April 28: Dolly Readies For Dollywood Trip East Tennessee is prepping for Dolly's annual Homecoming visit next week, her first return to the area this season. On Friday, May 5, she will celebrate the opening of her new Smoky Mountain Adventures dinner theatre for the media, who will then check out the new Drop Line attraction, which opens to the public on Saturday. Dolly's annual Pigeon Forge parade runs from light No. 6 to light No. 3 at 6 p.m. Friday, May 5, and the Dollywood entertainment schedule shows Dolly will be on park Saturday, May 6, with a park tour, weather permitting, from Heartsong to Showstreet at 3:30 p.m. Check out coverage of the upcoming events from WBIR here.
Pentatonix Collaboration Wins Webby Dolly and Pentatonix this week won a Webby Award for the year's best of the internet. Two awards are given in each category: the actual Webby chosen by a panel of judges and the People's Voice Award chosen by online ballot. Their video for "Jolene" won the People's Voice Award for best viral video, while The Woolshed Co. was the judges' choice for "The Viral Experiment" here.
Another Sandy Rememberance Andy Cohen this week shared his memories of friend Sandy Gallin and Dolly with a piece in The Hollywood Reporterhere.
Dolly's Giving Profiled Dolly's philanthropy is on display in a tribute from City View Magazine this week here.
April 24: In Memoriam: Sandy Gallin The entertainment world was in mourning over the weekend with Friday's passing of legendary talent manager Sandy Gallin, 76, who shepherded the careers of Barbara Streisand, Cher, Michael Jackson and more, but he had no client relationship as close as his one with Dolly, whose pop crossover in music, entry into movies and position in popular culture he designed and orchestrated throughout the late 1970s and until his retirement from management in the late 1990s. Dolly released the following statement: "Sandy, you may be in heaven now, but you will never be gone from me. In the words of my own song, I will always love you." Beyond just working on her career, Dolly and Sandy became business partners, creating a successful production company, Sandollar, which won one Oscar and several cable ACE awards. They shared a New York penthouse together, often vacationed together, and Dolly usually played hostess for his Hollywood parties for the rich and famous. She wrote her 1979 tune "Sandy's Song" in his honor. Her tribute to him on her official website is available here. She was also interviewed about him in his New York Times obituary here. Other coverage included The Los Angeles Timeshere and Hollywood Reporterhere.
Trio Remains No. 1 UK, Pentatonix Debut At No. 2 U.S. The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe holds on to the No. 1 spot on the British country compilation albums chart in its 32nd chart week, garnering a 22nd non-consecutive week atop the chart, 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) loses three to No. 9, Harris' Original Album Series, Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) dips three to No. 17 and Ronstadt's Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) moves up one to No. 7. Down Under, My Dear Companion: Selections From The Trio Collection by Dolly, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt inches up to to No. 7 on the Australian country albums chart in its 32nd week, it was announced Sunday. In the U.S., PTX Vol. IV: Classics, featuring Pentatonix's Grammy-award-winning collaboration with Dolly on a cover of her "Jolene," debuts at No. 2 album sales, No. 2 current albums, No. 4 Hot 200, No. 6 Internet sales, No. 2 digital sales and No. 8 Canadian pop.
UT History Class Attracts 'Times' Story The story of Dolly's life and career as a University of Tennessee honors history course continued to gain notice last week, gracing NPR and even a profile in The New York Timeshere.
See Red Rocks Footage Although no word has been announced about DVD release plans, thanks to Tor for passing along two clips from Dolly's Pure & Simple Tour recording at Red Rocks in Colorado that are available on Vimeo here and here. Concertgoers were notified the show was being filmed last year for a DVD release, but her two most recent concerts to be shot for planned DVDs never came to fruition (Glasgow and Melbourne), so we'll have to wait and see what becomes of this one.
April 17: Trio Collection Tops U.K. Chart, Pentatonix Enter Down Under The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe returns this week to the No. 1 spot on the British country compilation albums chart in its 31st chart week, garnering a 21st non-consecutive week atop the chart, 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) holds steady at No. 6, 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. 14 and Ronstadt's Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) gains three to No. 8. PTX Vol. IV: Classics, which features their Grammy-award-winning collaboration with Dolly on a cover of her "Jolene," debuts at No. 41 U.K. pop albums. Down Under, My Dear Companion: Selections From The Trio Collection by Dolly, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt holds steady at No. 9 on the Australian country albums chart in its 31st week, it was announced Sunday, and PTX Vol. IV: Classics debuts at No. 10 pop albums.
Gallin Being Treated For Cancer Former Dolly manager Sandy Gallin is being treated for a recurrence of cancer, TMZ reported here and Towleroad reported here last week. Dolly's former roommate in her New York penthouse and partner in her 1980s-1990s Oscar-winning production company Sandollar, Gallin oversaw Dolly's pop career shift in the late 1970s through her most popular phases in the 1980s and 1990s.
College Course News Goes Viral Although news of the course was reported here on Dollymania.net back when the class was first announced by the University of Tennessee in December, the fact that the school's Knoxville campus was requiring honors history students to take "Dolly Parton's America: From Sevierville to the World" went viral last week, prompting a social media posting by Dolly and a slew of articles including Rolling Stonehere, Country Fan Casthere, FOX 17here, Sounds Like Nashvillehere, WKRN here and The Knoxville News Sentinelhere.
'Christmas Of Many Colors' Courts Emmy Voters Dolly Parton's Christmas Of Many Colors: Circle Of Love and Dolly Parton's Coat Of Many Colors co-executive producer Sam Haskell spoke with awards website Golden Derby last week here to talk about the holiday film and help promote it to Emmy voters before nominations are announced. He also confirmed "Jolene" is the next movie, which may air in early 2018, and then "The Seeker."
April 10: 'Jolene' Video Nominated For Webby Award Dolly is up for a Webby Award, which recognizes the best of the internet. Her collaboration with Pentatonix on "Jolene" is up for Best Viral Video against Marty McFly and Doc Brown visit Jimmy Kimmel, @midnight: Relax with Bubble Wrap (Comedy Central), The Viral Experiment (The Woolshed Company) and #MoreThanMean: Women in Sports Face Online Harassment (Just Not Sports). Vote for Dolly through April 20 here.
U.K., Aussie Chart Updates Down Under, My Dear Companion: Selections From The Trio Collection by Dolly, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt jumps up ten places to No. 9 on the Australian country albums chart in its 30th week, it was announced Sunday. The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe slips one to No. 4 on the British country compilation albums chart in its 30th week, 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 two to No. 6, 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. 16 and Ronstadt's Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) rises one to No. 11.
Billboard: Add Dolly To Rock Hall With the weekend's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Billboard took the opportunity to look at the women most deserving for induction in the near future, placing Dolly at No. 7 and opining here: "as a presence so pervasive in all corners of musical and popular culture for a full half-century now, it seems especially egregious that Parton should continue being snubbed."
Night Of 1,000 Dollys Returning May 6 Knoxville Club XYZ is prepping for the 8th annual Night of 1,000 Dollys party the weekend of her Pigeon Forge parade. The Saturday, May 6, event kicks off at 11:30 p.m. featuring Raz, Trixie Lynn and Vanity Love and possibly more queens. Lights, butterflies and flowers will adorn the bar with a Best Dolly contest at midnight for a Dollywood season pass and two additional season passes will be raffled to raise funds for the Imagination Library.
April 4: 'Forever Country' Wins Video Of The Year Dolly won an Academy of Country Music Award Sunday but it won't be added toward her total wins. "Forever Country," the mash-up of "I Will Always Love You," "On The Road Again" and "Take Me Home Country Roads" that featured 30 artists singing, including Dolly for the finale, won the ACM for Video of the Year, but per ACM rules since it was a various artist project, the award credit will be given to the Country Music Association "on behalf of the participating artists." Ironically, the CMA, which commissioned the project for its 50th anniversary, ruled the song ineligible for its awards. The collaboration lost Vocal Event of the Year on Sunday. On Monday, Dolly noted on social media: "An amazing group of talented people came together on 'Forever Country' and it's such a blessing to see it honored for Video of the Year at the ACM Awards."
Smoky Mountains Adventures Selling Tickets Dolly's new Smoky Mountains Adventures Dinner and Show theatre in Pigeon Forge on Monday started selling tickets for performances beginning April 21. Buy them at 844-322-4400.
April 3: Blake Shelton Wins Music Madness Poll Voting wrapped up a few days ago in the annual Nash Country Daily (formerly Country Weekly) Music Madness Poll coinciding with the NAACP basketball championships, and just like the Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs, Dolly came up just a little short. More than 20,000 ballots were cast for Dolly and Blake Shelton in the final round, both of whom survived three previous rounds each to make it to the end as the biggest country stars of 2016, but Blake got about 2,000 votes more than Dolly in the end, they reported here.
In Memoriam: Tever Parton Our thoughts and prayers are with the Parton family upon the loss of Dolly's niece Tever Louise Parton, who passed away March 26 at the age of 36. The daughter of Randy and Deb Parton, her sister Heidi Lou Parton and father perform in Dolly's "My People" show at Dollywood. A private service was held Thursday. News of the passing came with release of an obituary over the weekend from Atchley Funeral Home here. The family asked for memorials to be made to Pets Without Parents, 901 Mize Lane, Sevierville, TN 37862. On her official Facebook page, Stella Parton shared the news with fans by posting the following: "'Let not your hearts be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are many mansions: if it were not true I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself; that where I am there ye may be also.. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.' John 14:1-4. Yes, grief is deep and no one knows the heartache of another but I do know my niece,'sweet T' Tever is with the Lord and we find comfort in the scriptures during this time. Please pray for my brother Randy, my sister in law Deb, my niece Heidi and my great nephew Houston and our entire family. Our hearts are broken. Thank you for your kindness and respect at this time."
Dolly Dress On Display At Hall Of Fame Dolly's dress and shoes from last year's CMA Awards Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award presentation are included in the new "The Music of 2016" exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame's American Currents Gallery. The exhibit opened two weeks ago and continues through mid-March of next year. Learn more here.
U.K., Aussie Chart Updates Down Under, My Dear Companion: Selections From The Trio Collection by Dolly, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt tumbles ten places to No. 19 on the Australian country albums chart in its 29th week, it was announced Sunday. The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe rises one to No. 3 on the British country compilation albums chart in its 29th week, 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 five to No. 8 and Ronstadt's Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) rises five to No. 12.
Dolly Fan Dinner Cancelled The annual Dolly fan dinner in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., this year has been cancelled due to low advance ticket sales, organizers announced over the weekend. Chip Yeomans reported that a contract had to be signed with the venue by Saturday confirming attendance of at least 100 people, but only 29 tickets had been sold, and he was not comfortable risking several thousand dollars of his own money if they didn't sell any additional tickets by the May event. Read his announcement on Facebook here.
Dolly Turned Down Prince Song Did you know Prince once offered Dolly a song he had written? A Yahoo news story over the weekend here reported that in the mid-1980s he pitched songs to Dolly, Michael Jackson and Joni Mitchell, all of whom passed.
