Aug. 29:
Kelly Clarkson Slays Dolly's 'Jolene'

Dolly Talking To The Media About A Lot
Dolly had an interesting interview about her faith in Newsweek on Friday available here in addition to a piece in the magazine about Dollywood here. In related news, People magazine on Friday talked about what she is thankful for here.

Tomlin Repeats No Dolly On Her Show This Year
Lily Tomlin is on the press circuit promoting her new movie, Grandma, which usually includes some questions about her Netflix show Grace and Frankie with Jane Fonda, which often brings back up the question asked so much last year when she show started: Where's Dolly? In two interviews this week, she repeated that they'd like Dolly to be on the show but it likely won't be in season two. She told Windy City Media here: "Well, we don't have any specific plans for Dolly, Jane and I. She's still an old pal and the only thing we're trying to guard against for this next season is to keep a Grace and Frankie identity and not bring in Dolly in to make it look like 9 to 5 but we'd like to work something out if we could in the future. I think that would be great fun." And she told The Advocate here: "We adore Dolly and we'd love to have her on the show. Everyone's of the mind that we've got to establish Grace and Frankie before we bring anyone in like Dolly, because then it's so emphatically about 9 to 5. So we don't have anything planned right now."

Paper Likes 'Don't Drop Out' For School Start
Vegas Seven this week chose seven best back to school songs from music history to celebrate the start of school for the year, including Dolly's 1966 single "Don't Drop Out." Check out what they had to say here.

British Chart Updates Available
Dolly's Blue Smoke retains the No. 1 position on the U.K. country compilations albums chart for a 64th consecutive week, it was revealed Friday. Elsewhere on the list, Emmylou Harris' Original Album Series, Volume 1 (with two Dolly covers, one track with Dolly harmony and one track with Trio harmony) gains two to No. 11, Harris' Original Album Series, Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) holds steady at No. 10, and Ronstadt's own Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) re-enters the top 20 at No. 16.

More Talk About 'Coat Of Many Colors' Movie
Parade magazine had a chat this week with Jennifer Nettles and Ricky Schroder about their work on Dolly Parton's Coat Of Many Colors NBC movie. Read more here.

New York Times Looks At Miley's Closet
The New York Times took a look this week at Miley Cyrus' style, noting her "exuberance of sexuality" is somewhat influenced by godmother Dolly, saying: "And hardly any performer has manipulated her public more shrewdly than the pneumatic songbird from Locust Ridge, Tenn. When asked by US Weekly last year whether she was shocked by Ms. Cyrus's rapid shift from what the magazine termed a 'wholesome teenager' to a 'raunchy performer,' Ms. Parton said, 'Well, yeah, but in a good way.'" Read more here.

Aug. 24:
'Here You Come Again' Will Be Fourth NBC Project
Dolly's series of NBC movies will total four, confirming "The Seeker" as No. 3 and for the first time revealing "Here You Come Again" as No. 4, Sam Haskell, Dolly's producing partner for the project, revealed in a new interview with The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. He added that the plan is to film all four pictures over a two-year period – the first, Coat Of Many Colors, just started shooting in Georgia – and broadcast them one-per-year over four years, beginning with this first one on Dec. 10. The filming date for the second project, "Jolene," has not been announced. Haskell also shared that Dolly's sister Stella is playing a store owner in the Coat movie and his daughter Mary Lane Haskell will play a teacher. He also said that the movies will be sold for broadcast worldwide, given Dolly's wide appeal and popularity outside of the U.S., especially in Australia and Europe. Read more here.

Dollywood Ride Announcement Photos Added
Thanks to Dollymania.net correspondent Jason Worley for covering Dollywood's 2016 ride announcement. See the first of his galleries, which have been added to the section of the website focusing on Dolly's recent concerts at the park here. More to come!

Aug. 22:
Latest Concert Photos Added To Site
Even more photos from Dolly's recent Dollywood concerts have been added to that section of the site here, and we're still not done yet!

Tomlin: Probably No Dolly On Netflix Show This Season
Although Dolly has recently expressed her desire to guest star on pals Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda's Netflix series Grace And Frankie, currently filming its second season, Tomlin says it likely won't happen this season. In a story posted on ABC News here, she repeated that the show needs to run a little longer – so maybe season three? She said: "Dolly's a wonderful person and we've been friends with her ever since '9 to 5,' all three of us. We just want to get 'Grace and Frankie' more established before we venture into something like that. ... We don't have any definite plans right now, but it's always in the backs of our minds." She also gave an interview to Yahoo in which she recalled bonding with Fonda and Dolly on the set of their 1980 film. Read that piece (or watch the video) here.

'Blue Smoke' Snags Another Week At No. 1 Overseas
Dolly's Blue Smoke keeps its hold on the U.K. country compilations albums chart, reigning at No. 1 for a 63rd consecutive week, it was announced Friday. Elsewhere on the tally, Emmylou Harris' Original Album Series, Volume 1 (with two Dolly covers, one track with Dolly harmony and one track with Trio harmony) inches up one to No. 13, 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. 10, and Ronstadt's own Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) falls back out of the top 20, down from No. 20.

Publication Calls Dolly A 'Life Idol'
Bustle included Dolly among its seven famous Southern ladies (both real and fictional) "who are basically your life idols" in a story here.

The Band Perry Tickets On Sale Now
Dollywood on Friday began offering season passholders tickets to the Sept. 19 concert of The Band Perry as part of the park's Showcase of the Stars series to raise money for Imagination Library. Get them here.

Aug. 21:
Dolly Nominated For Dove Award
Dolly this week earned her third nomination for the Dove Awards recognizing excellence in Christian music, getting a nod with her late aunt Dorothy Jo Owens as songwriters in the Bluegrass Recorded Song Of The Year category for a cover of her 1971 Porter Wagoner duet "Daddy Was An Old Time Preacher Man" recorded by Volume Five featuring Rhonda Vincent. Other nominees in the category are Vincent and Lizzy Long for "God Is There" written by Wayne Haun and Joel Lindsey, Balsam Range for "Stacking Up Rocks" written by Buddy Melton, The Chigger Hill Boys and Terry for "Mighty To Save" written by Ben Fielding and Reuben Morgan and Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver for "He Made The Tree" written by Tom Botkin and Donnie Skaggs. Dolly was previously nominated twice for Country Recorded Song of the Year as a performer on "Stand By The River" with Dottie Rambo in 2004 and "When I Get Where I'm Going" with Brad Paisley in 2006. She performed on the awards show in 1990 and 2000. Winners will be revealed in Nashville on Oct. 13.

The Band Perry Heads To Dollywood
Dollywood on Thursday revealed the third act to play the park's revived Showcase of Stars: sibling trio The Band Perry on Sept. 19. Those on the park's season pass e-mail list should receive e-mails announcing the availability of ticket purchases by season passholders (although many passholders reported not receiving the e-mails that announced tickets for Dolly's recent four August shows or Kenny Rogers' Sept. 27 concert). Proceeds from the concert series benefit Dolly's Imagination Library literacy program. Check out coverage of the announcement from The Knoxville News-Sentinel here and WBIR here. In related news, check out the next galleries of pictures from Dolly's concerts in that section of the site here!

Why Dolly's Movie Will Film In Georgia
Knoxville television station WBIR this week took a look at the tax incentives that drew NBC to Georgia to film Dolly's Coat Of Many Colors television movie instead of her native Tennessee. Read more here.

Dolly Tribute Show Heads To Melbourne, Australia
Broadway World reports that a Dolly tribute show, "The Dolly Parton Cabaret," is heading to Melbourne, Australia, for the Melbourne Fringe Festival with a Sept. 30-Oct. 4 engagement at The Butterfly Club. Learn about it here.

Aug. 19:
'Coat Of Many Colors' To Air Dec. 10
The air date for Dolly's NBC film Coat Of Many Colors was announced on Tuesday: 9 p.m. Eastern Thursday, Dec. 10. Production on the two-hour movie begins this week in Atlanta, the announcement noted. In related news, the project is still seeking extras: 1950s "southern farmer" church-goers "dressed in their Sunday best," specifically "thin southern ladies with short hair and slender country boys not afraid to get their only church clothes muddy." They are also seeking two "town gossips," Caucasian church ladies in their 40s-50s who are "the church's go-to ladies for the latest juicy gossip." Interested parties for the church ladies and boys should submit a few photos in character with age, height, weight and phone number under the subject "Country Strong" while those interested in the church ladies or gossip ladies should submit at least three photos in character with the subject "Ready for Church" or "Gossip Girl." E-mail is coatofmanycolorsatl@gmail.com.

More Dolly Concert Shots Posted
Another set of galleries from Dolly's Dollywood concerts have been posted to that section of the site here, and there are still even more to come!

A Look At '9 To 5: The Musical'
A great interview with a local theatre official producing a staging of Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical in Louisville, Ky., offers some great insights into the show and Dolly herself. Check it out from Louisville.com here.

Aug. 17:
Dolly High On 'Rolling Stone' List Of Top Songwriters
Rolling Stone has released its list of the 100 greatest songwriters off all time in partnership with Apple Music as "the visionaries who defined music history." The list here has Dolly at No. 30, but it only contains about 15 female composers (mostly in pairs with male co-writers) and only 11 songwriters who would be generally considered country artists, making her the No. 4 top female songwriter of all time (ahead of Stevie Nicks and behind Ellie Greenwich, Joni Mitchell and Carole King) and No. 2 country songwriter of all time behind Hank Williams and ahead of No. 33 Merle Haggard and No. 43 Johnny Cash. The top 5 overall were Smokey Robinson, Chuck Berry, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and No. 1 Bob Dylan.

New Dolly Concert Galleries Posted To Site
Yet more photos from Dolly's Dollywood concerts have been added to that section of the site here, and, yes, there are still more to come!

'Very Best' Off The Charts Down Under
The Very Best Of Dolly Parton this week falls back off the Australian top 40 country albums chart, down from No. 17 in its 354th chart week, Saturday's chart Down Under revealed.

Aug. 15:
Story: Third Movie Will Be 'The Seeker'
Coverage of the Coat Of Many Colors panel at the Television Critics Association conference in Los Angeles this week continued on Friday with a few more tidbits getting teased out of those involved. Uproxx revealed here that the third NBC Dolly movie, following this Christmas season's Coat and the upcoming Jolene, will reportedly be The Seeker. Win Country reports here that Jennifer Nettles told ABC Radio that Dolly herself cast her in the project, explaining she watched audition tapes with producers and toward the end of Nettles' tape she became emotional and told them "Yes, that is my mom." It was noted in Rolling Stone here and a couple other stories that while Dolly won't appear in the film she will bookend it with the prologue and epilogue, "in a nice Christmas outfit, probably," and record voice-overs that include narration, a song or two, and a duet with the young Dolly in honor of her brother, Larry, whose death is portrayed in the film. FOX News focused on the sibling's death with an interview here, and video clips from the red carpet were released by Android TV here and Access Hollywood here.

More Dolly Pics From Last Weekend Posted
Additional photos from Dolly's weekend concerts have been added to that section of the site here, with more to come! And The Exponent Telegram in Clarksburg, W.V., had a nice little review of the concerts here on Friday.

Jewel Single With Dolly Released For Downloading
Singer-songwriter Jewel on Friday released her Dolly duet, "My Father's Daughter," for download as a single in advance of the Sept. 11 release of her new CD, Picking Up The Pieces. The song availability follows last Friday's release of "When I Stop Dreaming" with Don Henley as a single in advance of the Sept. 25 release of his upcoming album, Cass County. Get the Henley duet here and the Jewel duet here!

'Blue Smoke' Has 62nd Week At No. 1 Overseas
Dolly's Blue Smoke is No. 1 on the U.K. country compilations CD chart for a 62nd consecutive week, Friday's numbers showed, while Emmylou Harris' Original Album Series, Volume 1 (with two Dolly covers, one track with Dolly harmony and one track with Trio harmony) dips three to No. 14 on the same tally, Harris' Original Album Series, Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) falls out of the top 20, down from No. 17, and Ronstadt's own Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) loses two to No. 20.

Aug. 14:
'Coat Of Many Colors' Details Discussed At LA Conference
Dolly and several cast members of NBC's upcoming Coat Of Many Colors movie participated Thursday in a panel at the Television Critics Association conference in Los Angeles. Among the items that came from the presentation: Dolly wants to appear in Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin's Netflix series Grace and Frankie, and the network's second Dolly movie to come is Jolene, which is to be written by former The West Wing writer-producer John Sacret Young. Coverage is available from the Associated Press here, Deadline here, The Los Angeles Times here, The Hollywood Reporter here and here and Popsugar here. Although it hasn't been reported anywhere else, Internet Movie Database lists four additional actors who've reportedly been cast in addition to the previously-reported young Dolly, her parents and Grandpa Jake: Jane McNeill from The Walking Dead as Aunt Estelle, Farrah Mackenzie as Stella Parton, Hannah Nordberg as Judy Ogle and Blane Crockarell as Bobby Parton.

Dolly Concert Photos Posted
Your official Dollymania.net photos from Dolly's weekend concerts have begun to be posted to that section of the site here with the first three galleries. More to come!

Rotherham Library Announces Official End
The government in Rotherham, England, this week confirmed no further children are being enrolled in Dolly's Imagination Library as it begins shutting down in what in 2007 became the first city in the U.K. to adopt the early childhood literacy program. Currently-registered children will receive books until February 2016. Nearly 1 million books have been sent over the past eight years to 85 percent of children in the community under age 5 but the current cost is about £400,000 per year ($625,000 U.S.). Local leaders announced plans earlier this year to end the program as part of cuts to trim £23 million per year from the local government budget. After taking public comments for several weeks, the final decision to cut the program was made. Read coverage from The Yorkshire Post here.

Aug. 12:
Dolly's TV Mom, Dad, Grandfather Revealed For 'Coat' Movie
In advance of a panel discussion on the project at the Television Critics Association summer press tour in Los Angeles on Thursday, additional cast members for Dolly's NBC movie on Coat Of Many Colors were announced on Tuesday: Sugarland lead singer Jennifer Nettles, who recently starred in Chicago on Broadway, as Dolly's mother, Avie Lee Parton; Silver Spoons and NYPD Blue star Ricky Schroder as Dolly's father, Robert Lee Parton; and Major Dad and House of Cards actor Gerald McRaney (also Delta Burke's husband) as her maternal grandfather, Rev. Jake Owens. Dolly is expected to be among the panelists at Thursday's media event taking questions from the press about the project. Check out coverage from Broadway World here, The Hollywood Reporter here, The Tennessean here and Rolling Stone here.

Dollywood Weekend Coverage Continues
Coverage of Dolly's weekend appearances continued Tuesday in the media with an interview with Mashable here (including a video here), a story from Country Weekly here and a review of the DreamMore Resort from Yahoo here. Look for more photos from the weekend in your Dollymania.net coverage throughout the week. (Sorry your webmaster didn't have time to post any more tonight!)

Aug. 11:
Dolly Wows Dollywood Crowd At Concert
Dolly over the weekend raised more than half a million dollars for her Imagination Library literacy charity, she has announced. The four benefit shows on Saturday and Sunday featured the same set lists as her Nashville Pure & Simple concerts the previous weekend. However, some differences came in the between-song banter. For example, she spoke more about her parents in introducing "Smoky Mountain Memories" at the first show in the series, ending by saying she had to stop talking because she was getting too emotional and was starting to cry. She had to wipe her nose several times throughout the song. The emotional scene repeated itself in the second show, where she explained that working on the NBC Coat Of Many Colors film had made her remember her parents and her childhood more, causing her to feel closer to them and miss them even more. On a lighter side, in the same show she joked about hearing about Bluetooth but that when she was growing up no one wanted to get a blue tooth because the nearest dentist was 20 miles away, prompting her to double over in laughter as she completely cracked herself up by apparently making up the joke on the spot. Read more about the shows from Dolly's official website here and The Knoxville News-Sentinel here. Look for more photos over coming days (click on the photo for a larger image). Also, a review of the park's new DreamMore Resort is also coming. Image at left copyright © 2015 T. Duane Gordon/www.dollymania.net. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without prior written consent.

Dolly Announces Launched Lightening Rod Coaster

Henley's Dolly Duet Audio Released
Don Henley on Friday released his Dolly duet of "When I Stop Dreaming" through USA Today and as an instantly-available download for those who pre-order the Sept. 25 CD Cass County from iTunes. Listen here or in the media player below.

Overseas Charts Updated
Dolly's Blue Smoke this week gets its 61st consecutive week at No. 1 on the U.K. country compilation albums chart released Friday, while Emmylou Harris' Original Album Series, Volume 1 (with two Dolly covers, one track with Dolly harmony and one track with Trio harmony) inches up one to No. 11, Harris' Original Album Series, Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) slips three to No. 17, and Ronstadt's own Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) re-enters the top 20 at No. 18. Down Under, The Very Best Of Dolly Parton re-enters the Australian top 40 country albums chart this week, Saturday's chart showed, coming in at No. 17 in its 354th chart week.

New York Supper Club Hosts Dolly Tribute Show
54 Below, Broadway's Supper Club, presents The O'Neill Junior Fellows in Diamond in a Rhinestone World: The Music of Dolly Parton in New York Sept. 4. . There is a $35 cover charge and a $25 food and beverage minimum. Tickets and information are available here. Read more from Broadway World here.

Aug. 7:
Park's 2016 Addition To Be Unveiled Friday

Dollypalooza Returns To New York Sept. 4
Organizers have announced the return of Dollypalooza: An Epic Fan Tribute to Dolly in Brooklyn, New York, on Sept. 4. The show features drag artists, live musicians inspired by Dolly and performance artists. Among those participating is the Dolly tribute band Doll Parts. The event will also feature a silent auction to benefit Dolly's Imagination Library literacy project, which last year raised $1,400. This year, their goal is at least $4,200. They are seeking Dolly fan art, Dolly collectables and Dolly memorabilia to be donated for the auction. Donors' websites or online stores will be linked from the Dollypalooza website and also receive a shout-out from a blog with an audience of up to 50,000 per month. In addition, a generous donor has agreed to match whatever the auction raises. Anyone interested in supporting the auction is asked to contact them by e-mail here by Aug. 24 and deliver their items by Sept. 2. Tickets are available here, and the event's Facebook page is accessible here.

Burlesque Dancer Names Dolly As Her Greatest Influence
A Las Vegas burlesque dancer from Tennessee cites Dolly as her inspiration in a piece from The Las Vegas Sun here.

Aug. 5:
Dolly Giving Away More Tickets For This Weekend
If you don't yet have tickets to Dolly's Pure & Simple weekend benefit concerts at Dollywood, you have one final chance to win seats. She will choose one winner to get two tickets to see her on Saturday and one winner to get two tickets to see her on Sunday. Enter on her official website, DollyParton.com, here. The site also has a recap of her Nashville Pure & Simple concerts here. On Friday morning, Dolly will announce the park's 2016 ride addition. Then she has sold-out concerts at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

'Coat' Movie Seeks Kid Extras For Filming
NBC has put out a casting call for children to audition for Dolly's TV movie adaptation of "Coat Of Many Colors," which shoots in Atlanta and needs extras for several days. A brief appears in the Atlanta Journal Constitution here. The full advertisement reads: "Seeking Caucasian Girls (Ages 8-14) with short, 50's-style bobs. Chin length w/ bangs would be best! Work dates are 5-6 Days between the end of August & Mid-September. Current work dates are: August 25th, 26th, Sept 1st, Sept 5th, and Sept 8th. If your child is available, and can style their hair in 1950's manner, please submit them to CoatOfManyColorsATL@gmail.com. Please use the subject: School Child (Their Age) 50's Bob. Must be between 8-14 by the time we begin filming the sequence (End of August). Please do not apply, if you are not local or if you do not fit the description."

Dolly Remembers Lynn Anderson
Dolly spoke again of the passing of Lynn Anderson in a piece posted to RFD-TV's website here on Tuesday.

In Memoriam: Tandy Rice
Top Billing agency publicist and booker Tandy Rice, who represented Dolly for her tours in the early-to-mid-1970s, died Monday in Nashville at the age of 76. Read more here.

Aug. 4:
Nashville Coverage Continues With Reviews, Stories
Coverage of Dolly's spectacular two-night engagement in Nashville's Ryman Auditorium continues this week to dominate the music press. Reviews and stories appeared Monday on The Hollywood Reporter here, Associated Press via The Daily Mail here, AOL's The Boot here, RTT News here, Country Weekly here, Rolling Stone here, Nashville Scene here, NPR here and Country Outfitter here.

Aug. 3:
Dolly Wows Music City With Two Shows
A sparkly white pantsuit with sheer bellbottoms for Friday night and the rainbow dress she debuted at NBC's upfronts in New York a few weeks ago for Saturday night lit up the stage at the historic Ryman Auditorium over the weekend for Dolly's two sold out benefit shows to raise funds for the W.O. Smith School of Music's Dustin Wells Foundation and the Grand Ole Opry Trust Fund. The 100-minute shows featured 21 songs each,, with Dolly taking an acoustic track for the first two-thirds before plugging the instruments in for the final third with her pop hits. VIP guests who shelled out big bucks for meet-and-greets also got the treat of seeing her soundcheck. Check out stories, reviews, and photo galleries from Billboard here, FOX 17 here, Taste Of Country here, USA Today here, WMC here, AOL's The Boot here, The Daily Mail here, The Tennessean here, an Associated Press piece on her upcoming NBC movie that used photos from the soundcheck here and WKRN here. The set list, which she is expected to repeat this weekend at four sold out Dollywood shows, was as follows (thanks to Larry Ferguson for live-Tweeting the set list during Friday's concerts):