Nov. 30: 'Diamonds' Hits Top 30 Pop, Top 5 Country Diamonds must be a girl's best friend because Dolly's new Diamonds & Rhinestones, The Greatest Hits Collection debuts better than expected on the Dec. 3 charts Billboard released Tuesday. Instead of the 18,000 album units credited in preliminary numbers reported here Sunday night, final numbers showed 19,000 units total, of which 15,000 were CDs or paid full album downloads. That was enough for it to come in at No. 4 country albums (instead of No. 6 projected here) and No. 27 all-genre Top 200 Albums (instead of No. 31 projected here) as well as No. 4 vinyl albums, No. 7 overall album sales, and No. 6 overall current album sales. Billboard noted her achievements in an article here (behind a paywall) that repeats as was reported here Sunday night that it marks her 48th country albums top 10, which it notes is a record for a female artist (listing Loretta Lynn with 42 at second place) and second place for all artists (listing Willie Nelson at 53 in first place). It also said she is the only woman with a top 10 album in all seven decades of the chart, from the 1960s through 2020s, with Willie Nelson being the only male. Dolly also re-enters the Artist 100 chart at No. 30. "Almost Too Early For Christmas" with Jimmy Fallon debuts at No. 32 digital Christmas song sales, where "Hard Candy Christmas" re-enters at No. 48 for its 92nd week, first this season. Run, Rose, Run gains one to No. 4 bluegrass albums in its 38th chart week. And A Holly, Dolly Christmas Ultimate Deluxe Edition gains four to No. 47 on the all-genre album sales chart in its 28th week there, holds steady at No. 29 in its 34th week on the top holiday albums chart, and re-enters the top country albums list at No. 42 for a 21st chart week.
More Appearances, Previews, Interviews For 'Magic'
NBC on Tuesday revealed Dolly will guest on Today Thursday morning to promote that night's premiere of Dolly Parton's Mountain Magic Christmas on the network, as well as sing her current Christmas single with Jimmy Fallon. A new clip from the movie of Dolly with Miley Cyrus was released Thursday and may be seen here or in the media player above. Dolly spoke with Entertainment Tonight about the program and co-hosting New Year's Eve with Miley here (and about Jeff Bezos' $100 million gift for her to give to charity here). SuperTalk Mississippi interviewed Dolly's co-executive producer Sam Haskell about the project here.
Circle Shows Three Dolly Specials In December Circle Network, which broadcasts The Grand Ole Opry weekly, has announced a Dolly-centered December with her 2020 special A Holly, Dolly Christmas, 1986 TV movie A Smoky Mountain Christmas (which they have somehow cut to one hour of running time instead of its original two hours), and 1990 special Christmas At Home. The three shows air at 8 p.m. each on Dec. 3, 10, and 17, respectively, followed by several repeats over the following week, with A Holly, Dolly Christmas also airing Christmas Eve and all three repeating in a row starting at 4 p.m. Christmas Day. The network is also repeating the special Born In Bristol, on which Dolly also appears, Dec. 1, Dec. 16, and Dec. 26.
Watch Stella's Christmas Film, Too Dolly is not the only Parton with a new film premiering Thursday, as sister Stella Parton co-stars in Merry & Gay debuting on demand and on the new DIVABoxOffice.TV channel. She speaks with Movie Webhere about her role as a meddling mother in a same-sex romance Christmas film.
Nov. 28: 'Diamonds' Headed To Top 10 Country, Top 40 Pop Debut
The official Billboard charts will be released on Tuesday but preliminary sales reports indicate Dolly's new collection Diamonds & Rhinestones, The Greatest Hits Collection will debut as Dolly's 48th top 10 country album, maintaining her record as No. 1 among female artists and No. 2 behind pal Willie Nelson among all artists. It appears the set sold just over 14,000 physical and paid download full albums in its first week of release, about 200 album-equivalent downloads of individual tracks, and streams equal to just under 4,000 album sales to total just over 18,000 units credited toward chart performance. That allows Dollymania to project it to debut around No. 31 on the all-genre Top 200 albums chart and around No. 6 country albums, both of which include streaming data in their measurements. For straight album sales, it should be around No. 5 for the week in all genres and No. 1 country, which would be the positions it would hold on the Top 200 and country albums charts if they were still sales only like they used to be. The collection debuted at No. 1 country compilation albums and No. 40 overall albums in the U.K. on Friday.
'Mountain Magic Christmas' Week Has Arrived!
Dolly's big TV week has arrived, as NBC's new holiday special Dolly Parton's Mountain Magic Christmas premieres Thursday night on the network. A behind-the-scenes "first look" video with Dolly was released last week here and in the media player above, which indicates she performs a new version of "Run, Run Rudolph" with Jimmy Allen, her current single with Jimmy Fallon, something that isn't yet known with her sisters Cassie and Rachel, "Go Tell It On The Mountain," her pandemic single "When Life Is Good Again," the platinum single "There Was Jesus" with Zach Williams, the new song she has mentioned in a few interviews "Be That," and several collaborations from her A Holly, Dolly Christmas Ultimate Deluxe Edition including "Pretty Paper" with Willie Nelson, "Christmas Where You Are" with Billy Ray Cyrus, and "Christmas Is" with Miley Cyrus. The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on NBC announced last week she will be his guest on Wednesday night, and as was previously reported here, she will appear on the syndicated Kelly Clarkson Show on Thursday. People magazine last week released preview photos and video of Dolly and Fallon performing "Almost Too Early For Christmas" in the special here. The network also released a Q&A featuring other members of the NBC family here and in the media player below.
Dolly To Co-Host Miley's New Year Special
That's not the only NBC Dolly appearance over the holidays, as she was announced last week as Miley Cyrus' co-host for her second annual New Year's Eve special on the network, which will air live from Miami. Check out the announcement from the pair here or in the media player above. MIley has said in interviews she had hoped to have Dolly on her first year last year but due to the pandemic precautions she wasn't available. (And don't forget NBC is repeating Dolly Parton's Christmas Of Many Colors: Circle Of Love Dec. 23 and Dolly Parton's Coat Of Many Colors Dec. 26.)
New Details On Dolly's HSN Appearances HSN has revealed the schedule for Dolly's appearances on the network next weekend previously reported here to promote her new perfume, Smoky Mountain. She will appear at the 3 p.m. hour with Mario Smith and 6 p.m. hour with Suzanne Runyan on Saturday and 5 p.m. hour with Callie Northagen and 8 p.m. hour with Sarah Anderson on Sunday.
Dolly Says New Museum Coming To Nashville Dolly told The Tennessean in a new interview published Sunday (behind a paywall here) that she plans within the next two years to open a museum in Nashville in addition to Chasing Rainbows at Dollywood. The statement appears to confirm information provided to Dollymania earlier this year by a source who wishes to remain anonymous that Dolly had pulled her personal memorabilia and costumes from the theme park's museum prior to the opening this season so that she could catalog them and store them in Nashville to open a new museum in Music City herself. Chasing Rainbows was closed all season at the theme park, but park officials have maintained it will reopen at some point in the future after being "re-imagined." No details have been released on what the redesign of the Dollywood museum may look like or when it is expected to reopen after the redesign. In the interview, Dolly says she hopes to expand the Nashville museum into a "Dolly center" with a restaurant or bar and grill as well as other attractions. She also repeated her intention to never undertake a full concert tour again but plans to perform at select one-off concerts and festivals in the future, such as her South by Southwest show a few months back or possibly Bonnaroo at some point. Most of the interview focused on Thursday's upcoming NBC holiday special.
'Diamonds & Rhinestones' Debuts Overseas Overseas, Dolly's new Diamonds & Rhinestones, The Greatest Hits Collection released last week debuts at No. 40 British albums, No. 25 downloads, No. 14 overall sales, No. 14 physical sales, No. 24 vinyl sales, No. 9 Scottish albums, and No. 1 U.K. country compilations. Run, Rose, Run moves up one to No. 11 on the British country albums chart, while the U.K. country compilations albums chart sees Very Best Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 slips one to No. 9, The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe falls off the top 20 down from No. 10, Emmylou 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 Linda Ronstadt) gains three to No. 6, Original Album Series: Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) rises seven to No. 11, and Linda Ronstadt's Original Album Series (featuring her cover of Dolly's "I Will Always Love You" and her and Dolly's duet on "I Never Will Marry") re-enters the top 20 at No. 16. In the U.S., the re-issue of 2020's A Holly, Dolly Christmas Ultimate Deluxe Edition with bonus tracks slips a little in its fifth week on the charts this season the Nov. 26 Billboard lists released Tuesday showed, with the title inching down one place to No. 51 on the all-genre album sales chart in its 27th week there and losing six spots to No. 29 in its 33rd week on the top holiday albums chart. Run, Rose, Run gains one to No. 5 bluegrass albums in its 37th chart week.
Dolly Mentioned In Bob Dylan Autopen Scandal Bob Dylan, one of Dolly's musical heroes, got in trouble this week with using an autosigning machine to autograph items sold for upwards of tens of thousands of dollars as authentically hand-signed, and some of the coverage, such as music website Stereogum, specifically mention similar accusations against Dolly for using autopen, while others such as Varietyhere stop short of naming her and instead call her "one of the world's most famous country singers." In Dylan's controversy, he admitted that he has used an autopen since 2019 to sign everything he has sold as "hand-signed," including artwork prints that can sell for as much as $17,000 retail and deluxe editions of his new book, which sold for $600 each. The publisher, Simon & Schuster, has agreed to refund a total of half a million dollars to the nearly 1,000 purchasers of the "autographed" books and is allowing them to keep the books for free. Dylan said he began using the autopen when he was suffering from vertigo that made writing difficult and through the pandemic when he didn't have staff to help him organize items for autographing and continued to use it after the pandemic as "an error in judgement" because he was assured that authors and artists use these for autographed books and art prints "all the time." To try and keep fans from discovering the autopen, a total of 17 variations on his signature were programmed into the machine, the article added. Photographic evidence indicated Dolly used an autopen machine to sign copies of her novel Run, Rose, Run as well as 150 signed copies of the $250 deluxe edition of her Songteller autobiography that sold for $350 for the autograph, and although it was widely discussed in online groups and social media at the time, Dolly did not address it. In 2014, Wal-Mart acknowledged that autographed covers it sold of her CD Blue Smoke (at the same retail price as the unsigned CD) had been signed via autopen.
Dolly's Crossover Producer Passes At 82 Music industry pioneer Charles Keppelman died last week at age 82. He worked with many performers over the years and his connection to Dolly was executive producing her first four rock crossover albums: 1977's Here You Come Again, 1978's Heartbreaker, 1979's Great Balls Of Fire, and 1980's Dolly, Dolly, Dolly. Read more from Billboardhere.
Fan Petition Wants 'Jolene' Remix With Newton-John Fans in Australia of the late Dame Olivia Newton-John have started a petition seeking to have her record label issue a dance remix of her upcoming duet with Dolly on "Jolene" when it is released in the near future. You may sign it here.
NBC last week released the official trailer for the Dec. 1 premiere of Dolly Parton's Mountain Magic Christmas. Watch It here or in the media player above.
Dolly On HSN In December HSN has announced Dolly will return to the shopping network Dec. 3 and 4 to launch an exclusive Eau de Parfum of Dolly: Smoky Mountain for the season. The channel will also during her stop premiere an animated video for "A Smoky Mountain Christmas," which was released as a bonus track on A Holly, Dolly Christmas Ultimate Deluxe Edition. "I am so happy about the embrace we've had with our Scent From Above fragrance launch last year," Dolly said in a press release. "That success has allowed me to experiment with new scents and bring different, inspiring fragrances into the world with the Front Porch Collection, which includes my Smoky Mountain fragrance. Nothing gets me more excited than to create something that brings people joy. And with this year's new products, I drew on many of the memories from my youth to deliver a collection that I believe is really special."
Kelly Clarkson Books Dolly Dec. 1 Dolly will appear on The Kelly Clarkson Show Thursday, Dec. 1, the program announced over the weekend. The broadcast is syndicated so check local listings for time and station. Dolly and the host released a duet of "9 To 5" back in September from the documentary Still Working 9 To 5.
Rock Hall Of Fame Ceremony Airs HBO over the weekend premiered the 2022 Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony, for which Dolly's recognition served as the finale. If you missed it, the broadcast repeats at midnight Wednesday, 2 p.m. Saturday, 10:45 p.m. Nov. 30 and 1:30 p.m. Dec. 3 and is available on demand for cable and satellite HBO subscribers as well as on their HBO Max app. Dolly shared on social media: "What a night! It was an honor to share the stage with so many talented people. I still can't believe I'm part of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. ??" She also provided a link to sign up for updates on the release of her future rock album here.
See Behind-The-Scenes Of Dolly's Musical Playbill takes us behind the scenes of rehearsals for the European premiere of Dolly Parton's Smoky Mountain Christmas Carolhere. The show opens on London's West End in the Queen Elizabeth Hall with previews Dec. 8-12 and an official run of Dec. 13-Jan. 8.
Nashville Library Honors Dolly's Library Nashville Public Library is issuing new special edition library cards with Dolly's photo to honor her Imagination Library, Library Journal's Info Docket reported here.
U.K. Chart Updates Run, Rose, Run inches down one place to No. 12 on the British country albums chart, while the U.K. country compilations albums chart sees Very Best Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 holds steady at No. 8, The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe loses eight to No. 10, Emmylou 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 Linda Ronstadt) rises two to No. 9 and 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.
Nov. 16: Dolly Up For Grammys With Reba, Anderson Dolly was nominated Tuesday for two Grammy Awards, bringing her career total to 53 nods, still the second-most nominations ever for a woman. Beyonce leads this year's nominees with nine total, tying her with her husband Jay Z as the most-nominated artist of all time at the awards with 88 total nods. Dolly's honors are for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for "Does He Love You – Revisited" with Reba McEntire and Best American Roots Performance for "Someday It'll All Make Sense" (bluegrass remix) with Bill Anderson. The Reba collaboration competes against "Wishful Drinking" by Ingrid Andress and Sam Hunt, "Midnight Rider's Prayer" by Brothers Osborne, "Outrunnin' Your Memory" by Luke Combs and Miranda Lambert, "Never Wanted to Be That Girl" by Carly Pearce and Ashley McBryde and "Going Where the Lonely Go" by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. The Anderson duet remix competes against "Life According to Raechel" by Madison Cunningham, "Oh Betty" by Fantastic Negrito, "Stompin' Ground" by Aaron Neville with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and "Prodigal Daughter" by Aoife O'Donovan and Allison Russell. Winners will be announced Feb. 5 from Los Angeles and broadcast live on CBS. This marks Dolly's first nomination in the American Roots field and her 14th in the Country Duo/Group category or its 1980s separation into the Country Vocal Collaboration category, from her first of four nominations in the category with Porter Wagoner in 1969, two each with Kenny Rogers and the Trio (winning both of the nominations with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris), and one each with Penatonix (which she won), Ricky Van Shelton, Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette, Vince Gill, Norah Jones, and the "Romeo" guests. Dolly has won 10 regular Grammys plus the Lifetime Achievement Grammy and has had four entries into the Grammy Hall of Fame (two singles, one song as a songwriter, and an album). This is Anderson's first nomination as a performer, as his four previous nominations were all as a songwriter but he didn't win any, and McEntire's 17th nomination, of which she has won three, including this trophy for the song's original recording with Linda Davis.
USO Virtual Presentation Postponed The USO virtual presentation Dolly had scheduled for Thursday has been postponed and will instead take place at 1:15 p.m. Eastern Dec. 2. Military members and their families who have registered have no need to re-register, as the link they were sent will work for the rescheduled event.
U.S. Chart Updates The re-issue of 2020's A Holly, Dolly Christmas Ultimate Deluxe Edition with several bonus tracks sees a little bump in its fourth week on the charts this season the Nov. 19 Billboard lists released Tuesday showed, with the title slipping eight spots to No. 50 on the all-genre album sales chart in its 26th week there and dropping 12 places to No. 23 in its 32nd week on the top holiday albums chart. Run, Rose, Run inches up one to No. 6 bluegrass albums in its 36th chart week.
Nov. 14: Bezos Gives Dolly $100 Million For Charity
Former Amazon CEO and world's second-richest man Jeff Bezos on Saturday night presented Dolly with his Courage and Civility Award, which comes with a $100 million cash prize for her to distribute to the charities of her choice. It is the third time Bezos has given the award and its cash prize, as he presented it last year to both CNN's Van Jones and chef Jose Andres. Bezos' partner Lauren Sanchez announced the honor on her Instagram, sharing a video from the presentation here or in the media player above, saying: "Jeff and I are so proud to share that we have a new Bezos Courage and Civility Award winner — a woman who gives with her heart and leads with love and compassion in every aspect of her work. We can't wait to see all the good that you're going to do with this $100 million award, @DollyParton. ??" Sanchez and Bezos also spoke to CNN about why they chose Dolly here, explaining she is beloved around the world for her civility and kindness and the good works she has done. Dolly has not announced which charities will benefit from the award, but Bezos has said honorees may give it to their own personal charities if they so desire, so her Dollywood Foundation could see a transformational gift to impact its Imagination Library early childhood literacy program or other work.
'Better Homes & Gardens' Celebrates Holidays With Dolly Dolly has a great cover story and really cute "live action" photos and cover story interview about the holidays in Better Homes & Gardens magazine's digital and in-print editions on newsstands now. In the piece here, Dolly fondly recalls her childhood Christmases, shares current holiday traditions with her family, and even offers an extended recollection of the star-filled holiday parties she and manager the late Sandy Gallin used to co-host at Gallin's Hollywood home.
Mariah Says Dolly Is Christmas Queen Although Dolly said in her Better Homes and Gardens interview that she wasn't the Queen of Christmas, Mariah Carey was, Mariah was quick to correct her on social media, proclaiming on Twitter: "Dolly, let's settle this one. You are the Queen of Everything! The Queen of the World, The Queen of Christmas, The Queen of Mine!! Love you!!!! ??????"
Dolly To Chat With Military In USO Virtual Event Thursday Dolly is scheduled to participate in a live virtual discussion and Q&A Thursday afternoon with the military support organization the USO. The event is restricted to Department of Defense ID holders and their dependents, who may register to access the feed here.
Dolly Graces 'American Songwriter' Cover Dolly is also the cover girl for November's American Songwriter, which has an interview posted here, although the only new information in it is that the film adaptation of her novel Run, Rose, Run should shoot next summer and that she is considering launching her own television network, a la Oprah's OWN.
Dolly Talks To 'People' Dolly gave a mini-interview with People magazine last week and one of the things asked what when she becomes starstruck, and she said she does when talking to "a real star" like Elton John, Mick Jagger and Debbie Harry, all of whom she has been in touch with lately to appear on her new rock album, for which she noted she has recorded Harry's "Heart of Glass" and has asked Harry and fellow Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2022 inductee Pat Benatar to join her on. Read the full piece here.
New York Dolly Subway Cards Available New York City's Metro Transit Authority has issued a limited run of 50,000 MTA subway and bus cards featuring Dolly's signature logo to promote Friday's release of the new compilation Diamonds & Rhinestones, The Greatest Hits Collection. They will be available at Penn Station, Times Square and Herald Square subway stations while supplies last.
MSNBC Sings Imagination Library Praises MSNBC last week profiled expansion of Dolly's Imagination Library in north Louisiana. Check out the mention here.
Dollywood Up For Best Holiday Event From 'USA Today' Dollywood has been nominated in the USA Today 10Best Readers' Choice travel awards this year for Best Theme Park Holiday Event. You may vote once per day, per device here through Dec. 5 for Smoky Mountain Christmas.
U.S., U.K. Chart Updates The re-issue of 2020's A Holly, Dolly Christmas Ultimate Deluxe Edition with several bonus tracks sees a little bump in its third week on the charts this season the Nov. 12 Billboard lists released Tuesday showed, with the title gaining 16 places to No. 42 on the all-genre album sales chart in its 25th week there but losing three spots to No. 11 in its 31st week on the top holiday albums chart. Run, Rose, Run slips three to No. 7 bluegrass albums in its 35th chart week. Overseas, Run, Rose, Run inches up one place to No. 11 on the British country albums chart and falls back off the top 40 Americana chart, down from No. 39, while the U.K. country compilations albums chart sees Very Best Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 slip one to No. 8, The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe gain one to No. 2, Emmylou 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 Linda Ronstadt) dip two to No. 11 and Original Album Series: Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) re-fall back off the top 20, down from No. 20.
HBO Previews Saturday's Hall Of Fame Ceremony Broadcast HBO last week released the trailer for this year's Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony 2022 featuring Dolly, who, of course, is saved for last in the clip as well as the show. Watch it here or in the media player below, and catch the full show premiering at 8 p.m. Eastern Saturday night on HBO.
Nov. 7: Dolly Makes Rock Hall Of Fame
Dolly was officially inducted Saturday night into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. On the red carpet she talked to media outlets about her plans for a rock album, saying she has already committed to recording between 25 and 27 songs and releasing them on a four-LP vinyl set and that she has recorded an Elton John song for it, has gotten Steve Perry to agree to sing on "Open Arms," and she plans to ask Steven Tyler to perform as well. She was the final artist of the evening to be recognized during the ceremony. P!nk inducted her, calling her "one of the greatest songwriters of our time, of ALL time." Dolly then gave a speech accepting the honor and proclaiming "I'm a rock star now!" After her remarks, she left to change outfits. P!nk and Brandi Carlile performed "Coat Of Many Colors," followed by Sheryl Crow and Zac Brown offering "9 To 5." Dolly returned to perform her new song, "Rockin'," which you may watch on Instagram here or in the media player below. The night wrapped with a finale of "Jolene" by Dolly, P!nk, Annie Lennox, Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran, Rob Halford, Sheryl Crow, Brandi Carlisle, Pat Benatar and more, which you may watch here or in the first media player above. Red carpet arrivals and interviews are available here or in the second media player above. Coverage includes a red carpet interview with Access Onlinehere, Vulturehere, American Songwriterhere, Rolling Stonehere and here, and Varietyhere. Prior to the ceremony, Rock Hall Chairman John Sykes talked about this year's class including the controversy over Dolly's induction with Forbes magazine here and Dolly spoke with People magazine about the honor here. The ceremony airs on HBO at 8 p.m. Nov. 19.
Jimmy Fallon and Dolly on Friday released their new holiday single "Almost Too Early For Christmas", which you may download from Amazon here or hear on YouTube here or in the media player above.
Is Dolly On This Year's CMA Awards? Although no announcement has been made concerning her appearing on this year's CMA Awards, TV Guide lists Dolly as a guest for the ceremonies airing live at 8 p.m. Eastern Wednesday, so we'll have to wait and see if she makes an appearance. The show has been using her "9 To 5" as the background music in its promo commercials this year.
U.K. Chart Updates Overseas, Run, Rose, Run regains five spots to No. 12 on the British country albums chart and re-enters the top 40 Americana chart at No. 39, while the U.K. country compilations albums chart sees Very Best Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 slips one to No. 7, The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe gains one to No. 3, Emmylou 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 Linda Ronstadt) inches up one to No. 9 and 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. 20.
'Jolene' 'Hallelujah' Covers With several fans sharing on social media in past weeks covers of Dolly's "Jolene" to the tune of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" (such as this one here), your webmaster wondered what the opposite would sound like and recorded the lyrics of "Hallelujah" to the tune of "Jolene." Check out the result here.
Nov. 2: Dolly, Jimmy Holiday Duet Dropping On Friday
Jimmy Fallon announced on Monday night's The Tonight Show that he has a new holiday duet with Dolly coming out on Friday: "Almost Too Early For Christmas." Check out a preview of the track in a video from the show here or in the media player above.
Dolly Being Honored For Education By MLK Center The King Center on Tuesday announced Dolly will be honored in January as recipient of the Christine King Farris Legacy of Service in Education Award at the Beloved Community Awards, one of the marquee events of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center in Atlanta marking the week-long observance there of the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday. Dr. Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife Coretta Scott King, tweeted that Dolly is being honored for "her commitment to service in education" and "influencing generations to #BeLove." The awards honor those working to create a more just, humane, peaceful and equitable society. Tickets for the Jan. 14 event are on sale here.
'Holly, Dolly Christmas' Still On The Charts The re-issue of 2020's A Holly, Dolly Christmas Ultimate Deluxe Edition with several bonus tracks earns a second week on the major charts this year, the Nov. 5 Billboard tallies released Tuesday noted. The album loses 26 places on the overall all-genre album sales chart to No. 58 in its 24th week there and dips four spots to No. 8 in its 30th week on the top holiday albums chart. Run, Rose, Run regains two to No. 4 bluegrass albums in its 34th chart week.
Sam Williams Debut With Dolly Duet Reissued Musician Sam Williams, youngest son of Hank Williams Jr. and youngest grandchild of Hank Williams Sr., has reissued his debut album digitally with bonus tracks under the title Glasshouse Children: Tilted Crown featuring the duet with Dolly "Happy All The Time" that also appeared on the original album. The new title track, "Tilted Crown," has been released as a single and music video here in which the singer comes out as gay, something he publicly acknowledged in an interview over the weekend for the first time. Download the new album here.
Dollywood Smoky Mountain Christmas Starts Friday Dollywood is decking the halls for the Smoky Mountain Christmas festival that opens on Saturday. The 160-acre park is decorated in more than 6 million lights through season closing on Jan. 1. In a press release, Dolly commented: "I believe each season in the Smokies is a precious gift from above, but I also know there is no better time than Christmas to experience the magic of this special place. Christmas is a time for new memories to be created, cherished family traditions to be celebrated and the love of the holidays to warm us all. It is my wish that our guests celebrate the light of the Christmas season while they are here with us at Dollywood. I also hope they pause long enough to savor the moments spent with one another. It's those special moments that are sure to become the beautiful memories they will look upon so fondly for so many years." New lighting elements have been added throughout the park, including on the Dollywood Express train route with a special light show draped across the field inside the upper turning loop of the track. Village Pass is another new lighted area with a 130-foot light curtain with programmed movement. Adventures in Imagination has been rebranded Dolly's Christmas with a new 20-foot-tall Christmas tree and 60 LED butterflies. Hundreds of new lighted trees are found throughout the park and eight different light zones. More than 1 million lights were added this year. Returning are Friday and Saturday night's "Merry & Bright" fireworks displays, which switch to a New Year's version starting on Boxing Day. Santa may be seen inside his cabin in the Smokies, where kids may look in the window and watch him reviewing his famous list and learn whether they are on the nice or naughty side. Christmas In The Smokies, Twas The Night Before Christmas, O Holy Night, Christmas With The Kingdom Heirs, Heart of the Holidays, Candlelight Carolers, The Mistletones, Appalachian Christmas with the Smoky Mountain String Band and Holiday Wild Roots return. Special holiday-themed food will also be offered.
