May 31: Dolly Gets ACM Humanitarian Award Dolly will receive another special honor from the Academy of Country Music this year, it was announced Tuesday. She has been selected as the 2017 recipient of the ACM's Gary Haber Lifting Lives Award, which has been combined with the Humanitarian Award. The new honor is presented to someone who "is devoted to improving lives through the power of music, has a generosity of spirit and is committed to serving others." In a press release, the ACMs stated: "Dolly Parton has held many titles over her storied 50-year career – singer, songwriter, actress, legend---but philanthropist is one that is close to her heart. Since her earliest days of stardom, Dolly has used her celebrity to support the causes she loves most." Specifically, they note that her Imagination Library has distributed almost 100 million books for children and that she raied more than $10 million for the victims of last year's Smoky Mountain wildfires. Past honorees include Brooks & Dunn, Vince Gill, Lonestar, Martina McBride, Neal McCoy, Reba McEntire, Montgomery Gentry, Rascal Flatts, LeAnn Rimes and Carrie Underwood. The award will be presented to her in the 11th Annual ACM Honors ceremony Aug. 23 at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium and the event will be broadcast for the second consecutive year on CBS at a yet-to-be-announced date. Other awards to be presented that evening include Cliffie Stone Icon Award winner George Strait, Gene Weed Milestone Award to Kelsea Ballerini, Mae Boren Axton Service Award to Bob Kingsley and Reba McEntire, Merle Haggard Spirit Award to Eric Church, Poet's Award for Toby Keith, Willie Nelson and Shel Silverstein, Tex Ritter Award for Nashville and Songwriter of the Year for Lori McKenna. This marks her 11th career ACM Award.
May 30: Order Cochran Album With Dolly Duet Amazon.com has added a preorder page for Debbie Cochran's album Born Again Wildflower, coming out June 16 and featuring a Dolly duet on the title track, "Born Again Wildflower." Reserve your download here!
Australian Chart Update Down Under, My Dear Companion: Selections From The Trio Collection by Dolly, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt loses 13 places to No. 30 on the Australian country albums chart in its 37th week, it was revealed Sunday.
May 22: HLN Travels To Smoky Mountains
HLN, formerly known as CNN Headline News, recently returned to the Smokies to follow-up on the recovery after last year's deadly wildfire, including sitting down with Dolly to talk about her role in the effort. Check it out in two parts in the media players above and below or here and here. In related news, Garden & Gun magazine offered an update profile here this week as well.
In Memoriam: Colleen Owens Another longtime Dolly associate has passed away, family members announced on Friday. Colleen Owens, Dolly's aunt by marriage and her professional hairdresser for three decades including styling her wigs for The Porter Wagoner Show, her 1976-77 syndicated variety show and her 1987-88 ABC variety show in addition to numerous concert tours, television specials, movies, album covers and more, has died. Her son, former Dolly band member Richie Owens, who also produced her 1998 album Hungry
Again, revealed the passing on his Facebook page Friday morning, announcing: "My heart is broken. After months of failing health my mother is now at peace and with my father who she loved so much. As hard as her life was growing up she overcame so much and made a better life for herself and her family. I owe my creativity and style just as much to her as to my father. I've known this was coming for a while so I've been a little more prepared for it. but it still doesn't make it easy. My love is always with you and you'll always be with me." Later in the day, he shared a photo of his mother styling his cousin Dolly for an appearance on The Porter Wagoner Show. Colleen was married to Louis Owens, brother to Dolly's mother. Louis and Colleen accompanied Dolly and Uncle Bill Owens to Nashville when a teen-aged Dolly made her first appearance on The Grand Ole Opry. Louis, who passed away in 2014, was a performer at Dollywood. Colleen's passing comes within weeks the deaths of former longtime manager Sandy Gallin, former longtime road manager Don Warden and niece Tever Parton.
U.S., British Chart Updates Playlist: The Very Best Of Dolly Parton holds steady on the country catalog albums tally at No. 22 to mark a third week on the chart, the June 3 Billboard numbers released Tuesday showed. PTX Vol. IV: Classics, featuring Pentatonix's Grammy-award-winning collaboration with Dolly on a cover of her "Jolene," decreases five in its sixth week to No. 47 album sales, one to No. 41 current albums and 23 to No. 149 Hot 200. Cover Stories: Brandi Carlile Celebrates 10 Years of The Story – An Album to Benefit War Child , the benefit album for War Child UK featuring Dolly's cover of "The Story" as its lead single, falls in its second chart week, losing 11 places to No. 13 Americana/folk album sales, 26 to No. 33 top rock albums and two to No. 4 compilation albums and falls off the following charts after one week each at No. 10 current albums, No. 10 Internet albums, No. 11 top album sales, No. 30 Hot 200 pop albums, No. 9 digital albums, No. 4 Americana/folk albums, No. 16 Tastemakers, No. 4 rock album sales and No. 9 vinyl albums. Overseas, The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe this week holds steady on the British country compilation albums chart at No. 4 in its 37th chart 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) holds steady at No. 12 and Ronstadt's Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) rises one to No. 13.
Dolly's New Restaurant Profiled Another media outlet has profiled Dolly's new Smoky Mountain Adventures dinner theatre. Check out the report from Indianapolis' FOX 59 here.
Miley Covers 'Jolene' On NBC Dolly goddaughter Miley Cyrus on Friday made her godmother proud and covered her classic "Jolene" in her concert appearance on NBC's Today show. Check out the performance here.
Stella Chats With Magazine Dolly's sister Stella Parton talks about her career and her famous sibling in an interview with Music Radarhere.
Dollywood Opens Barbeque & Bluegrass Fest Dollywood's Barbeque & Bluegrass festival opened Friday. Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver appear Sunday, Daily & Vincent on Monday, Steep Canyon Rangers Wednesday and Rhonda Vincent & The Rage June 4 to close out the fest.
May 22: 'Cover Stories' Debuts High On Charts Cover Stories: Brandi Carlile Celebrates 10 Years of The Story – An Album to Benefit War Child , the benefit album for War Child UK featuring Dolly's cover of "The Story" as its lead single, had an impressive first week on the charts thanks to 19,000 sales in the U.S. Billboard reports the set debuts at No. 10 current albums, No. 10 Internet albums, No. 11 top album sales, No. 30 Hot 200 pop albums, No. 9 digital albums, No. 7 top rock albums, No. 4 Americana/folk albums, No. 16 Tastemakers, No. 2 Americana/folk album sales, No. 4 rock album sales, No. 9 vinyl albums and No. 2 compilation albums. Overseas, The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe this week loses two on the British country compilation albums chart to No. 4 in its 36th chart 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) rises four to No. 12 and Ronstadt's Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) gains five to No. 14. Down Under, My Dear Companion: Selections From The Trio Collection by Dolly, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt inches down one to No. 17 on the Australian country albums chart in its 36th week, it was announced Sunday.
May 18: More Video From Dolly's Homecoming Appearances
Your Dollymania.net coverage of Dolly's recent Dollywood Homecoming continues tonight with raw video featuring footage from her new dinner theatre, the park's new ride and short clips from Dolly's various appearances. Watch it in the media player above or by visiting YouTube here.
U.S. Charts, Sales Updates Playlist: The Very Best Of Dolly Parton from 2015 re-enters the country catalog albums at No. 22 this week on the May 27 tally to mark a third week on the list. PTX Vol. IV: Classics, featuring Pentatonix's Grammy-award-winning collaboration with Dolly on a cover of her "Jolene," drops nine in its fifth week to No. 42 album sales, eight to No. 40 current albums, 33 to No. 126 Hot 200 and off the top 100 Canadian pop albums, down from No. 97. And although it's no longer on the charts, SoundScan data show Dolly's Pure & Simple continues to sell about 300 copies a week and last week stood at 117,300 units sold in the U.S. since release.
Clarkson Plays 'Feud' For Dolly Charity Taste Of Country reports here that Kelly Clarkson will battle Amy Schumer on the third season of Celebrity Family Feud playing for Dolly's Dollywood Foundation and its Imagination Library and My People Fund.
New Dolly Duet Released RFD-TV on Tuesday released a new music video by Debbie Cochran featuring a duet with Dolly on "Born Again Wildflower," which will serve as the title track for Cochran's next album, due for a June 16 release. Watch the video on YouTube here or in the media player below.
May 15: More Photos, News From Dollywood Appearances Your Dollymania.net coverage of Dolly's recent Homecoming appearances continues tonight with a new photo gallery here from the Dolly's tribute to longtime road manager the late Don Warden. More to come! Also, The Kingsport Times News reviewed the new dinner theatre here and Dollywood's new ride, DropLine, here.
Aussie Chart Update Down Under, My Dear Companion: Selections From The Trio Collection by Dolly, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt falls three to No. 16 on the Australian country albums chart in its 35th week, it was announced Sunday.
May 13: New Galleries From Dollywood Homecoming Your Dollymania.net coverage of last weekend's Homecoming appearances continues tonight with photo galleries here from the opening of Dolly's Smoky Mountain Adventures dinner theatre and her Pigeon Forge parade. More to come! Also, The Knoxville News-Sentinel reviewed the show here.
Louisiana's Goldband Studios Demolished The Lake Charles, La., studio where Dolly recorded her first record, the 1959 single "Puppy Love"/"Girl Left Alone," has been demolished, KPLC reports here. The Goldband Records studio had been founded in 1952 by Eddie Shuler.
Dolly Track Makes 'RuPaul's Drag Race' Dolly's disco hit "Baby I'm Burning" was the "lipsynch for your life" selection at the conclusion of Friday's episode of RuPaul's Drag Race on VH1. Check out the official producers' recap (filled at the end with Dolly references) on YouTube here.
Overseas Chart Updates The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe this week inches up one on the British country compilation albums chart to No. 2 in its 35th chart 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) dips three to No. 16 and Ronstadt's Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) loses one to No. 19.
Ferrell Sings Dolly Song At Speech Comedian Will Ferrell gave the commencement address this week at the University of Southern California and chose to end it by singing "I Will Always Love You" a capella. Check it out here or in the media player below.
Billboard Notes Nelson Record, Miscounts Dolly Total Willie Nelson on Tuesday extended his lead over Dolly as the artist with the most top 10 country albums, as his God's Problem Child debuted at No. 1, giving him 50 top 10s. Billboard reports here that Dolly is tied with Loretta Lynn and George Strait at second place with 40 each, although Dolly actually has 44 credited top 10 country albums (45 if you include The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas soundtrack, which was credited as various artists on the charts). Elsewhere on the charts, PTX Vol. IV: Classics, featuring Pentatonix's Grammy-award-winning collaboration with Dolly on a cover of her "Jolene," loses 16 to No. 33 album sales, 16 to No. 32 current albums, 40 to No. 93 Hot 200, off the digital sales tally, down from No. 20, and down 13 to No. 97 Canadian pop.
More From Homecoming Weekend At Dollywood Coverage of Dolly's weekend Homecoming appearances continues this week. Look for photos and more from Dollymania.net over the next several days, but some mainstream media coverage includes some parade shots by official Dollywood photographer Curtis Hilbun in Britain's The Daily Mailhere, an opinion piece by Dolly for CNN about the wildfire recovery efforts here and a story about a girl who got to meet Dolly briefly at the park on Saturday here. More to come!
Dollywood's Splash Country Opening Saturday Dollywood's Splash Country water park opens Saturday with the debut of the family racing slide TailSpin Racer, preferred parking, walkway misters to cool feet and a new calming area for guests experiencing sensory overload.
'Lily's Driftwood Bay' Gets UK Repeat British audiences will get another chance next week to see Dolly's guest appearance on Lily's Driftwood Bay, where she played Noleen, a singing chicken. The episode repeats at 7 p.m. Monday on Nick Jr. Too in the U.K.
Dolly Singing Competition Nears Sevierville, Tenn.'s Bloomin' Barbeque & Bluegrass Festival takes place in a little over a week, featuring the Dolly-composed-song cover contest the 13th annual Mountain Soul Vocal Competition on May 20. Contestants sent their recordings in over several weeks and finalists from around the country were selected to perform at the live event. Learn more here.
May 8: Dolly Visits Fire Victims, Restaurant, Dollywood At Homecoming
Dolly had an emotional Homecoming to East Tennessee last week. She started on Thursday with a surprise appearance at LeConte Center in Pigeon Forge where she met three families who were collecting their final checks from her My People Fund. Not only did they get a surprise meeting with Dolly, she informed them that all of the more than 900 families assisted by the Fund were receiving a check for $5,000 each, a $4,000 increase from her earlier $6,000-per-family pledge (families had already received five monthly checks for $1,000 each). The increase brought the amount paid to those who lost their homes in November's Sevier County wildfires to $10,000 each and pushed the Fund's total aid distributed directly to impacted families past $9 million. On Friday morning, she officially opened her new Smoky Mountain Adventures dinner theatre and announced that the remaining $3 million that the My People Fund had raised would be contributed to the Mountain Tough Recovery Team to be spent over the next three years providing families impacted by the wildfires with longer-term unexpected needs, such as vehicles or medical expenses. Then Friday afternoon saw her encased in a heated/air conditioned enclosure atop her float for the annual Pigeon Forge Dolly parade due to cold temperatures and rain (the rain cancelled the usual photo shoot she does next to the float before she usually gets on it). On Saturday morning, she paid emotional tribute to former road manager Don Warden, breaking down in tears a couple of times as she remembered her "No. 1 Angel" who passed away in March. Dollywood's new Drop Line drop tower opened to the public Saturday, although the rain cancelled Dolly's scheduled park tour that afternoon. Saturday night saw the annual unofficial Night Of 1,000 Dollys party at Knoxville's Club XYZ. Watch raw video from her appearances on your webmaster's Facebook LiveStream in the media players above and below or here for the Don Warden tribute, here for the start of the parade and here for the Smoky Mountain Adventures opening. Check out coverage of the check presentations from The Knoxville News-Sentinelhere, the Mountain Tough donation and restaurant opening from The Tennesseanhere, WBIR here and Local 8 News here, the overall weekend from The Knoxville News Sentinelhere and the Don Warden tribute from WATE here.
'Dolly On Dolly' Book Gets Noticed The Dolly interview collection Dolly On Dolly: Interviews and Encounters With Dolly Parton, which got its wide release last week (and features a back cover blurb by your webmaster), was the focus of dozens of articles last week in the media focused on the more salacious details from a couple of the out-of-print interviews included in the book, primarily that she was suicidal in the mid-1980s following a bad ending to an "affair of the heart." But a piece in the book editor's hometown paper, The Denton Record-Chroniclehere, focused more on his story of becoming a Dolly fan.
Overseas Chart Updates The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe this week dips two on the British country compilation albums chart to No. 3 in its 34th chart week, down from the top spot in its 23rd 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 four to No. 13 and Ronstadt's Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) falls eight to No. 18. Down Under, My Dear Companion: Selections From The Trio Collection by Dolly, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt slips seven to No. 13 on the Australian country albums chart in its 34th week, it was announced Sunday.
May 4: Homecoming 2017 Underway This Weekend Dolly's new Smoky Mountain Adventures will livestream Dolly's Friday morning appearance at the new dinner theatre on its Facebook page here at 11 a.m. that morning, it has been announced. Dolly will also host her annual Pigeon Forge parade at 6 p.m. Friday and is scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. Saturday park tour at Dollywood, but that is weather-permitting and the forecast currently calls for a 90 percent chance of rain. In addition, the new dinner theatre and Dixie Stampede are giving away combo tickets to the two shows Friday by posting selfies from the parade sidelines to Facebook, Google+, Instagram or Twitter with the hashtag #DollysDinnerShows.
U.S. Chart Updates On Tuesday's Billboard charts, PTX Vol. IV: Classics, featuring Pentatonix's Grammy-award-winning collaboration with Dolly on a cover of her "Jolene," slips seven to No. 17 album sales, six to No. 16 current albums, 23 to No. 53 Hot 200, off the Internet sales, down from No. 8, 10 to No. 20 digital sales and 25 to No. 84 Canadian pop.
May 1: U.K., Aussie, U.S. Chart Updates The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe holds on to the No. 1 spot on the British country compilation albums chart in its 33rd chart week, garnering a 23rd 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. 9, Harris' Original Album Series, Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) falls back off the top 20, down from No. 17, and Ronstadt's Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) loses three to No. 10. Down Under, My Dear Companion: Selections From The Trio Collection by Dolly, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt inches up one to No. 6 on the Australian country albums chart in its 33rd 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," loses eight to No. 10 album sales, eight to No. 10 current albums, 26 to No. 30 Hot 200, two to No. 8 Internet sales, eight to No. 10 digital sales and 51 to No. 59 Canadian pop.
