Amazon Prime Video and the Academy of Country Music on Wednesday announced Dolly will for the second consecutive year host the ACM Awards, this year with co-host Garth Brooks and streaming live from the Ford Center at the Star outside of Dallas May 11. While Dolly said she doesn't expect to perform on the show with Garth, who is hosting his first-ever awards show, she will debut the first single from her upcoming rock album during the ceremony. The pair spoke with Billboard magazine about the hosting gig here. Watch the announcement video here or in the media player above. A limited number of public seats are available on SeatGeek here. The program will be streamable only for Amazon Prime members. Get a free test subscription here. (Ironically, her entire Dolly Records/Butterfly Records catalog from 2007 forward mysteriously disappeared from the service for most of the day Wednesday before being reinstated to Prime Audio for streaming and MP3 downloads at the end of the day. Amazon media relations did not respond to a request for comment by press time.)
'Pure & Simple' Coming To Vinyl Collectors' record company Vinyl Me Please on Wednesday revealed the first extra release album from Dolly they will be making available this year outside of her 12-album monthly Vinyl Me Parton club: the first-time vinyl release of 2016's Pure & Simple. Limited to 2,000 numbered copies, the set will remain available for pre-order restricted to VMP members (including those who are just members of the Dolly club or any of their other subscription tracks) through 11:59 a.m. Friday here, opening up to the general public to order any remaining copies at noon Friday. It will be on green vinyl and cost $35 members and $38 non-member. The product is expected to be in their warehouse in July but could be delayed in manufacturing before shipment to those who pre-order it.
Dollywood Up For 'USA Today' Awards Dollywood has been nominated for seven different USA Today 2023 10Best Readers' Choice Awards (vote once daily through April 24 here:
Best Theme Park- Dollywood
Best Roller Coaster- Lightning Rod
Best Non-Roller Coaster Ride- Smoky Mountain River Rampage
Best Theme Park Entertainment- "Dreamland Drive-In" and "Harmonies of the Heart"
Best Theme Park Hotel- Dollywood's DreamMore Resort and Spa
Best Amusement Park Restaurant- Aunt Granny's Restaurant
Best Outdoor Water Park- Dollywood's Splash Country
Facebook Shutting Down Dolly Tribute Acts Facebook has apparently been repeatedly kicking professional tribute artist acts off of its platform as fraudulently impersonating celebrities, and it has impacted several professional Dolly artists, including Kelly O'Brien, who took her plight to the British media this week. Watch her interview here.
U.S. Chart Updates Dolly's Diamonds & Rhinestones, The Greatest Hits Collection remains steady at No. 39 country albums in its 17th week, gaining four to No. 70 current album sales, Billboard's April 1 charts released Tuesday showed. Run, Rose, Run dips one to No. 7 bluegrass albums in its 53rd chart week.
March 27: Wisconsin School Bans Dolly Song, Ohio Group Calls For Bans
Right-wing activism attempted to draw Dolly into the culture wars twice in the past week. Administrators at an elementary school in Wisconsin banned a student performance of her duet she wrote and recorded with Miley Cyrus, "Rainbowland," as too controversial to include. The teacher whose students had planned to sing it shared here and in the embedded tweet above that the kids "were so excited" to perform the song in their spring concert but it was "vetoed by our administration" without explanation, adding "When will it end?" The school originally also banned the Kermit the Frog song "Rainbow Connection" in the concert as well but changed their minds on that ban. Coverage started locally such as the story here but soon hit the national media. Just days earlier, anti-gay activists in Ohio, including several leaders of organizations certified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as hate groups, wrote a joint letter to the state's First Lady touting her promotion of early childhood literacy by leading the statewide expansion of Dolly's Imagination Library in that state and using her love of books for kids as their justification to ask her to join them in banning books with LGBTQIA content from school libraries. While Dolly's people declined to comment, coverage such as The Cleveland Plan Dealerhere noted Dolly's longtime LGBTQIA advocacy work including publicly opposing 2016 legislation that prohibited trans individuals from using the bathrooms aligned with their authentic identities in North Carolina, her advocating for marriage equality in 2007 (she actually had publicly advocated in favor of it for several years prior to that), and her Oscar nomination for writing a song about transitioning genders for the film TransAmerica. (The activists are apparently unaware that diversity and incusion are two of the main planks in book selection for Dolly's program and that at least one title in the collection features a same-sex family raising children.)
New Dolly Wardrobe Book Coming In October Dolly last week revealed her second in a series of three coffee table books, Behind The Seams: My Life In Rhinestones, which focuses on her career-spanning wardrobe, and follows her book on her songwriting: Songteller: My Life In Lyrics. The title and subject of the third book has not been revealed. The 336-page Seams, to be released Oct. 17 with a suggested retail price of $50 from Ten Speed Press, is edited by Holly George-Warren and curated by Rebecca Seaver (the child of Dolly's sister Cassie). The costumes were photographed by Stacie Huckeba, who shot Dolly's most recent album covers, promotional photos, and the "Elvis" image that was used for an art print and for creating one of her Funko Pop dolls. In a press release, Dolly said: "I am happy, proud, and excited to present my book Behind the Seams to the public. It is my hope that you will enjoy a look at my life in costume and hair and get to know some of the great people who have helped shape my life and my look. Enjoy!" It promises behind-the-scenes stories and her iconic stage clothes and accoutrements from the 1960s through today. An audio book will be released by Penguin Random House Audio read by Dolly and featuring archival audio and music.
Nikki Sixx Joins Dolly Rock Album The guest list for Dolly's rock album keeps growing, as Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx tweeted last week that he had recorded a bass line for one of Dolly's songs on the project. Read more from Blabbermouthhere.
Dolly Shares Favorite Books With 'Marie Claire' Marie Claire last week shared Dolly's "Bookshelf Tour" of her favorite books. Check out the video here.
'Here You Come Again' Heads To Connecticut Goodspeed Musicals' Terris Theatre in Chester, Conn., announced last week that its 2023-24 season will open July 26 with Bruce Vilanch's Dolly jukebox musical Here You Come Again, which will run through Aug. 27. Read more from Broadway Worldhere.
U.S., U.K. Chart Updates Dolly's Diamonds & Rhinestones, The Greatest Hits Collection remains steady at No. 39 country albums in its 16th week, losing five to No. 74 current album sales, Billboard's March 25 charts released Tuesday showed. Run, Rose, Run gains one to No. 6 bluegrass albums in its 52nd chart week, marking one year on the chart. Overseas, Dolly's Diamonds & Rhinestones, The Greatest Hits Collection rises one to No. 2 on the British country compilation albums chart, while 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) remains steady at No. 11, The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe loses one to No. 3, Harris' Original Album Series: Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) regains five to No. 14, Very Best Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 dips one to No. 13, and Linda Ronstadt's Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly duet and one Dolly cover) inches up one to No. 4. Dolly's Run, Rose, Run re-enters the British country chart at No. 20 for a 46th week.
March 20: Another Dollywood Video Posted
The next installment of your Dollymania.net coverage of Dolly's opening weekend at Dollywood has been posted: a second set of raw video from her various appearances over the weekend. Look for more, including photo galleries, in coming days! Watch the video here or in the media player above.
Elton John Talks Dolly Collaboration Sir Elton John was bragging at his Oscar party the other week about his upcoming collaboration with Dolly for her rock album, several media outlets reported over the weekend including The Sunhere.
Dolly Dishes Land At Macy's After debuting in various forms at several other stores the past two years, Dolly's stoneware has launched a Macy's line, which was announced on social media here.
Classic Dolly Costume Lands On Ebay One of Dolly's 1970s costumes has found its way to ebay here.
Drink A Toast O'Dolly Cincinnati's Mad Tree Brewing is celebrating Women's History Month with a new beer in honor of Dolly. Learn more from the brewery here and a report from WLWT here.
U.K. Chart Updates Overseas, Dolly's Diamonds & Rhinestones, The Greatest Hits Collection holds steady at No. 3 on the British country compilation albums chart, while 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) dips five to No. 11, The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe holds steady at No. 2, Harris' Original Album Series: Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) falls six to No. 19, Very Best Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 regains two to No. 12, and Linda Ronstadt's Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly duet and one Dolly cover) remains steady at No. 5. Dolly's Run, Rose, Run re-enters the British Americana chart at No. 39.
March 15: Watch Dolly At Dollywood Season Opening
The first Dollymania.net News Video raw footage of Dolly at Dollywood this past weekend has been shared to YouTube. Watch here or in the media player above.
'Peace' Drops Off U.S. Charts "Peace Like A River," Dolly's duet with Dionne Warwick, this week falls off the March 18 Billboard charts released Tuesday, down from one week each at No. 2 on the 15-position gospel digital song sales chart and No. 22 on the 25-position Christian digital song sales chart. Dolly's Diamonds & Rhinestones, The Greatest Hits Collection slips one spot to No. 39 country albums in its 15th week, gaining one to No. 69 current album sales. Run, Rose, Run dips two to No. 7 bluegrass albums in its 51st chart week.
March 14: Dolly Opens Dollywood For 2023 Season Dolly welcomed the masses to her Smoky Mountain theme park for its 2023 season opening this weekend, popping in for a media and gold/diamond passholder event at passholder preview day Friday, followed by a parade through the park that afternoon and a stop in to sing with guest artist Natalie Grant on the park's public opening day Saturday. Unfortunately, Dolly told the crowd at that appearance it was too cold for her to parade through the park on Saturday. Watch Dollywood's official Facebook stream of the media event here. Image of Dolly at the media event is by T. Duane Gordon/Dollymania.net and is copyright 2023. All rights reserved. Click on it for a larger view.
At the media event she announced she would return sometime in May to launch the first rides on the new $25 million, 4,000-foot-long Big Bear Mountain roller coaster and in November to open the new 302-room HeartSong Lodge & Resort hotel (exact dates for each TBD dependent on construction completion, although the park will begin taking reservations for the new resort in June, she said). She also unveiled plans for a multi-location new Dolly museum experience under construction now which will open in 2024 and is modeled after the hugely popular touring immersive Vincent Van Gogh exhibit.
"The Dolly Parton Experience" will feature a new immersive experience museum, a separate wardrobe and costume exhibit, a revamping of her Tennessee Mountain Home replica to include storytelling by Dolly herself, and tying in the show in her DreamSong Theatre to explain her family and faith connections to her life and career as part of the experience. Conceptual art shows a large guitar breaking through a star-filled sky made of albums next to a wall of gold and platinum records and a "one-of-a-kind immersive storytelling experience." Watch the announcement video here or in the media player below (and the HeartSong Resort update video here.
Asked at the media event how she keeps going with her massively busy schedule she joked, "I'm on drugs!" She talked about how her parents would be proud of her and sang "I Will Always Love You," the 50th anniversary of which is being celebrated as the park's opening festival through April 8 with concerts by Ricky Skaggs next weekend, Jo Dee Messina March 25, The Gatlin Brothers April 1 and Lauren Alaina April 8. Image of Dolly and Natalie Grant is by T. Duane Gordon/Dollymania.net and is copyright 2023. All rights reserved. Click on it for a larger view.
That is followed by the Flower and Food Festival April 21-June 11, Sweet Summer Nights (with nightly fireworks and drone shows) June 17-Aug. 6, Harvest Festival and Great Pumpkin Luminights Sept. 20-Oct. 30, and Smoky Mountain Christmas Nov. 4-Jan. 6.
:Look for continued coverage from Dollymania over coming days including video and photos.
Coverage included WATE here, here and here; WVLT here and with a live interview during her parade here, Knoxville News-Sentinelhere, here and here; WLOS here, WSMV here, WJHL here, here and here; The Kingsport Times-Newshere and Coaster 101here.
Get Covers CD As Import April 7 In U.S. Amazon has updated its information on when A Way To Make A Living: The Dolly Parton Songbook will be available in the U.S. The retailer is showing the physical CD becoming available April 7. It is slated to be released March 31 in the U.K. by boutique reissue label Ace Records and contains 24 tracks written by Dolly throughout her career, only one of which she performs on the collection, three of which she duets with another artist covering the song, and the remaining 20 were recorded entirely by other artists over the past 50 years. Pre-order your copy here!
Dolly Song Vocal Contest Accepting Entries Organizers have announced that the 19th Annual Mountain Soul Vocal Competition is now accepting entries for the event at the May 20 Bloomin' BBQ Music & Food Festival in Sevierville, Tenn. It is the only annual vocal contest in the world focused on Dolly's songwriting. Interested contestants are encouraged to review the list of Dolly-written songs she has released over the years on Dollymaniahere and then submit an audition recording of up to two Dolly-written songs via BloominBBQ.com by April 14. A total of 20 adult finalists (age 13 and up) and 10 youth finalists (age 12 and under) will be invited to perform at the festival. "Songwriting and storytelling are such an integral part of our culture and no one does it better than Dolly," says Sevierville Chamber of Commerce Director of Marketing and Communications Amanda Marr. "We feel like it's important to honor her songwriting by showcasing its versatility across all genres – and by encouraging vocalists to dig deep into her impressive catalogue of music. We are honored that Dollywood assists us with coordinating prizes for the Mountain Soul Vocal Competition and look forward to presenting this vocal competition each year." Those with questions may call the Sevierville Chamber of Commerce at 1-888-889-7415.
March 9: Warwick Duet Hits Gospel, Christian Sales Charts Dolly's duet with Dionne Warwick, "Peace Like A River," debuts at No. 2 on the gospel digital song sales chart and Nol. 22 Christian digital song sales chart in the March 11 Billboard charts released Tuesday. "Jolene" with Olivia Newton-John falls off the country digital songs sales chart, down from one week at No. 13. Dolly's Diamonds & Rhinestones, The Greatest Hits Collection gains one spot to No. 38 country albums in its 15th week, losing four to No. 70 current album sales. Run, Rose, Run rises one to No. 5 bluegrass albums in its 50th chart week.
Bebe Rexha Teases Dolly Duet Lyrics Bebe Rexha gave more details this week on her upcoming duet with Dolly. Check out what she had to say about it to Metro UKhere.
'Gonna Be You' Video On 'Brady' DVD The new Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin film 80 For Brady will hit DVD and Blu-Ray May 2 and will include the music video of Dolly, Belinda Carlisle, Cyndi Lauper, Gloria Estefan and Debbie Harry's single "Gonna Be You" as a bonus feature. Thanks, Steve!
See Ya At Dollywood! Your webmaster is heading to Dollywood to cover Dolly's appearances this weekend to open the park's new season. Check out coverage here next week and see a few previews on my Facebook page here as it happens Friday and Saturday.
March 6: Dolly Covers Collection Track Listing Released U.K. boutique reissue label Ace Records has revealed the final track listing of its collection A Way To Make A Living: The Dolly Parton Songbook, and Amazon has added a link to order it once it becomes available. The 24-track album is to be released at the end of this month and contains one song with lead vocals by Dolly and then collaborations with Chet Atkina, Bill Phillips, and Holly Dunn. The remainder are covers by other artists spanning her career as a songwriter. The track listing is:
9 To 5 - Dolly Parton
Nickels And Dimes - Buck Owens
Here I Am - Percy Sledge
The Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad) - The Everly Brothers
Two Doors Down - Zella Lehr
My Blue Tears - The Incredible String Band
Down From Dover - Sally Timms & Jon Langford
Touch Your Woman - Margie Joseph
Kentucky Gambler - Merle Haggard & The Strangers
Coat Of Many Colors - Emmylou Harris
Light Of A Clear Blue Morning - Glen Campbell
Don't Let It Trouble Your Mind - Rhiannon Giddens
Do I Ever Cross Your Mind - Chet Atkins featuring Dolly Parton
I Will Always Love You - Linda Ronstadt
I Lived So Fast And Hard - Porter Wagoner
Jolene (Live 'Under Great White Northern Lights' version) - The White Stripes
My Tennessee Mountain Home - Maria Muldaur
Little Sparrow - Bettye LaVette
Put It Off Until Tomorrow - Bill Phillips (featuring Dolly Parton)
Most Of All Why - Holly Dunn (featuring Dolly Parton)
I'm In No Condition - Hank Williams Jr.
Love Is Like A Butterfly - Nana Mouskouri
With Bells On - Ru Paul featuring Michelle Visage
There'll Always Be Music - Tina Turner
See Dolly At Dollywood This Weekend Dollywood is gearing up for the visit from the queen herself, as the park opens this weekend for the new season. Dolly will host a media event on passholder preview day Friday and is expected to also be on the park on public opening day Saturday. During her visit, she is supposed to announce the opening day for the new Big Bear Mountain roller coaster, when she will return for her next appearance at the park. Fans were upset, though, that her media appearance was made a Golden Event for which only gold and diamond passholders may attend and are required to obtain reservations or tickets beforehand. Tickets became available through a link posted to the park's website late Monday without most gold or diamond passholders receiving any email notice of the availability. Once a social media group of Dollywood passholders saw it and shared the information, tickets were gone within an hour.
Dolly Wins Movieguide Award Dolly Parton's Mountain Magic Christmas won the Epiphany Prize for Most Inspiring TV or Streaming Movie or Program at the 30th annual Movieguide Awards last week. The NBC special beat out Blood and Treasure Season 2, A Christmas . . .Present, and Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power Episode 1.8. Dolly lost the Grace Prize for Most Inspiring Performance on TV for playing herself in the special, with Candace Cameron Bure in A Christmas . . . Present beating Dolly, Reba McEntire in My Chains Are Gone, Mark Gagliardi in Blood And Treasure, and Joanathan Roumie in The Chosen Episode 3. 3. This marked Dolly's third Epiphany Prize win, having taken home the award for Dolly Parton's Coat Of Many Colors and Dolly Parton's Christmas Of Many Colors: Circle Of Love. She also won the Grace Prize two years ago as Angel in Dolly Parton's Christmas On The Square.
Dolly On Yahoo's Top Country Duets List Yahoo released its list of the 50 best country music duets of all time, and Dolly comprises 10 percent of the tally with "I Will Always Love You" with Vince Gill at No. 43, "The Last Thing On My Mind" with Porter Wagoner at No. 18, "When I Stop Dreaming" with Don Henley at No. 14, "Creepin' In" with Norah Jones at No. 12 and "Islands In The Stream" with Kenny Rogers at No. 7. See the full list here.
Dolly Impersonator Photo Book Coming British photographer Alice Hawkins spent the past 10 years taking shots of herself dressed as Dolly and will be releasing them March 23 in a book called Dear Dolly. Read about it from The Guardianhere and reserve a copy for 15 percent off its 80 pound price at baronbooks.co.uk using the code deardolly.
Get Free Dolly E-Book This Month The University of Illinois Press is celebrating Women's History Month by providing free e-book downloads of Unlikely Angel: The Songs Of Dolly Parton. Access the give-a-way here.
'Jolene' With Newton-John Has Chart Debut Olivia Newton-John's posthumously-released collaboration with Dolly on "Jolene" debuts on the March 4 Billboard charts released Tuesday at No. 13 on the country digital songs sales chart. Dolly's Diamonds & Rhinestones, The Greatest Hits Collection inches up one place to No. 39 country albums in its 14th week, dipping five to No. 66 current album sales. Run, Rose, Run gains one to No. 6 bluegrass albums in its 49th chart week. Overseas, Dolly's Diamonds & Rhinestones, The Greatest Hits Collection holds loses two to No. 4 on the British country compilation albums chart, while 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 four to No. 6, The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe shoots up 16 to No. 2, Harris' Original Album Series: Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) rises two to No. 12, Very Best Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 dips two to No. 14, and Linda Ronstadt's Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly duet and one Dolly cover) re-enters the top 20 at No. 5.
Dolly Comes Up Again In Tenn. Anti-LGBTQ Debate Dolly's quote that if she had not been born a woman she's have been a drag queen has been circulating in news stories and on social media in response to her home state's decision to ban drag shows on public property and anywhere that children may be present. Check out a story from the Associated Press starting off with the quote here and an opinion piece on AOL here questioning the true allyship of Dolly, Taylor Swift and Reba for not speaking out against the state's legislation to harm LGBTQIA people.
Musicians Rhodes, Lindley Pass Away Two musicians who worked with Dolly died this week. Basist and session musician Michael Rhodes, 69, died Saturday at his Nashville home, Taste Of Country reported here. He was a member of Dolly's touring band for about two years in the early 1980s and performed on one of her albums, Burlap & Satin. The music world also lost David Lindley, known as the "godfather of soft rock," he performed on hundreds of major artists' albums over his career including five of Dolly's: Say Forever You'll Be Mine, Here You Come Again, Trio, Trio II, and Heartsongs: Live From Home. He was 78, MSN reported here.
Amazon Prime Video and the Academy of Country Music on Wednesday announced Dolly will for the second consecutive year host the ACM Awards, this year with co-host Garth Brooks and streaming live from the Ford Center at the Star outside of Dallas May 11. While Dolly said she doesn't expect to perform on the show with Garth, who is hosting his first-ever awards show, she will debut the first single from her upcoming rock album during the ceremony. The pair spoke with Billboard magazine about the hosting gig here. Watch the announcement video here or in the media player above. A limited number of public seats are available on SeatGeek here. The program will be streamable only for Amazon Prime members. Get a free test subscription here. (Ironically, her entire Dolly Records/Butterfly Records catalog from 2007 forward mysteriously disappeared from the service for most of the day Wednesday before being reinstated to Prime Audio for streaming and MP3 downloads at the end of the day. Amazon media relations did not respond to a request for comment by press time.)
Collectors' record company Vinyl Me Please on Wednesday revealed the first extra release album from Dolly they will be making available this year outside of her 12-album monthly Vinyl Me Parton club: the first-time vinyl release of 2016's 
