Aug. 26: New Grascals Duet Coming Friday Dolly's former backing band The Grascals have a new collaboration with her coming out on Friday, the band revealed Monday. "Broken Angels," a new single written by Dolly and Grascals vocalist Jamie Johnson, will debut as a duet on Friday. Reserve your copy in advance through your favorite streaming service here.
Montana Getting Library Visit Wednesday Dolly will make a brief appearance in person in Montana at 1:30 p.m. local time (3:30 p.m. Eastern) Wednesday to celebrate the statewide expansion of her Imagination Library early childhood literacy program with invited guests at a private event to be live streamed on NonStopLocal here, it was announced Monday.
Carpenter To Channel Dolly On VMAs Sabrina Carpenter, with whom Dolly collaborated on a reissue of her hit single "Please, Please, Please," has revealed when she sings a medley of hits on September's MTV Video Music Awards she will do so in a performance inspired by Dolly in the film 9 To 5. No word on whether Dolly will join her.
Aug. 19: Ted Miller Retiring, Jeff Conyers To Replace Dolly this week announced a major leadership transition on her team. Ted Miller, who has served as Dolly's business advisor for her East Tennessee ventures as president of Dolly Parton Productions since the mid-to-late-1980s, will retire at the end of this year and his role will be assumed by Dollywood Foundation President Jeff Conyers. In addition to retaining his role leading Dolly's Imagination Library program in the U.S. and abroad as well as her other philanthropic efforts, he will also serve as her liaison for her business ventures with Herschend Family Entertainment including Dollywood Parks and Resorts and WCI/ZMC (through which she owns and operates their various dinner theaters). Read more from The Mountain Presshere.
'Live From London' Coming To Vinyl Dolly announced last week that her concert album Live from London, recorded live at the O2 Arena in 2008, will be released on vinyl for the first time Oct. 10. The double-album will be available in standard black here, cotton candy vinyl in the U.K., and blue skies vinyl from Dolly's official online store. This could be the first of other vinul reissues to come, as Dollymania.net learned from insiders associated with Vinyl Me Please that Dolly's team chose to end their partnership with the boutique retailer after its first year of Dolly vinyl releases in the Vinyl Me Parton series because they wanted to start releasing her albums on vinyl themselves in the future rather than the limited editions through the collector site.
Dolly Musical Interferes With Cancer Appearance Dolly has continued making occasional appearances at the Nashville tryout of her Broadway-bound bio-musical Dolly: A True Original Musical as the show is tweaked by her and the creative team before its Great White Way transition next year. Unfortunately, the requirements working with the show forced her to cancel last Friday's planned live appearance at the multi-network fundraiser Stand Up To Cancer, organizers said. A new interview also came out of the show's promotions last week thanks to Woman's Worldhere.
Down Under, Carpenter falls two to No. 9 pop albums, Malone loses one to No. 8 Australian country albums, Beyonce falls out of the country top 40 albums, down from No. 39, and Dolly's Diamonds & Rhinestones, The Greatest Hits Collection dips three to No. 29 country.
Stateside, Carpenter comes in at No. 10 pop albums, Malone No. 36 pop albums and No. 5 country albums, and Beyonce No. 146 pop albums and No. 28 country albums.
Aug. 12: Dolly's Musical Officially Opens In Nashville
After three weeks of preview performances (when critics aren't supposed to write reviews so actors and technicians may work out bugs in the show), the Nashville tryout of Dolly: A True Original Musical officially "opened" with a red carpet Friday night. Reviews were mostly positive, with those from Knox News, American Songwriter, Cowboys & Indians and Music City Review summarized by Broadway Worldhere. Coverage from the show's official social media is available here and video of her post-show toast to the crowd from fan Sergio Garcia here. Other coverage includes Country Nowhere, Music Mahemhere, NewsChannel5 here, WAND here and Todayhere.
Dolly Speaks Of Reba, Kelly Grief Dolly told Entertainment Tonight her advice to Reba and Kelly Clarkson on the loss of their loved one, Brandon Blackstock, from her recent experience losing her husband, Carl, here
U.S., U.K., Aussie Chart Updates Across the pond, Very Best Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 holds steady at No. 2 on the British country compilation album chart, while her Diamonds & Rhinestones, The Greatest Hits Collection rises two to No. 8, The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe gains five to No. 13, Dolly Parton & Family: Smoky Mountain DNA -- Family, Faith & Fables slips three to No. 14, Glen Campbell's Ghost On The Canvas Sessions with a Dolly duet climbs 13 to No. 7, Emmylou Harris' Original Album Series Vol. 1 re-enters the top 20 at No. 20 and Linda Ronstadt's Original Album Series falls back out of the top 20, down from No. 14. Sabrina Carpenter's Short & Sweet Deluxe Edition, with its Dolly duet, regains two to No. 8 U.K. pop, 13 to No. 19 Scottish albums, seven to No. 20 album sales, and six to No. 20 physical album sales, holding steady at No. 7 streaming albums. Post Malone's F 1 Trillion, with its Dolly duet, loses two to No. 15 country albums. Beyonce's Cowboy Carter, with its Dolly appearances, gains one to No. 9 British country albums and dips one to No. 3 Ameriana albums.
Down Under, Carpenter regains two to No. 7 pop albums, Malone inches up one to No. 7 Australian country albums, Beyonce rises one at No. 39 country, and Dolly's Diamonds & Rhinestones, The Greatest Hits Collection gains two to No. 26 country.
Stateside, the Aug. 9 lists show Carpenter loses one to No. 16 pop albums and four to No. 25 sales, gaining two to No. 13 Canadian albums and one to No. 13 streaming. Malone falls one to No. 34 pop albums and nine to No. 33 Canadian albums, holding steady at No. 30 streaming albums and No. 6 country albums. Beyonce regains two to No. 107 pop albums, holding steady at No. 22 country albums and No. 10 Americana albums.
Aug. 5: Dolly Buys Another Florida Attraction Just a few weeks after opening her latest Pirates Voyage dinner theater, the chain's third location and first in Florida, Dolly has expanded her Panama City Beach holdings by purchasing the SkyWheel attraction in the city, which features an observation wheel, 18-hole mini-golf course, and ropes course. Coverage of the acquisition of the Pier Park facility includes this story from WJHG here.
'Whorehouse' BluRay Ordering Page Added Amazon has added an order page for the 2K BluRay special edition restoration of The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas coming out Sept. 23 which was reported here two weeks ago. Reserve your copy here.
In Memoriam: Jeannie Seely Grand Ole Opry legend Jeannie Seely died last week at age 85. In a tribute on social media, Dolly responded: "I have known Jeannie Seely since we were early on in Nashville. She was one of my dearest friends. I think she was one of the greater singers in Nashville and she had a wonderful sense of humor. We had many wonderful laughs together, cried over certain things together and she will be missed." Seely moved to Nashville in 1966 where she joined Dolly as a Monument Records artist and briefly toured with Porter Wagoner as his girl singer after Norma Jean, being replaced by Dolly in 1967. She covered Dolly's "Put It Off Until Tomorrow" on her debut album and "Just Because I'm A Woman" on her fourth album.
Dolly Snags Five Spots On 'Opry' Top 100 If you haven't seen the full list of the Opry's 100 greatest country songs of all time, Dolly is tied with Willie Nelson and George Straight as the performer with the most appearances on the tally with five songs each. Dolly's are "I Will Always Love You," "Coat of Many Colors," "Jolene," "9 to 5" and "Islands In The Stream" See all 100 here.
Dolly Wines Bar Opens In Nashville Dolly has opened a small wine bar in Music City to promote her two Dolly Wines available in the U.S. The Dolly Wines Bar is located inside the Assembly Food Hall at 5055 Broadway Place in downtown Nashville. Check it out in a story from Music Universehere.
'Christmas Carol' Adds More Dates Dolly Parton's Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol last week added a few more dates to its first national tour to the ones reported here a week ago. The additions are:
Nov. 15, Owensboro, KY Riverpark Center
Nov. 22, Enterprise, AL Baker Center for the Arts
Dec. 18, Hamlet, NC Cole Auditorium
Dec. 22-23, Clearwater, FL Ruth Eckerd Hall
Dollywood Named Among Best Women Employers Dollywood Parks and Resorts was named last week by Forbes magazine on the list of America's Best Employers for Women, the only theme park company included. Check out the full list here.
U.K., Aussie, U.S. Chart Updates Across the pond, Very Best Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 holds steady at No. 2 on the British country compilation album chart, while her Diamonds & Rhinestones, The Greatest Hits Collection loses four to No. 10, The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe drops eight to No. 18, Dolly Parton & Family: Smoky Mountain DNA -- Family, Faith & Fables moves up three to No. 11, Linda Ronstadt's Original Album Series and Glen Campbell's Ghost On The Canvas Sessions with a Dolly duet re-enter the top 20 at No. 14 and No. 20, respectively, while Emmylou Harris' Original Album Series Vol. 1 falls back out of the top 20, down from No. 19. Sabrina Carpenter's Short & Sweet Deluxe Edition, with its Dolly duet, inches down one to No. 10 U.K. pop, loses three to No. 32 Scottish albums, falls one to No. 27 album sales, moves down two to No. 26 physical album sales, and rises two to No. 7 streaming albums. Post Malone's F 1 Trillion, with its Dolly duet, loses one to No. 13 country albums. Beyonce's Cowboy Carter, with its Dolly appearances, holds steady at No. 10 British country albums and rises five to No. 2 Ameriana albums.
Down Under, Carpenter loses two to No. 9 pop albums, Malone holds steady at No. 8 Australian country albums, Beyonce remains at No. 40 country, and Dolly's Diamonds & Rhinestones, The Greatest Hits Collection gains one to No. 28 country.
Stateside, the Aug. 2 tallies show Carpenter loses three to No. 15 pop albums, seven to No. 21 sales, four to No. 15 Canadian albums, and three to No. 14 streaming. Malone holds steady at No. 33 pop albums, falls four to No. 24 Canadian albums, and dips two to No. 30 streaming albums, losing one to No. 6 country albums. Beyonce tumbles 51 places to No. 109 pop albums, 12 to No. 22 country albums, and five to No. 10 Americana albums.
