gains one to No. 7, but it falls off the top 100 downloads down from No. 37, while Dolly's Original Album Classics 2 gains six to No. 13. On the British country compilation chart, Very Best Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 gains one to No. 8, The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe loses three to No. 8, Emmylou 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 Linda Ronstadt) falls eight to No. 19, The Essential Dolly Parton rises two to No. 5, Linda Ronstadt's Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) inches down one to No. 17, while Ultimate Dolly Parton holds steady at No. 11.