Oct. 30:
Dolly Talks Legacy With Tampa Paper
The Tampa Bay Times this week featured a great interview with Dolly about her legacy, specifically her Dollywood theme park, noting she may even look to open a physical library on the park grounds to celebrate her Imagination Library, joking she could have her own library like a presidential library. It was also reported that when she was at the park earlier this month to film scenes for Coat Of Many Colors she also closed her Dream Box time capsule at the park's DreamMore Resort. The Dream Box will be opened during the resort's 30th anniversary year. (Although the story reports it will be opened on the actual anniversary, I understand a sign located with it in the resort explains it is to be opened on Dolly's 100th birthday, which will be a few months after the actual 30th anniversary date.) Read the interview here.

Smoky Mountain Christmas Coming Soon
Knoxville television station WATE takes a look at Dollywood's upcoming Smoky Mountain Christmas, which kicks off Nov. 7. The story notes this is the final year for A Christmas Carol featuring Dolly's hologram as the Ghost of Christmas Past. Take a read here.

Grateful Dead Cover Of Dolly Classic Released
Legendary group The Grateful Dead have a new collection of previously unreleased material including a Dolly cover. The duet of Jerry Garcia and Donna Jean Godchaux on Dolly's 1970 Porter duet "Tomorrow Is Forever" was recorded live at the Palace Theater in Waterbury, Conn., on Sept. 24, 1972. Get the collection, 30 Trips Around The Sun: The Definitive Live Story (1965-1995), here or download just the one track here.

Paisley Duet, 1982 Single Still On The Charts
Dolly and Brad Paisley's "When I Get Where I'm Going" drops off the country digital sales chart, down from No. 35, in the Nov. 7 Billboard tallies, loses 14 places to No. 16 in its 15th week on the Christian digital singles sales chart, and dips 16 points to No. 18 in its ninth week on the Christian and gospel combined digital singles sales chart. Dolly's "Hard Candy Christmas" descends nine to No. 48 Holiday Digital Songs. Jewel's Picking Up The Pieces, with Dolly on "My Father's Daughter," in its sixth week, inches down two to No. 14 folk albums. In its fourth week, Don Henley's Cass County, which features Dolly on "When I Stop Dreaming," falls 18 to No. 36 top 200, 11 to No. 24 tastemaker albums, one to No. 5 Internet sales, 13 to No. 22 current albums, and 13 to No. 22 album sales, holds steady No. 4 country albums and re-enters the Canadian pop chart at No. 93.

Kenny Rogers Collaboration Still No. 2 Duet Of All Time
A recent Good Morning America segment noted Kenny Rogers' and Dolly's "Islands In The Stream" is still the second most popular pop duet of all time. Check out the footage here.

Vincent Christmas CD Comes Out This Week
Don't forget that Rhonda Vincent's holiday CD Christmas Time, with Dolly and several other guests on "The Twelve Days Of Christmas," hits stores on Friday. Get yours here!

Oct. 26:
Jewel Debuts New Video For Dolly Duet

Dolly Talks About Tobacco Stick Microphone
Dolly's official website over the weekend also posted a new "Front Porch" story: this one from Dolly about how she used to put a tobacco stick between the slats of the porch, add a tin can on top as a microphone, and pretend she was at The Grand Ole Opry. Check it out here.

Oct. 24:
NBC Releases New 'Coat Of Many Colors' Photo

U.K. Chart Updates
Dolly's Blue Smoke stays at No. 3 this week on the British country compilation albums chart, according to Friday's tallies for the album's 72nd chart week overseas. Elsewhere on the same tally, Emmylou Harris' Original Album Series, Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) falls off the top 20, down from No. 18, and Ronstadt's own Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) holds steady at No. 19. Don Henley's Cass County, with a Dolly duet, loses 23 spots to No. 66 U.K. pop albums.

Tennessee's First Lady Loves Dolly's Library
Tennessee First Lady Crissy Haslam has penned an op-ed piece touting Dolly's Imagination Library early childhood literacy program. Read it from The Chattanoogan here.

Oct. 23:
'When I Get Where I'm Going' Back On Several Charts
Thanks to its recent performance on The Voice, Dolly's duet of "When I Get Where I'm Going" with Brad Paisley sees several gains on the Oct. 31 Billboard charts this week, debuting on the country digital singles sales chart at No. 35, rising 48 places to No. 2 in its 14th week on the Christian digital singles sales chart, re-entering the Christian and gospel combined digital singles sales chart at No. 2 for an eighth week, a new peak position for it on both of the latter tallies. Dolly's "Hard Candy Christmas" inches up one to No. 39 Holiday Digital Songs. Jewel's Picking Up The Pieces, with Dolly on "My Father's Daughter," in its fifth week, loses four to No. 12 folk albums. In its third week, Don Henley's Cass County, which features Dolly on "When I Stop Dreaming," loses eight to No. 18 top 200, two to No. 4 country albums, 10 to No. 13 tastemaker albums, two to No. 4 Internet sales, four to No. 9 current albums, and four to No. 9 album sales, falling off the digital albums (down from No. 20) and off the Canadian pop chart (down from No. 17).

Nettles Loved Playing Dolly's Mother
Jennifer Nettles has been talking with the press about what it was like to play Dolly's mother in this winter's NBC movie Coat Of Many Colors. Check out interviews with The Tampa Bay Times here and Atlanta Journal-Constitution here.

Oct. 20:
Get TV Gets 1976 'Dolly' Show For One Night
The Get TV network has announced that it will air two episodes of Dolly's classic 1976 television series Dolly! next week. The network shows an hour of "The Get TV Classic Variety Special" each Monday between episodes of the original Judy Garland variety show and Merv Griffin variety show. This week, the "special" was an hour-long compilation of duets from The Andy Williams Show. Next week, the 9 p.m. Eastern half-hour features the Feb. 28, 1976, episode of Dolly! with guest Anne Murray, followed at 9:30 p.m. by the March 14, 1976, episode with Kenny Rogers. They repeat at midnight and 12:30 a.m., respectively. No word on when any future episodes may air, as the network's November schedule has not been released. Visit their website here to find its channel in your viewing area.

Oct. 19:
English Love Dolly's Accent
The British were recently surveyed on the sexiest American accents, and Tennessee won hands down, taking the top three spots with people raised there: 1. Morgan Freeman, 2. Dolly, 3. Reese Witherspoon. Read more from Today here and People here.

James Rogers Duet Available Online
Thanks to reader Greg for alerting me that former Dollywood performer James Rogers has made available a CD of his Beyond The Call album, which features Dolly on the title song honoring Medal of Honor recipients. Watch the video on YouTube here, download the digital album here and purchase the physical CD here.

'Blue Smoke' Dips Overseas
Dolly's Blue Smoke slips again to No. 3 this week on the British country compilation albums chart, Friday's numbers showed in the album's 71st chart week overseas. Elsewhere on the same tally, Emmylou 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. 18 and Ronstadt's own Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) re-enters the top 20 at No. 19. Don Henley's Cass County, with a Dolly duet, dips 21 points to No. 43 U.K. pop albums.

'AbFab' Seeks Dolly Drag Queen
Pink News reports that Absolutely Fabulous filmmakers working on the upcoming big screen adaptation of the cult classic television show want to cast 100 drag queens, including Dolly, Cher and Madonna impersonators for a key scene. Read more here.

Stampede Offers New Holiday Show
The Pigeon Forge Dixie Stampede will launch an all-new holiday show Nov. 3 with the facility's grounds illuminated with Christmas decorations. In a press release, Dolly noted: "I'm more excited than ever for Christmas and can't wait to share our new adventure with everyone. Thanks to all of the exciting changes we've made, we hope this year's Christmas show will leave our guests with more Christmas spirit than ever before." About the new show, theatre spokesperson Woody Peek said: "Our creative team is already in the Christmas spirit hard at work combining our new and advanced technical elements with the timeless Christmas traditions our guests have grown to love."

Rhonda Vincent Dresses As Dolly For Halloween
Online syndicated program The Pickup is celebrating Halloween with a country star costume contest featuring T. Graham Brown, Jeannie Seely, Ronnie McDowell and Rhonda Vincent. Vincent, who has appeared on several Dolly albums, dons her best Dolly holiday garb for the contest. Check out the video here and vote for the winner on Twitter by tweeting the handle @thepickuptv and using the hashtag #CountryHalloween.

Oct. 15:
Dolly Denies Stomach Cancer Story
Dolly on Wednesday took the unusual step of responding to a tabloid news report to refute its accuracy. The National Enquirer posted a piece here claiming she had a stomach cancer scare. Although she usually avoids directly replying to any tabloid report, this time she broke from her usual policy and issued a statement: "It is true that I had kidney stones. I had them removed three weeks ago and I am doing just fine! I am back to work and last week I was at Dollywood filming parts for my new movie "Coat of Many Colors," which premieres December 10th on NBC. With the 30th Anniversary of Dollywood, I did a full week of activities promoting my new DreamMore Resort's opening. There is absolutely no truth at all that I have stomach cancer. I love and appreciate everyone's concern." The announcement explained why her planned Sept. 25 media event at Dollywood's DreamMore Resort was cancelled, as that would have been the week of the surgery.

Paisley Duet Re-Enters Christian Digital Songs Chart
"When I Get Where I'm Going" by Dolly and Brad Paisley is back on the Christian Digital Songs chart at No. 50 for a 13th week, re-entering the 50-position tally on the Oct. 24 charts released Tuesday. Dolly's "Hard Candy Christmas" gains four to No. 40 Holiday Digital Songs. Jewel's Picking Up The Pieces, with Dolly on "My Father's Daughter," falls off the top 200, down from No. 172, off the Internet albums list, down from No. 25, off the current albums chart, down from No. 79, and off the album sales chart, down from No. 82. In its fourth week, the CD dips two to No. 8 folk albums. In its second week, Don Henley's Cass County, which features Dolly on "When I Stop Dreaming," dips seven to No. 10 top 200, 14 to No. 20 digital albums, 13 to No. 17 Canadian pop chart, one to No. 2 country albums, two to No. 3 tastemaker albums, one to No. 2 Internet sales, four to No. 5 current albums, and four to No. 5 album sales, while falling off the vinyl album sales chart, down from No. 8.

Oct. 12:
University of Tennessee Lauds Dolly, Wins Game
As was reported in advance, the University of Tennessee band on Saturday paid tribute to Dolly with their halftime show consisting of several Dolly songs while they marched into formations of an eagle, butterflies, a coat (with many colored flags being twirled on it to give it many colors), clock faces set to "9" and "5," hearts and even the Dolly signature logo. The show must have been a good luck charm, as the Vols came from behind afterward to win over Georgia. While the halftime show was not shown on CBS, except for a second or two of a couple of the formations, the full show was posted to Dolly's official Vimeo page here. Also check out the story about it on her official website here. And relive Dolly's 2009 honorary doctorate presentation from UT wth Dollymania.net's coverage here.

'Very Best' Gone Again Down Under
After re-appearing for one week, The Very Best Of Dolly Parton this week falls back off the Australian top 40 country albums chart, down from No. 39 in its 356th chart week, Saturday's chart Down Under revealed.

Oct. 10:
Ronstadt Manager: Trio Set Delayed Until Spring
The long-anticipated Trio boxed set, reportedly to include both albums Dolly did with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris plus a third CD consisting almost entirely of outtakes and alternate cuts that have previously not been released from their recording sessions, has apparently been delayed until spring. Although requests to Rhino Records in recent weeks for information have gone unanswered, Ronstadt's manager John Boylan posted to his website that "according to sources at Rhino, the set will ship 'sometime in the second quarter of 2016.'" You may recall it reported here earlier this year that originally an October 2015 release date was set for the three-CD collection and a one-CD abbreviated version, the full track listings for which had been announced. However, those were pulled quickly from store advance order pages. Thanks, Tony!

Dolly Tapes Message For UT Game
Don't forget to catch the University of Tennessee halftime show on Saturday on CBS to see a tribute to Dolly. She told WBIR that she taped a special welcome for them to play during the show. Watch that interview here.

Dolly On U.K. 'The Voice'?
British publication The Mirror reported this week that Simon Crowell is in talks with several music legends to possibly make guest appearances on the U.K. version of his show The X Factor as the fifth judges on the panel to end tie-breaking sing-offs and try to improve sinking ratings. Among those the paper said are in discussions to appear on the new season that begins later this month: Dolly, Rod Stewart, Cher and Tom Jones. The story was picked up in several other British media outlets on Friday. Check it out here.

Overseas Chart Updates
Dolly's Blue Smoke stays at No. 2 this week on the British country compilation albums chart, it was revealed Friday, in the album's 70th chart week overseas. Elsewhere on the same tally, all other Dolly-related CDs fall back out of the top 20: her The Tour Collection, down from No. 13 in its 35th week; Emmylou Harris' Original Album Series, Volume 1 (with two Dolly covers, one track with Dolly harmony and one track with Trio harmony), down from No. 16; Harris' Original Album Series, Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt), down from No. 19; and Ronstadt's own Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony), down from No. 14. Don Henley's Cass County, featuring a Dolly duet, falls 15 to No. 22 U.K. pop albums.

Romaijn Talks Dolly Child On 'Today'
NBC's Today on Friday repeated Rebecca Romijn's story about how she came to meet her idol Dolly while pregnant with her twins and named one of them after her. See that coverage here and here.

Oct. 9:
Dolly Taping Tennessee Travel Show
Dolly was spotted around Dollywood and Dollywood's DreamMore Resort with a film crew on Thursday, also popping by her statue on the courthouse lawn in Sevierville, according to a photo the city posted to Facebook here. That image noted she was filming with travel host Peter Greenberg. The travel editor for CBS News and host of Travel Detective, Greenberg is currently filming a new Destination America show where celebrities take him on tours of their homestates, so it is believed that this is what Dolly was taping with him in East Tennessee the past couple of days and locations in the Nashville area earlier in the week, as was previously reported here. No word on when the program will air on the cable network. She was also seen at the resort with Today correspondent Willie Geist and did interviews with some local television, including Knoxville's WBIR here.

Win Autographed '9 To 5' For Charity
Want an autographed original issue LP of Dolly's 9 To 5 And Odd Jobs? Ebay is offering one to benefit the Grammy Foundation and MusicCares Foundation as part of the annual Grammy Legends charity auction. With one week left to bid, the item as of press time had 12 bids with the high one at $152.50. Check it out here.

Oct. 7:
UT Band To Honor Dolly At Halftime Show This Weekend
The University of Tennessee will honor local girl Dolly in Saturday's halftime show in the game against Georgia that airs at 3:30 p.m. on CBS, The Knoxville News Sentinel reported here. Songs such as "Jolene," "Coat Of Many Colors," "I Will Always Love You" and "9 To 5" will be paired with marching drills including things such as hearts for "I Will Always Love You" and a clock with moving dials for "9 To 5." The story notes Dolly won't be in attendance due to her schedule for Coat Of Many Colors (which it misidentifies as a Broadway show instead of a TV movie) and, supposedly, "a new album and an upcoming world tour."

'Hard Candy Christmas' Back On Charts
Dolly's 1982 single "Hard Candy Christmas" this week re-enters the season's first Holiday Digital Songs chart at No. 44 to log a 31st week on the tally dated Oct. 17 and released on Tuesday. Elsewhere on the chart, several positions were revealed here Monday night for Don Henley's Cass County, which features Dolly on "When I Stop Dreaming," but the CD's full chart debuts are No. 3 top 200, No. 6 digital albums, No. 7 U.K. pop chart, No. 4 Canadian pop chart, No. 1 country albums, No. 1 tastemaker albums, No. 1 Internet sales, No. 1 current albums, No. 8 vinyl album sales and No. 1 album sales. Jewel's Picking Up The Pieces, with Dolly on "My Father's Daughter," sees in its third chart week a drop of 43 places to No. 172 top 200, a rise of one to No. 6 folk albums, a re-entry on the top Internet albums at No. 25, a drop of 18 places to No. 79 current albums and a decline of 21 spots to No. 82 album sales.

Oct. 6:
With Dolly Duet, Henley Has Week's Best-Selling CD
An album featuring Dolly was the nation's best-selling CD last week, it was revealed on Monday. Don Henley's solo country CD, Cass County, with Dolly on the lead single, "When I Stop Dreaming," sold 87,000 copies in its first week to come in at No. 1 on the all-genre album sales chart and No. 1 on the country albums chart, according to Billboard. However, because the new Billboard 200 overall pop albums chart recently began adding points for "track equivalent albums" when an album sells enough individual digital tracks to equal the same size as a full-length CD and "streaming equivalent albums" to track online streaming of the songs, Henley's was not the overall No. 1 album in the country, coming in instead at No. 3 on that tally with 89,000 total units, meaning just 2,000 album equivalents for digital singles sales and online streaming. The full charts, dated Oct. 17, will be released on Tuesday.

Dolly Pays Tribute To Mother On Website
Dolly's official website, DollyParton.com, on Monday offered a nice story about her mother's love and inspiration in honor of what would have been Avie Lee Parton's 92nd birthday. Read it here.

Dollywood 2016 Operating Calendar Released
Dollywood has announced that the park will open on March 19 for its 2016 operating season. No word yet on Dolly appearances for next year other than her previously-announced 31st Annual Dolly Parade on May 6, but for the past several years Dolly has made appearances at the opening day for the public as well as the season passholders' preview day, which usually takes place the day before the public opening, which would make it March 18 if the same schedule holds true for next year. Next year's major festivals are the Festival of Nations March 19-April 18, BBQ & Bluegrass Festival May 13-22, Great American Summer June 11-Aug. 7, Rock the Smokies Sept. 3-4, National Southern Gospel & Harvest Celebration Sept. 30-Oct. 29 and Smoky Mountain Christmas Nov. 5-Jan. 4, 2017. In related news, Dollywood is Tennessee's most often Instagrammed location for photographs, according to a new study. Knoxville television station WBIR reported on the news here, noting that the only other state where a theme park is No. 1 is California with Disneyland.

Dolly Visits Music City's RCA Studio B
Dolly was in her old stomping grounds of RCA Studio B on Monday in Nashville, according to a photo posted to Twitter here by the Country Music Hall of Fame, which owns and operates the historic studio where Dolly recorded most of her hits during her time with RCA. Check out the tweet below as well.

Oct. 5:
'Blue Smoke' Hits No. 2 Overseas
Although Dolly's Blue Smoke on Friday gained one on the British country compilation albums chart, it wasn't enough to recapture the pole position it held for over a year until losing it to James Taylor the previous week. Dolly took the No. 2 spot from Carrie Underwood for her CD's 69th week in the top three overseas. Elsewhere on the same tally, Dolly's The Tour Collection re-enters the top 20 at No. 13 for a 35th week, Emmylou Harris' Original Album Series, Volume 1 (with two Dolly covers, one track with Dolly harmony and one track with Trio harmony) loses six to No. 16, Harris' Original Album Series, Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) falls seven to No. 19, and Ronstadt's own Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) rises four one to No. 14. The Very Best Of Dolly Parton this week re-enters the Australian top 40 country albums chart at No. 39 in its 356th chart week, Saturday's chart Down Under showed.

Henley Chats About Dolly With CMT
Don Henley over the weekend had an interview on CMT.com about his country album, Cass County, which features Dolly on "When I Stop Dreaming," saying: "When Dolly Parton opens her mouth, you can hear those mountains. You can hear those people and the suffering and the hardship. You can hear the love and the compassion — all in in her voice." Read more here.

Oct. 3:
Dolly Spreads The Word Of Literacy On PBS

Reba Covers Dolly's 'Jolene' At Small Club
Reba McEntire, Little Big Town's Karen Fairchild and Kimberly Schlapman appeared on stage this week in East Nashville as the surprise guests for the Shadowboxers to cover Dolly's classic "Jolene." Check out some fan video on Rolling Stone here.

Kenny Raises $60,000 For Dolly's Library
Kenny Rogers' charity concert at Dollywood last weekend to benefit Dolly's Imagination Library netted $60,000, it was revealed afterward, bringing the total raised by Kenny, Dolly and The Band Perry in the concert series to $635,000. "You know she's an amazing person. She can take something and really grow it into something fantastic. Dolly has shipped over 70 million books! I think it's a great idea," he said. "I'm glad to be a part of this and I hope it helps!" In a statement afterward, Dolly responded: "I'm so grateful to Kenny for wanting to help my Imagination Library. He's always been such a great friend to me and I'm so happy that he made time to come to Dollywood and I know the fans just loved it. Kenny, if you're reading this, I want to you to know just how much I appreciate you and you know I'll always love you!"

Latest On Jewel, Henley Projects With Dolly
Jewel, whose CD Picking Up The Pieces this week falls 101 places to No. 129 on the U.S. pop charts in its second week, talks about the album and its lead single "My Father's Daughter" with Dolly in Rolling Stone here. Meanwhile, Britain's The Guardian this week named Jewel's CD (as well as Don Henley's Cass County, which also features Dolly) among the six best country albums of the year that you've probably not heard. Read the list here. And Henley also spoke with Rolling Stone about his project, saying Dolly and Merle Haggard's voices "represent America to me" here.

Paper Chooses 30 Best Dolly Tunes
Britain's The Telegraph this week ranked Dolly's 30 Best Songs in a countdown here.

New Novel Features Dolly Fan
Author Julie Murphy has a new book Dumplin' centered around a plus sized Texas teen who idolizes Dolly and decides to enter a beauty pageant.