www.dollymania.net                News                          August 2019

Aug. 30:
'God Only Knows' Single, Video Released
Dolly surprised fans on Thursday by announcing a new trio recording being released at midnight Friday morning with For King and Country. The collaboration wasn't a complete surprise, because you may recall it was reported here on Dollymania back in March that producer Ron Fair had posted to his official Twitter account that he had just finished recording Dolly vocals in Nashville on projects for Swedish electronic dance duo Galantis and Australian Christian rock brother duo For King and Country. While the Galantis track isn't out yet, the For King and Country details were revealed in an online preview from USA Today here Thursday morning and a behind-the-scenes look at the music video was featured on Entertainment Tonight that evening here. A music video for the remix of their single "God Only Knows," featuring Dolly as a prostitute, premiered here on YouTube at midnight Eastern, the same time the single became available for download here. Released just over a year ago, the original version of the song is still at No. 4 on Billboard's Hot Christian Singles chart in its 52nd chart week, having peaked at No. 2, and No. 5 for Christian digital sales singles, having peaked at No. 1.

Dolly Repeats On 'CBS Sunday Morning'
CBS on Thursday revealed it will repeat Dolly's interview with CBS Sunday Morning from February on this weekend's program.

Aug. 29:
Kirkland's Sets Up Dolly Shop
Retailer Kirkland's on Wednesday announced its Dolly From The HeART series of canvas prints to celebrate her 50th anniversary on the Grand Ole Opry and proceeds from which will benefit the Opry Trust Fund. Artists David Diskin interpreted eight Dolly songs for the collection ("The Seeker," "J.J. Sneed," "Love Is Like A Butterfly," "Cracker Jack," "Blue Valley Songbird," "If I Had Wings," "Smoky Mountain Memories" and "Heartsong,"), and it also features a Dolly photograph of her on stage at the Ryman in 2015 here. Dolly fans may order the collection's items thanks to a pre-sale, and they go on sale to the public in person and online Sept. 5. Check out Dolly's introduction to the collection here.

'Smoky Mountain Rain' Falls Off Charts
Dolly's duet with Ronnie Milsap on "Smoky Mountain Rain" from his album Ronnie Milsap: The Duets is gone, as the track falls off the 30-position Billboard adult contemporary singles chart, down from No. 30 in its fifth week, the Aug. 31 charts announced Tuesday showed. The country catalog albums chart sees Playlist: The Very Best Of Dolly Parton hold steady at No. 18 in its 54th chart week.

Aug. 26:
Porter Wagoner Estate Sale Next Month
Fans who would like to possibly find some Porter & Dolly memorabilia may want to check out the tagged estate sale for Porter Wagoner and his son, Richard, who passed away in April. Uptown Manor Estates and Moving Sales will be hosting the sale Sept. 12, 13 and 14. Learn more here.

Dolly Makes Top 100 Country Songs List
Music critics for The Tennessean on Sunday offered a list of country music's top 100 songs with one caveat: only one solo entry per artist and only one additional entry per duo or group, so, as they noted: "One song from Cash. One song from Garth. And, yes, as tough as it can be, only one song from Dolly." Although the piece doesn't say the songs are listed in any particular order, they put Dolly's "Jolene" first. Also on the list are "Islands In The Stream" with Kenny Rogers and "Even Cowgirls Get The Blues" with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt. Check out the list from USA Today here.

Australian Chart Update
Down Under, the "gold series" re-issue of The Very Best Of Dolly Parton (Australian Tour Edition) drops two places to No. 20 in its 414th chart week on the Australian country albums chart since its original 2007 release, it was revealed Saturday.

'Better Day' Album Disappears
Thanks to Greg for the astute observation that Dolly's 2011 album Better Day on Dolly Records has been removed from digital download availability from online outlets including Amazon and iTunes. No reason was given for the album's disappearance slightly more than eight years after release.

Aug. 24:
'Straight Talk' Gets Digital Soundtrack Release From Disney
On the same day Sony Legacy re-issued Jolene on vinyl again, Dolly's sole album for a Disney-owned label was released for digital download. The reissue of her 1992 Hollywood Records soundtrack for Straight Talk came unexpectedly on Friday. Get yours here!

New Indianapolis Mural Features Tattoos
Indianapolis recently got a new Dolly mural from an artist who is known for adding tattoos to her subjects, including several to Dolly's face on the mural in question. See it from The Knoxville News-Sentinel here.

'Rolling Stone' Gets New Ronstadt Doc Footage
Additional footage of Dolly, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt discussing how the Trio came about has been released from the upcoming Ronstadt documentary film The Sound Of My Voice. Watch it from Rolling Stone here.

U.K. Chart Updates
The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe by Dolly, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt holds steady at No. 2 on the British country compilation albums chart in its 154th chart week, it was revealed Friday. Also on the U.K. country compilation albums chart, 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 Ronstadt) gains three to No. 8, while 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. 6, Ronstadt's Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) holds steady at No. 10 and Essential Dolly Parton holds steady at No. 12.

Aug. 22:
BBC Two Announces Dolly Documentary To Air In Autumn
BBC Two announced Wednesday that it produced and will air this fall Dolly's Country, a feature-length documentary on Dolly herself. The project promises "unprecedented access, it reveals the genius songwriter behind the rhinestones, the private individual who reveals almost everything if you take the time to explore the lyrics, the modern feminist who doesn't want to be called a feminist. Talking about her on camera for the first time are Dolly's musicians, co-writers and producers, in an exploration of why she is seen as one of the greatest songwriters of modern times. The film uncovers that, under the wigs, is an acute social commentator, someone who has moved seamlessly with the times and has been an influence to successive generations of Pop and country stars across the decades." Interviewees include Kylie Minogue, Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Danny Nozell (Dolly's manager), Charley Pride, Mac Davis, Chris Stapleton, Wayne Moss, music producers Linda Perry, Kent Wells and Val Garay, and band members Jerry Douglas, Carl Jackson, Charlie McCoy, Eddy Anderson, Lloyd Green, Mike Severs, Hargus 'Pig' Robbins and Stuart Duncan. Jan Younghusband, Head of Commissioning, Music Television says, "Dolly Parton is a living legend and I'm thrilled she's given her time to make this incredible film for BBC Two. It's going to be a fascinating insight into her incredible career. Along with Ken Burns' definitive major series, Country Music, and wonderful coverage of the CMA's, this is going to be a brilliant autumn of programmes for fans of country and music-lovers everywhere" In addition, BBC Four will air Ken Burns' PBS documentary Country Music which features Dolly prominently as well as highlights from the CMA Awards, which she will co-host.

Aug. 21:
Opry Exhibit, Streaming Station, Merch, Contest Announced


The Grand Ole Opry on Tuesday announced that in addition to Dolly's two sold out Opry shows Oct. 12 to celebrate 50 years as an Opry member they will present a 24-costume exhibit "Dolly: My Opry Memories" of outfits she has worn on the Opry over the years including the dress she wore in her 1969 induction, the gown she wore to perform with Vince Gill in 1995 and the outfit she had on to surprise Reba at her 40th anniversary of her first Opry appearance. The wardrobe will be on display in Studio A and will require purchase of an additional $17 ticket for admission. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Central Wednesday for the Sept. 3-Oct. 31 exhibit, which will also feature videos of her favorite Opry memories and rare performance clips from past shows. In addition, WSM will offer a streaming "Dolly Radio" channel online and in its mobile app during the exhibit dates featuring her hits, past Opry performances, archived interviews, and special features. Also, the Opry House store will offer 11 custom-designed items celebrating Dolly's anniversary. Finally, Dolly on Tuesday announced here an Omaze campaign to win airfare and hotel to Nashville, tickets to her Opry show, and your own Opry dressing room where Dolly will meet you before the show. Donations for entries here will benefit the MusiCares Foundation.

'Smoky Mountain Rain' Gets Another Chart Week
Dolly's duet with Ronnie Milsap on "Smoky Mountain Rain" from his album Ronnie Milsap: The Duets may be in its last week on the charts, losing two to No. 30 in its fifth week on the 30-position Billboard adult contemporary singles chart the Aug. 24 charts announced Tuesday revealed. The country catalog albums chart sees Playlist: The Very Best Of Dolly Parton drop five to No. 18 in its 53rd chart week.

Aug. 20:
Dolly, Reba, Underwood To Co-Host CMA Awards


The Country Music Association on Monday announced Dolly and Reba will serve as "special guest hosts" with Carrie Underwood at the 53rd annual CMA Awards ceremony in Nashville. Nominations will be announced on Good Morning America Aug. 28 and the event airs live on ABC Nov. 13. Check out the announcement video above from the CMA and Dolly's response below. The announcement touted that the three hosts have a combined 124 CMA nominations and 22 wins (Dolly has the most awards with nine regular CMA wins, followed by Underwood with seven and Reba with six, although Dolly also has three special CMA Awards for a real total of 12, Underwood has two for a total of nine and Reba has one for a total of seven; Reba has the most nominations with 50, followed by Dolly's 45 and Underwood's 29). Dolly previously hosted the awards solo in 1988, while Reba hosted with Randy Travis in 1990, solo in 1991 and with Vince Gill in 1992. Underwood has co-hosted with Brad Paisley for the past 11 years. Dolly won her first CMA for Vocal Group of the Year with Porter Wagoner in 1968, and the pair moved to the new Vocal Duo Of The Year category and won for 1970 and 1971 before she won Female Vocalist Of The Year in 1975 and 1976, Entertainer of the Year in 1978 and Vocal Event Of The Year with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt in 1988, with Vince Gill in 1996 and with Paisley in 2006 (after the award name had changed to Musical Event Of The Year). Her special awards are the Country Music Honors in 1993, International Artist Achievement Award in 2004 and Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016. She is the only artist to have won a CMA honor in each of the awards' six decades of existence.

Aug. 19:
Aussie Chart Update
Down Under, the "gold series" re-issue of The Very Best Of Dolly Parton (Australian Tour Edition) loses six spots to No. 18 in its 413th chart week on the Australian country albums chart since its original 2007 release, it was revealed Saturday.

Aug. 17:
U.S., U.K. Chart Updates
Dolly's duet with Ronnie Milsap on "Smoky Mountain Rain" from his album Ronnie Milsap: The Duets may have started its fall on the charts, dropping one to No. 28 in its fourth week on the 30-position Billboard adult contemporary singles chart the Aug. 17 charts announced Tuesday revealed, down from its No. 27 peak. The country catalog albums chart sees Playlist: The Very Best Of Dolly Parton lose four to No. 13 in its 52nd chart week. Overseas, The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe by Dolly, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt holds steady at No. 2 on the British country compilation albums chart in its 153rd chart week, it was revealed Friday. Also on the U.K. country compilation albums chart, 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 Ronstadt) slips one to No. 11, while Harris' Original Album Series, Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) gains one to No. 6, Ronstadt's Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) rises four to No. 10 and Dolly's UK Greatest Hits falls back out of the top 20, down from No. 15, but her Essential Dolly Parton re-enters the top 20 at No. 12.

Aug. 12:
Chart Update Down Under
Down Under, the "gold series" re-issue of The Very Best Of Dolly Parton (Australian Tour Edition) gains six to No. 12 in its 412th chart week on the Australian country albums chart since its original 2007 release, it was revealed Saturday.

Aug. 10:
Chenoweth Releases Dolly 'I Will Always Love You' Duet


You may recall it reported here two months ago that Kristin Chenoweth had recorded a track with Dolly for her upcoming album, For The Girls, but the song they were performing was not yet known. Chenoweth this week announced the track listing for the album – a concept project of cover songs honoring the women who inspired her career such as Dolly, Barbara Streisand ("The Way We Were"), Patsy Cline ("Crazy"), Judy Garland ("The Man That Got Away") and Linda Ronstadt ("Desperado") – which revealed the song performed with Dolly is a cover of her own classic "I Will Always Love You". She also released the track as the album's first single, making it available here, on Friday. An audio video was posted Thursday to YouTube here or in the media player above. In a press release, Chenoweth, who has long praised Dolly as her greatest inspiration, said: "These are some of my favorite singers in the world. 'I Will Always Love You' is a song I've loved since I was a child. I used to think, 'One day I'm going to sing that song.' Little did I know that I'd get to sing it with the queen herself." Other guests on the CD are Ariana Grande on "You Don't Own Me" and Jennifer Hudson and Reba McEntire on "I'm A Woman." For the past few years, Chenoweth has included a dramatic cover of Dolly's "Little Sparrow" in her concerts on tour and on some spots has also thrown in covers of "9 To 5" and/or "I Will Always Love You." The full album, available here, comes out Sept. 27.

U.K. Chart Update
The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe by Dolly, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt holds steady at No. 2 on the British country compilation albums chart in its 152nd chart week, it was revealed Friday. Also on the U.K. country compilation albums chart, 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 Ronstadt) gains two to No. 10, while 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. 7, Ronstadt's Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) dips five to No. 14 and Dolly's UK Greatest Hits from 2004 re-enters the top 20 at No. 15.

Could New '9 To 5: The Musical' Soundtrack Be Coming?
London Theatre Direct this week announced that the West End cast of Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical would soon be recording their own version of the show's soundtrack for release. The article was soon deleted from their site without explanation, so it is unknown whether the story was inaccurate or just reported before the show's producers wanted the news released. Dolly Records released the Broadway cast CD back in 2009.

Aug. 8:
'Smoky Mountain Rain' Rises On Chart
Dolly's duet with Ronnie Milsap on "Smoky Mountain Rain" from his album Ronnie Milsap: The Duets continues its run on the charts by inching up one to No. 27 in its third week on the 30-position Billboard adult contemporary singles chart the Aug. 10 charts announced Tuesday revealed. The publication also reinstated releasing the country catalog albums chart of older titles, which sees Playlist: The Very Best Of Dolly Parton gain one to No. 9 in its 51st chart week.

Blue Vinyl 'Jolene' Coming
LP subscription service Vinyl Me Please has announced that it will make available to its members a limited edition exclusive run of 1,000 blue vinyl copies of Dolly's 1974 album Jolene, which RCA is re-releasing on regular vinyl Aug. 23 here. More information on the blue vinyl version is available here.

Aug. 6:
Dolly Talks Imagination Library To State Legislators


Dolly was in Nashville Monday pitching her Imagination Library early childhood literacy program to members of state legislatures nationwide as the keynote speaker for the Legislative Summit of the National Conference of State Legislatures. The purpose was to convince state representatives and senators to return home and investigate the possibility of providing state funding to take her charitable program statewide in their respective states using tax dollars to supplement the project, as Tennessee and North Carolina have done and Ohio and Arkansas are in the process of implementing. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee interviewed her about the program, her career, and her life, and clips were shown from the upcoming documentary The Library That Dolly Built as well as from brain researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital on literacy development. Dolly also sang "Coat Of Many Colors" and "Try" for the audience. Check out video from WSMV here or above and coverage from The Tennessean with a story here and photo gallery here. While there, she also received accolades from the state government as well as the City of Nashville, which declared Aug. 5 Dolly Parton Day. Check out that story from News Channel 5 here.

Aug. 5:
New Duet Coming With Zach Williams
Christian rock artist Zach Williams has announced a collaboration with Dolly on his next CD, Rescue Story, coming out Oct. 4. The track, "There Was Jesus" (featuring Dolly Parton), will be available here.

Dolly Movie Marathon Announced In Chicago
Chicago's Music Box Theatre is celebrating its 90th anniversary with a 9 p.m.-to-5 a.m. Dolly celebration featuring an eight-hour tribute to her films 9 To 5, The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas, Rhinestone and Straight Talk Aug. 24-25. Get tickets here!

D.C. Dolly Tribute Concert Announced
The American Pops Orchestra has announced a Sept. 21 concert in D.C. honoring the music of Dolly. Several guest vocalists will join as they pay tribute in Coat Of Many Colors: The Music Of Dolly Parton. Get tickets here.

British, Australian Chart Updates
The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe by Dolly, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt holds steady at No. 2 on the British country compilation albums chart in its 151st chart week, it was revealed Friday. Also on the U.K. country compilation albums chart, 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 Ronstadt) loses five to No. 12, while Harris' Original Album Series, Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) rises nine to No. 7, and Ronstadt's Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) holds steady at No. 9. Down Under, the "gold series" re-issue of The Very Best Of Dolly Parton (Australian Tour Edition) drops five to No. 18 in its 411th chart week on the Australian country albums chart since its original 2007 release, it was revealed Saturday.

Aug. 2:
'Radiolab' To Tell Dolly's Life Story, Impact


Public radio personality Jad Abumrad, creator of the popular Radiolab series at WNYC, announced Thursday that he is producing a nine-part podcast series on Dolly's life and her impact on the nation called Dolly Parton's America. Check out his Tweet announcing the program here or above. You may also register here for e-mail updates as the podcast is created.

Aug. 1:
Dolly Opens Official Amazon Store
Dolly on Wednesday unveiled an official Amazon store to sell the t-shirts, long sleeve shirts, sweatshirts, and hoodies that used to be available on her official website's online store before they closed the store pages on the site. Check them out here.

Get Classic Dolly CMA Performances
Time Life Video on Wednesday announced their 10-DVD CMA Awards Live: Greatest Moments 1968-2015 set will be released in stores on Sept. 3 after having been available mostly direct order only since it came out in January. The collection features five Dolly performances ("Love Is Like A Butterfly," "Here You Come Again," "Islands In The Stream," "Silver Threads And Golden Needles" and "I Will Always Love You," the Vince Gill duet) plus a featurette on Dolly. Amazon has the $100 set discounted to $66, or about half the $125 price the original 10-disc set is currently selling for on Amazon. Reserve your copy here!

Austin's Dolly Fest Approaches
The Austin Chronicle on Wednesday reported on this weekend's Dolly Fest to be held at the Museum of Human Achievement which was reported here a few weeks ago. Check out their detailed preview here.

Comedy Barn Celebrates Anniversary
The Comedy Barn in Pigeon Forge, which Dolly's restaurant company purchased in January, celebrated its 25th anniversary this week. The Knoxville News-Sentinel offered a story on the observance here.