June 29: Major Dolly Collectors Profiled By MSN Alanna Nash, whose first book was the 1978 biography Dolly, this week published to MSN's music section a great profile of major Dolly fans Harrell Gabehart and Patric Parkey, who were featured on TLC's My Collection Obsession and whose collection was on display at the CMA Fest in Nashville earlier this month. Take a read here.
June 28: 'Evening' Back On The Chart, 'Joyful' Advances The Cracker Barrel exclusive An Evening With . . . Dolly sold 228 copies last week, a 15 percent weekly increase, to return it to the top 40 music DVD charts, the July 6 Billboard numbers showed Thursday. The CD/DVD set re-enters the tally at No. 37 to log a 40th week on the list, and its cumulative sales total since release increased to 58,481 copies. Her Joyful Noise soundtrack advances eight spots to No. 20 gospel albums in its 76th week on that chart, re-entering the combined gospel and Christian albums chart at No. 66 for a 47th week. With 411 units moved last week, the soundtrack has sold 137,173 copies since release. George Jones's Hits I Missed And One I Didn't, with Dolly on their duet "The Blues Man," falls off the 25-position country catalog albums chart, down from No. 15 in its eighth week there. I Will Always Love You: The Best of Whitney Houston, with the late singer's cover of Dolly's title track, loses four to No. 45 R&B/hip-hop albums in its 32nd week. Overall, the self-titled CD Hunter Hayes rebounds 22 spots to No. 1 country and 73 places to No. 7 pop thanks to a deluxe re-issue with additional songs pushing it to just under 40,000 units moved last week, while Florida Georgia Line's Here's To The Good Times slips one to No. 2 country and three to No. 8 pop in its 29th week with 33,000 copies sold.
June 24: Aussie Chart Update Sees Dolly Dip One Down Under, The Very Best Of Dolly Parton, Volume 1 inches down one spot this week to No. 29 in its 276th week on the top 40 Australian country albums chart.
Dolly's Wedding Memorialized On Plaque Dolly's wedding has been recorded on a historical marker in Ringgold, Ga., where she and Carl Dean wed in May 1966. The Ringgold Convention and Visitors Bureau installed the markers. Read more from Cybergrasshere.
Library Conference Hug Reported A Canadian educator who got a hug from Dolly at her recent Imagination Library literacy program conference was highlighted in his local newspaper over the weekend. Read about it from The Brantford Expositorhere.
More On U.K. '9 To 5' Tour Amy Lennox, who plays Doralee in the British tour of Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical gave another interview this weekend about the show, with a story in The Press and Journalhere.
June 21: 'Joyful Noise' Remains Steady Again This Week Dolly's Joyful Noise soundtrack holds steady again this week at No. 28 gospel albums in its 75th week on the June 29 Billboard charts, it was revealed Thursday. Dee Jay Silver's EP Country Club, featuring his sanctioned mash-up of Carrie Underwood's "Two Black Cadillacs" and Dolly's "Jolene," falls off the 75-position country albums chart, down from one week at No. 63. George Jones's Hits I Missed And One I Didn't, featuring Dolly on "The Blues Man," dips three to No. 15 country catalog albums in its eighth week there. I Will Always Love You: The Best of Whitney Houston, featuring her cover of Dolly's title track, rises two to No. 41 R&B/hip-hop albums in its 31st week. Overall, Florida Georgia Line's Here's To The Good Times gains two to No. 1 country and three to No. 5 pop in its 28th week, while Darius Rucker's True Believers stays at No. 2 country and slips one to No. 6 pop in its fourth week.
Is '9 To 5' Playing Near You? Find Out! Thanks to Solomon for finding the performance rights clearinghouse website for Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical which features a "upcoming" tab that shows you all currently scheduled future productions near you. Check it out here.
Erie Library Growth Explodes Dolly's Imagination Library affiliate in Erie County, Pa., has grown significantly in just a matter of months, exceeding 2,700 children at present, The Erie Times News reports here.
June 20: Photographers Get Dolly Leaving Doctor Dolly was caught leaving her Beverly Hills doctor's office this week, and the paparazzi got a lens full. An image made Ireland's TV 3 entertainment gallery here, prompting the caption that she provided the camera guys "with some light entertainment whilst she struck a pose in a weird but wonderful ensemble."
Destin Talk Continues In Media The Destin, Fla., media continued this week chatting about the possibility of Dolly opening a new dinner theatre in the coastal city with additional stories from The Destin Loghere and WEAR here. A spokesperson for Dollywood Companies confirmed for reporters that they are "evaluating" the possibility of Destin and "other family destination markets" for expansion of Dolly's chain.
Dollywood Preps For Summer Dollywood's Great American Summer kicks off Saturday with nightly fireworks under the theme Dolly's Night Of Many Colors with her original song "Paint Your Dreams Across The Sky" and rides in the dark. In a press release issued Wednesday, Dolly said: "With everyone's busy schedules and so many distractions pulling us in all sorts of different directions, it's hard for families to spend good, old-fashioned quality time together. During my Great American Summer, we're extending Dollywood's hours to give families more fun time, more summertime, more nighttime, and more time to make lifelong memories together." Read the full release, and see a picture of the fireworks, here. In related news, thanks to Dave for alerting me to a Dollywood profile on Country Pulsehere.
June 18: Label: 'Heartbreak Express' Coming In Couple Of Weeks Although it missed its previously-announced June 11 release date, Dolly's 1982 album Heartbreak Express will be available for digital download "in the next couple weeks," a label spokesperson confirms to Dollymania.net. The album – along with titles by Johnny Otis, Jessi Colter, Graham Parker, Ronnie Milsap and Libby Titus – was supposed to be released last week for download purchases according to a press release issued in May by Sony imprint Legacy Recordings, but none of them materialized on the originally-scheduled date. Which out-of-print projects are being remastered and issued digitally is largely being based on fan votes via the website LegacyRecordingsVault.com. On the current tally, eight Dolly titles are in the top 60: Heartbreak Express at No. 4, The Bargain Store at No. 7, Love Is Like A Butterfly at No. 10, Dolly (aka The Seeker/We Used To) at No. 27, My Blue Ridge Mountain Boy at No. 29, Bubbling Over at No. 37, Touch Your Woman at No. 44 and No. 57 (it's listed twice) and Here You Come Again at No. 58. Vote for your favorites here!
U.S., Australian Chart Updates Available Now that Billboard's technical issues with their chart access have been resolved, your webmaster can provide last week's chart report. As was previously reported based on SoundScan sales data, Dolly's Joyful Noise soundtrack held steady at No. 28 gospel albums in its 74th chart week on the June 22 tally. The country albums list saw a No. 63 debut for Dee Jay Silver's EP Country Club, which features his official sanctioned mash-up of Carrie Underwood's "Two Black Cadillacs" and Dolly's "Jolene." George Jones's Hits I Missed And One I Didn't, with Dolly on "The Blues Man," fell off the top 50 catalog albums chart, down from No. 46 in its sixth week there, and lost one to No. 12 country catalog albums in its seventh week there. I Will Always Love You: The Best of Whitney Houston, with her cover of Dolly's title track, gained three to No. 43 R&B/hip-hop albums in its 30th week. Overall, Blake Shelton's Based On a True Story held steady at No. 1 country and rose one to No. 4 pop in its 11th week, while Darius Rucker's True Believers remained at No. 2 country and improved one to No. 5 pop in its third week. Down Under, The Very Best Of Dolly Parton, Volume 1 dips five places this week to No. 28 in its 275th week on the top 40 Australian country albums chart.
Destin Keeps Waiting For Dolly The Destin Log reported over the weekend that World Choice Investments LLC, which is the same name of the company that holds title for Dolly's Dixie Stampede and Pirates' Voyage, has been approved for demolition permits for buildings it has purchased on several lots in Destin, Fla., for a future development that has yet to be announced but, as has previously been reported, is presumed to be one of Dolly's dinner theatres. Read more here.
'Rhinestone' Coming To DVD Again Rhinestone, Dolly's 1984 picture with Sylvester Stallone, will be re-issued on DVD Aug. 6, its first re-release since its original DVD release nine years ago. Reserve your copy here. Thanks, Mark!
More Coverage From Last Month's Dollywood Stop Last month's Dollywood Splash Country's new RiverRush roller coaster opening and Dollywood'sMy People show opening earned coverage in recent days from The News Observer in Raleigh, N.C., and Evansville Courier Press in Indiana, both of which ran the same story on Dolly's appearances for those openings. Read them here and here.
'Tennessee Mountain Home' Makes List Thanks to Maggie for alerting me that Dolly's "Tennessee Mountain Home" made Adventure Journal's list of the 17 Best Songs About Mountains at No. 6. Read more here.
See Dolly's '9 To 5: The Musical' In Indiana Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical is heading to Warsaw, Ind., for a local production at the Wagon Wheel Theatre starting Wednesday, Goshen News reports here.
June 15: Video Posted Of Dolly's 2014 Tour Comments
It was first reported here on Dollymania.net Wednesday night that Dolly has revealed she is considering touring in 2014, and now the raw, unedited video from that discussion is available for your viewing. The footage was shot at a brief appearance she made at this week's Imagination Library conference. Please excuse the shaky camera in the middle (the hand-held camera is difficult to keep focused on one spot when moving from seated position to standing and then again from standing to seated) – and FYI: the comment about not asking if they're real is a response to her joking before the filming started that your webmaster was going to ask if "they're real" and her response being "of course not – I can't grow my nails that long!" Watch the full video in the media player above or by visiting YouTube here.
'Evening' Passes 58,000 Copies Sold Billboard.com was having some technical difficulties Friday night, so I'm unable to bring you the full chart data at this time for Dolly-related titles this week, but I can share that SoundScan numbers show that her Joyful Noise soundtrack sold 363 units last week to remain the No. 28 gospel album in its 74th chart week, bringing its cumulative sales total since release to 136,441. Although no longer on the top 40 music DVD chart, her Cracker Barrel release An Evening With . . . Dolly moved 179 copies last week to be the 48th best-selling music DVD of the week, pushing its cumulative total to 58,054.
Miley Compares Self To Dolly, Adele, Juicy Dolly goddaughter Miley Cyrus is the cover girl for this week's Billboard magazine, and in the cover interview she compares her new album with the styles of Dolly and other artists who inspire her. "I've always wanted country-rock influences, but now I'm moving over to a more urban side," she said. "It's not a hip-hop album, though-it's a pop album. I'm not coming in trying to rap. It's more like, 'I don't see any girls out there doing what Miguel and Frank Ocean are doing. We've been calling it 'count-step,' because it's like country, dubstep and a little trap. I love the Lumineers, but I also love French Montana, Juicy J, Wiz Khalifa and Dolly Parton. If you could put Dolly, some Adele and Juicy J together, you'd have that weird balance." That final line was also a pull-quote placed on the magazine cover. Read the full story here.
Vote For 'Dolly's Hospital' As Nation's Most Beautiful Sevier County, Tenn.'s, LeConte Medical Center, which Dolly has supported with a seven-figure financial contribution in addition to lending her name to its Dolly Parton Center for Women's Services and Dolly Parton Birthing Unit, has been nominated for the third year in a row as one of the "Most Beautiful Hospitals in the U.S." in an annual competition sponsored by Soliant Health. Cast your vote for the facility here through Sunday, June 23.
Nashville's CMA Festival, formerly known as Fan Fair, drew to a close on Sunday, and one of the prominent exhibits was, as was previously announced here, the massive Dolly wardrobe and memorabilia collection of fans Harrell Gabehart and Patric Parkey. The exhibit, put in the Country Music Hall of Fame's new Music City Center by the Hall of Fame itself, was profiled over the weekend by FOX Nashville. Watch it on YouTube here or in the media player above, or visit the station's website here.
Australian Chart Update Down Under, The Very Best Of Dolly Parton, Volume 1 gains one spot to No. 23 in its 274th week on the top 40 Australian country albums chart.
Dolly Talks More Of U.K. '9 To 5' Tour The British tour of Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical rolls into Nottingham this week, and Hispanic Business over the weekend republished an interview with her from the media overseas about the show. Read it here.
Dolly's Pig Latin Performance Makes YouTube One very entertaining segment in Dolly's new Dollywood show My People is when she and her family members recall her idea as a teen to write and sing songs in pig Latin, followed by the on-screen pre-recorded Dolly leading them in a performance of "e-shay as-way eye-may est-bay end-fray" ("She Was My Best Friend"). It concludes with a follow-the-pouncing-pig sing-a-long, and the animator responsible for the pig has posted that segment of the recording to YouTube for your enjoyment. Watch it here or in the media player below.
June 8: U.S. Billboard Charts Updated As was previously reported here based on SoundScan numbers, when the June 15 Billboard charts came out Thursday, Dolly's Joyful Noise soundtrack gained nine points to No. 28 gospel albums in its 73rd chart week, while An Evening With . . . Dolly fell back off the music DVD chart, down from No. 39 in its 39th week. George Jones's Hits I Missed And One I Didn't, featuring Dolly on "The Blues Man," fell back off the top 200 pop albums chart, down from No. 161 in its 12th chart week, losing 18 to No. 46 catalog albums in its sixth week there and dipping three to No. 12 country catalog albums in its sixth week there. Straight No Chaser's Under The Influence, featuring Dolly on a cover of her "Jolene," falls off the top 200 pop albums chart, down from No. 169 pop in its third chart week, off the current albums chart, down from No. 138, and off the Internet sales chart, down from No. 19. I Will Always Love You: The Best of Whitney Houston, featuring the late singer's version of Dolly's title track, rises two to No. 46 R&B/hip-hop albums in its 29th week. Overall, Blake Shelton's Based On a True Story regains three to No. 1 country, 11 to No. 5 pop in its 10th week, while Darius Rucker's True Believers loses one to No. 2 country, four to No. 6 pop in its second week.
Fan Doc Gets Newspaper Notice Knoxville News Sentinel this week profiled the Dolly fan documentary Hollywood To Dollywood, which will be screened at next week's Imagination Library conference in Pigeon Forge and at the Knoxville Film Festival next Saturday. Read more here.
More U.K. '9 To 5' Coverage The Nottingham Post interviewed the actress who plays Violet in the British touring company of Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical, who said: "It's Dolly Parton feminism. It's cartoon, it's not incredibly considered – but it's heartfelt." Read her interview here.
June 6: 'Evening' To Fall Off Chart, 'Joyful' Rises Again When the official charts come out on Thursday, the Cracker Barrel exclusive An Evening With . . . Dolly will fall back off the top 40 music DVD chart, SoundScan sales data released this week indicated. The set was last week's 44th best-selling music DVD, down from No. 39 the previous week, its 39th on the tally. The DVD/CD collection sold 180 copies for the week to bring its cumulative total to 57,875 since release. Her Joyful Noise soundtrack will gain nine points on the gospel music albums list to No. 28 in its 73rd week there, the numbers showed. That set sold 336 units last week, bringing its cumulative total to 136,079. In addition, it was the 76th best-selling soundtrack for the week, although the official soundtracks chart only goes to No. 25.
Wild Eagle Takes Another Park Award Last year's Dollywood addition, the $20 million Wild Eagle roller coaster, has been named the Best New Attraction of 2012 by the National Amusement Park Historical Association, The Knoxville News Sentinel reports here.
Grascals Talk Of Working With Dolly The Grascals praise Dolly as their mentor for taking them on the road with her as her backing band in the 2000s in a piece in The Tennesseanhere.
Funny Or Die Parodies Dolly, '9 To 5' The comedy site Funny Or Die this week uploaded a parody of Dolly performing "9 To 5." Featuring a woman with a strong eastern European accent trying to do a country accent as Dolly, she sings the start and finish of the song pretty much as written, deviating in the middle to do a verse about how much she hates singing it. Watch it here.
June 5: Reader Pics Wrap Up Dollywood Coverage Your official Dollymania.net coverage of Dolly's most recent Dollywood appearances wraps up (for now) tonight with the site's few reader-submitted galleries, which have been added to that section of the site here. These include a couple of galleries from throughout the weekend plus one from fan David Scmidli at Dolly's parade and one from the drag event Night of 1,000 Dollys. Thanks to the readers for sharing! (We may have a few more galleries from correspondent Harrell Gabehart sometime in the near future, but it might be a little while before we get to those additional ones.)
North Dakota Holds Library Conference North Dakota First Lady Betsy Dalrymple brought together all of her state's chapters in Dolly's Imagination Library early childhood literacy program together this week for a conference, garnering coverage from KXNET here and The Bismarck Tribunehere.
June 4: More Dollywood Photos Added To Site Another gallery of pictures of Dolly's recent Dollywood appearances from correspondent Harrell Gabehart has been added to that section of the site here. In related news, The Bristol Herald Courier on Monday reported on Dolly's opening the new water coaster at the water park that weekend here.
Warhol Picture Exhibit Features Dolly Those in Maine this July will want to stop by the Ogunquit Museum of American Art for a new exhibit of never-before-seen pictures of Andy Warhol with his famous friends. New York Magazine is using a picture of the artist with Dolly to illustrate the article on the exhibit here.
June 3: More Dolly Shots From Dollywood We continue tonight with additional photo galleries from Dollymania.net correspondent Harrell Gabehart from Dolly's most recent Dollywood appearances, which have been added to that section of the site here. And, yes, there is still more to come! In related news, The Cleveland Banner ran a piece on Dolly's premiere that weekend of the new My People show featuring her family. Read their article here.
'Very Best' Rises A Tad Down Under Australian The Voice contestant Celia Pavey's take on Dolly's "Jolene" falls off the top 50 Aussie pop singles tally, down from No. 15 in its one week on the chart after her performance of it on the television program. Also Down Under, The Very Best Of Dolly Parton, Volume 1 rises two places to No. 24 in its 273rd week on the top 40 Australian country albums chart.
'9 To 5' U.K. Actress Talks To Paper Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical keeps churning across the British Isles in its U.K. tour, and The Burton Mail interviewed Amy Lennox, who plays Doralee. Read it here.
'Mom' Movie Gets Another Positive Review Another review of The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom spurred by its British DVD release comes to us from Big Gay Picture Showhere.
'Britain's Got' Dolly Cover The TV show Britain's Got Talent got a Dolly cover the other night that wowed judges. Irish contestant Jordan O'Keefe did a take on "I Will Always Love You." Read more here.
