Jan. 31: 'I Will Always Love You' On Chenoweth's DVD
Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth performed a second Dolly cover in her hometown Coming Home concert that was captured on CD and DVD (and for a PBS television special). Her encore of Dolly's "I Will Always Love You" has been released as streaming video exclusively by Broadway publication Playbillhere or in the media player above. The song did not appear on the CD's regular version released late last year (although it was included as a bonus track on the Target version of the release and both versions included a cover of Dolly's "Little Sparrow"), but it will appear on the DVD version being released next week. Reserve your copy of the DVD, coming out Tuesday, here!
Jan. 30: Dolly-Written Song Contest Returns For 2015 Organizers this week announced the 11th annual Mountain Soul Vocal Competition, the world's only singing contest that uses only songs written by Dolly. As in years past, contestants are asked to check the database of recorded songs Dolly has written assembled on Dollymania.nethere. The competition, sponsored by Sound Biscuit Productions and taking place May 16 during the Bloomin' Barbeque & Bluegrass event in Sevierville, Tenn., will crown two winners: one in a 13-and-up category and one in a 12-and-under category. Winners receive cash prizes and a recording session in Nashville. Audition tapes must be mailed by April 8. A total of 30 finalists will be invited to perform at the festival. Application forms are available on the festival website. "This competition is truly unique and draws competitors from all corners of the United States," said Amanda Marr, Sevierville Chamber of Commerce marketing director and event organizer, in a press release. "Since Dolly Parton is Sevierville's hometown girl, holding a competition that honors her songwriting ability is a natural fit for us."
Dublin Show Grossed Nearly $1 Million Dolly's Dublin, Ireland, stop in June on her Blue Smoke World Tour was the 10th-highest-grossing concert of the year in the city, Yahoo News UK reports here. The show grossed ticket sales of €696,314 (just under $1 million U.S. at the time of the concert).
Cobain's Daughter Dons Dolly Shirt Curt Cobain and Courtney Love's daughter Frances Bean Cobain was honoring Dolly as she donned a vintage Dolly tee from 1991 as she came through Los Angeles International Airport on her way home from the Sundance Film Festival, The Mirror showed in a photo here.
Jan. 26: 'Blue Smoke' Drops Back Out Of U.K. Top 40 Dolly's Blue Smoke this week loses 15 spots on the U.K. pop albums chart to No. 42 in its 33rd week overseas, Sunday's charts showed, while the CD maintains its No. 1 position on the country compilations album tally for a 33rd consecutive week. On the British country compilations chart, Emmylou Harris's Original Album Series, Volume 1 (with two Dolly covers, one track with Dolly harmony and one track with Trio harmony) gains four to No. 6 while her 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 and Ronstadt's own Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) loses four to No. 12.
Miley Calls Dolly One Of Her Beauty 'Icons' Miley Cyrus says her style is partly inspired by her godmother, Dolly. Read what she had to say in Refinery 29here.
Jan. 23: Pigeon Forge Dixie Stampede Starts New Show Dolly's Dixie Stampede flagship equestrian dinner theatre in Pigeon Forge next month will open its 28th season with an all-new show, music and sets, it was announced this week. "I want to dazzle our guests in 2015 with a completely new atmosphere," Dolly said in a statement. "My team is hard at work creating a new set, powerful new music, lots of amazing special effects and a few other surprises." The show will see a new lighting and sound system, new music score and new aerial act, totaling the largest upgrade and investment in the show since its 1988 opening. "Thanks to innovative lighting technology, our main arena backdrop will come to life and feature a stunning tribute to the Great Smoky Mountains," said Dixie Stampede President Jim Rule. "Our guests will be transported into the middle of the woods on a star-filled night without ever leaving their dinner seats. Our guests will truly be immersed in each facet of the show, creating a new level of excitement not yet experienced at Dixie Stampede or any attraction in the area." The new show opens Feb. 13. Read the press release from Local 8 Now here.
U.K. Mid-Week Sales Chart Update Dolly's Blue Smoke could slip 11 places to No. 38 in its 33rd week on the British pop albums chart, midweek sales charts released Wednesday showed. The full week's charts will come out Sunday.
Rhonda Vincent Covers Dolly Classic Rhonda Vincent has recorded a new duet of Dolly's "Daddy Was An Old Time Preacher Man" about her grandfather. The song appears on the new release out this week by bluegrass band Volume Five and is performed with the group's leader, Glen Harrell. Get the album, Voices, from Amazon here.
Woodworker Takes On 'Coat Of Many Colors' Artist Jordan Straker has tried his hand at woodworking, and the result is a stunning recreation of Dolly's coat of many colors, which will be presented to her at Dollywood's season opening in March. See it in an article in The Penticton Western Newshere.
McDowell Painting Story Makes News You may have seen on Facebook and other social media several months ago a picture of singer Ronnie McDowell presenting Dolly with a painting he created of her at a picnic with Elvis Presley. His publicist this week issued a press release to publicize the story of the painting. Check it out from Tricities.comhere.
Jan. 20: Dolly, The Press React To 69th Birthday Monday was Dolly's 69th birthday, and the web noticed. Fans filled Faebook and other social media with well wishes, to which Dolly replied via her various social media accounts: "I just want to say thanks for all the birthday wishes. I have the best fans in the world! :)" Several mentions appeared in the press, with some notable observations being Biography.com offering the stories behind six of her best songs here, Britain's Metro with 27 quotes that prove she is a true legend here, Bustle with a photo gallery of "nearly seven decades of rhinestones, denim and big hair" here, Closer Weekly with her 10 best film appearances here and Logo's The Backlot ranking her 20 greatest songs here.
Jan. 19: Happy 69th Birthday, Dolly! Dolly turns 69 years young on Monday, and Ram Country celebrated by offering a look back through her various styles over the years. Check it out here.
'Blue Smoke' Slips Overseas On U.K. Chart Dolly's Blue Smoke this week dips five places on the U.K. pop albums chart to No. 27 in its 32nd week overseas while The Very Best Of Dolly Parton, Volume 1 falls back out of the top 100, down from one week at No. 92, Sunday's charts revealed. Blue Smoke maintains its No. 1 position on the country compilations album tally for a 32nd consecutive week. On the British country compilations chart, Emmylou Harris's Original Album Series, Volume 1 (with two Dolly covers, one track with Dolly harmony and one track with Trio harmony) loses two to No. 10 while her 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. 7 and Ronstadt's own Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) inches down one to No. 8. Down Under, The Very Best Of Dolly Parton, Volume 1 falls back off the top 40 country albums, down from No. 32 in its 347th chart week since its 2007 release.
New Dolly Website Coming March 21 The team behind Dolly's official website, DollyParton.com, has announced the launch date for its redesign: March 21. The current hold page for the site (which is different from her official music website at DollyPartonEntertainment.com) also features an e-mail sign-up for updates from an official news feed.
Reaction To Dolly's NBC Announcement News continued to spread across the internet over the weekend reacting to NBC's announcement that the network would develop a series of movies based on Dolly's life and songs. One of the few to include more than just the same information from the press release came from HitFix, which gave its list of dream collaborators for the projects here.
Charity Auction With Dolly Meet-And-Greet Friday The time is approaching to bid on a three-night stay for four in Dolly's suite at Dollywood's DreamMore Resort as part of a prize package that includes a meet-and-greet with her (in addition to admissions to the theme park, water park and dinner theatre plus meals, transportation and an in-suite welcome gift from Dolly) as part of Friday's annual Evergreen Ball at the Cherokee Country Club in Knoxville to benefit the Friends of the Smokies. However, for those not able to attend, an absentee bid form is available here. Dolly also recorded a promotional video for the auction viewable on Facebook here or in the media player below.
Jan. 17: NBC, Dolly Sign TV Movie Development Deal NBC on Friday announced a development deal with Dolly, her former agent Sam Haskell of Magnolia Hill Entertainment and Warner Brothers Television to create an undetermined number of made-for-television two-hour movies based on her "songs, stories and inspiring life," indicating some may be autobiographical, some may be based on stories she tells, and others may be completely fictional and based on her songs. NBC Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt, who executive produced 9 To 5: The Musical with Dolly on Broadway, made the announcement to reporters at the Television Critics Association winter press tour in Pasadena. Rolling Stone noted here that he said she could appear in some of the films "if there was something that was right" for her as an actress, adding that he expects each one will likely include "a lot" of Dolly's music but won't necessarily be actual musicals. "She's just thinking about a lot of things going on in her life and things she's written about and I had lunch with her a couple of months ago and she said, 'You know, I'd love to see if there's some movies we can develop out of the stories I've been writing about," he told the magazine. The Hollywood Reporter explained here that Greenblatt said: "We're going to try and create uplifting movies the entire family can enjoy together," saying that family entertainment is a "pretty untapped" genre. They added that he noted each individual film would stand on its own instead of being a series of movies. In a press release, Dolly explained: "I am so excited to be involved with my friend Bob Greenblatt, who produced the Broadway version of '9 to 5: The Musical' with me, and my longtime friend and former agent Sam Haskell. We want to create projects for NBC that are both fun and inspirational with a family audience in mind." Also in the release, Greenblatt said: "I don't know anyone in the world who doesn't love Dolly Parton, and the idea of developing television movies inspired by her incredible life and the stories she has sung about for decades is exciting to all of us at NBC. I hope we will create some uplifting movies that the entire family can enjoy together, a genre of programming that still seems largely untapped on television." Finally, the release featured the following quote from Jennifer Salke, President, NBC Entertainment: "We all feel so lucky to be in business with Dolly. We're so excited about working with her to infuse these movies with her incredible work ethic and that genuine hopefulness and positive outlook that has been her trademark for years. And you can bet there will be a lot of her music in them too."
March, May Dollywood Appearances Confirmed Dolly will make park appearances March 20 and 21 for Dollywood's annual season grand opening weekend and return May 1 and 2 for appearances during its "homecoming" celebration, it has been confirmed. Since the park doesn't open to the public until March 21, the news suggests that, as has been the case for the past several years, the annual season passholders' preview will be March 20. Also, as was previously announced, her 30th annual Dolly Parade through Pigeon Forge will be the evening of May 1, but these details noted that she is expected to make park appearances prior to the parade on that day and return for additional appearances on May 2. Also as was previously reported, the unofficial Dolly Fan Dinner takes place following the May 1 parade at the Riverstone Resort (tickets available here), and Knoxville's Club XYZ is planning the return of the Night of 1,000 Dollys event that weekend as well.
U.K. 'Blue Smoke' Sales Update Midweek sales charts overseas show Dolly's Blue Smoke could drop eight places to No. 30 in its 32nd chart week on the U.K. pop albums tally. The full week's sales charts will be released Sunday, and in the past her album usually has dropped by a smaller number than the midweek updates suggested. The CD's 31st week sales were in the neighborhood of about 4,500 copies, bringing its cumulative sales total to around 365,000 copies.
Dolly Makes 'Woman's Day' Magazine Dolly has a full-page essay in the February issue of Woman's Day magazine focusing on how to find the positive in other people and not judging them. Take a read here, and check out a video on the publication's Facebook page here.
New Zealand Lotto Winners Headed To Dollywood A New Zealand couple won a recent $5 million Powerball lottery prize and plan to use it to travel to the U.S. and visit Dollywood, according to media reports such as Stuffhere.
'Best Of Dolly' Cover Used For Art Show Dolly, or at least her body and hair, made an appearance in a recent art show on display at SOMArts' Main Gallery until Feb. 4, "Glamorgeddon: the Spectacle." Musician Theresa Wong superimposed her face on the cover art for Dolly's second "Best Of" album from 1975. Check out a photo of the piece in a story from San Francisco's KQED here.
Underwood Guest DJ's iHeartRadio Online Carrie Underwood was an iHeartRadio guest DJ online this week, saying here that Dolly was an inspiration for her, having paved the way for her and so many other artists, so she included her music on her online playlist that you may hear here.
Jan. 12: 'Blue Smoke' Holds On Overseas Dolly's Blue Smoke this week holds steady on the U.K. pop albums chart at No. 22 in its 31st week overseas while The Very Best Of Dolly Parton, Volume 1 re-enters the top 100 at No. 92, the numbers showed Sunday. Blue Smoke also maintains its No. 1 position on the country compilations album tally for a 31st consecutive week. On the British country compilations chart, Emmylou Harris's Original Album Series, Volume 1 (with two Dolly covers, one track with Dolly harmony and one track with Trio harmony) loses two to No. 8 while her Original Album Series, Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) gains three to No. 4 and Ronstadt's own Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) rises two to No. 7. Down Under, The Very Best Of Dolly Parton, Volume 1 climbs five to No. 32 for a 347th chart week since its 2007 release.
'Little Sparrow' Gets New Jazz Cover Jazz band Vance Thompson's Five Plus Six has released a new CD, mostly of covers of jazz legends Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn and Thelonious Monk, but also featuring a 10-and-a-half-minute version of Dolly's "Little Sparrow." Get the album as a download from Amazon here and read a review of it from Audiophile Auditionhere.
Jan. 8: Underwood Bests Dolly For People's Choice Award The 2015 People's Choice Awards were handed out on Wednesday night, and Dolly lost Favorite Female Country Artist to Carrie Underwood. Other nominees were Faith Hill, Lucy Hale and Miranda Lambert. This marked her first People's Choice nod in nine years and her first nomination in this specific category in 20 years.
U.K. Mid-Week Update Sees 'Blue Smoke' Slip British mid-week chart updates released Wednesday had Dolly's Blue Smoke drop four places to No. 26 in its 31st week overseas. The full week's chart will be released on Sunday.
'Rolling Stone' Names Dolly-Sambora Duet Most 'Unexpected' Rolling Stone this week counted down the year's "10 most unexpected country collaborations" and named Dolly's Glastonbury appearance with Bon Jovi's Richie Sambora as the No. 1 choice. Read the full top 10 list here.
Country Newcomer Wants To Meet Dolly CMT has a story about newcomer Raelynn and her desire to meet Dolly here.
Jan. 7: Glastonbury Concert Coming To Logo Viacom-owned LGBT television network Logo will celebrate Dolly's 69th birthday by airing her Glastonbury festival performance that morning, it has been announced. Dolly Parton: Live at the Glastonbury Festival 2014, which has previously aired in the U.S. on Logo's sister station Palladia HD, will be broadcast on Logo at 10 a.m. Eastern Jan. 19. This marks its first non-HD broadcast in America, since Palladia is only available as an HD channel, meaning those without HD cable or satellite service have not been able to watch it.
Jan. 6: 'Blue Smoke' Makes U.K. Top 15 For 2014 Dolly's album Blue Smoke was the year's 13th-best-selling album in the U.K., the final year's list confirmed. One published estimate calculated its total sales for the year in Britain at 356,500.
What 'Steel Magnolias' Character Are You Southern Living magazine has released a quiz to determine which character your personality best represents from Dolly's classic film Steel Magnolias. Take it here.
Jan. 5: 'Blue Smoke' Down Overseas, 'Very Best' Up Down Under Dolly's Blue Smoke this week falls back out of the top 20 of the U.K. pop albums chart, down seven to No. 22 in its 30th week overseas, it was revealed Sunday. The CD also maintains its No. 1 position on the country compilations album tally for a 30th consecutive week. On the British country chart, the Dolly boxed set falls off the 20-position tally, down from No. 6, and on the U.K. country compilations chart, Emmylou Harris's Original Album Series, Volume 1 (with two Dolly covers, one track with Dolly harmony and one track with Trio harmony) slips one to No. 6 while 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. 7 and Ronstadt's own Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) also re-enters the top 20 at No. 9. Down Under, The Very Best Of Dolly Parton, Volume 1 re-enters the top 40 country albums at No. 37 for a 346th chart week since its 2007 release.
Dolly Responds To Little Jimmy Dickens' Death Dolly over the weekend released a statement reacting to the death of Grand Ole Opry star Little Jimmy Dickens: "I often perform one of Little Jimmy's best known songs 'I'm Little but I'm Loud.' I've always related to him and loved him as a person, as a friend and as an entertainer. He will always be loved and remembered." She performed his song on most of her concerts during 2008's Backwoods Barbie World Tour. Read more reactions on CMT.com here.
Jan. 2: Dolly Makes Holiday Top 100 For four years, Billboard has had a Holiday 100 Chart reflecting the 100 top Christmas songs of the week based on sales and airplay, and Dolly made it for the first time ever with the debut of "Hard Candy Christmas" at No. 97, the Jan. 10 charts released Thursday revealed. The song remained steady at No. 36 for its 30th week on the holiday digital songs chart. Her Kenny Rogers collaboration from 1984, Once Upon A Christmas, falls off the 25-position country catalog albums tally, down from No. 23 in its seventh week on that chart this season, its 98th chart week on that tally since release.
Dolly's New Year's Message Dolly on Thursday released a New Year's statement to her fans via her various social media accounts: "I hope your 2015 is filled with everything you love and more! :) I'm looking forward to it all… are you?"
Dollywood Auditions Announced Want to work at Dollywood? The park is having auditions this month for performers and production staff. The first try-out is 11-2 this Saturday in Atlanta, followed by Jan. 17 in Nashville and Jan. 31 in Pigeon Forge. Saturday is also the park's final operating day of the 2014 season. Visit the park's audition website here.
Jan. 1: 'Blue Smoke' Sells Another 29,000 Overseas Dolly's Blue Smoke had another stellar week last week, selling about 29,000 copies in the U.K. last week, bringing its 29-week sales total to about 373,000 units overseas.
More U.K. Press For Dolly Another British interview is getting repeated in several media outlets overseas this week, this time focusing on Dolly looking for the "God light" in everyone here and the other on why she doesn't make new year resolutions here.
Dolly Tree Sells For $9,500 Dolly's tree in Gaylord Opryland's annual Parade of Trees concluded at auction Wednesday night, going for $9,500. The tree, decorated with large pastel butterflies, comes with 38 Imagination Library books, one personal book from Dolly, one cookbook, four Dollywood tickets, an autographed Dolly 8x10 and a meet-and-greet with Dolly to benefit her Imagination Library early childhood literacy project.
New Details On Dollywood Injury Lawsuit The Associated Press on Wednesday offered a longer story on the injury lawsuit against Dollywood's Waltzing Swinger ride with more detail than the shorter story from TMZ that was repeated throughout the Internet last week, including here. This story notes that the plaintiff admits she unlocked her safety lap bar when the ride had reached 10 feet off the ground instead of waiting for it to reach the ground after the ride had been completed, which allowed her to slip off of the wet ride and fall to the concrete below. She alleges the park was negligent for operating the ride in rain and sleet when it could become slick and for not warning her to not unlock her safety lap bar before the ride had returned to the ground. The suit names Dolly Parton Productions Inc. and Herschend Family Entertainment, Dolly's partner in the theme park, as defendants. The story also quotes a statement from park spokesperson Pete Owens saying: "Out of respect for the process and as a matter of practice, Dollywood does not comment on pending litigation. We look forward to this issue being resolved and anticipate commenting at that time." Read it via Billboardhere.
