Feb. 28: Season Passholders Will See Dolly At Park Dollywood on Thursday confirmed to Dollymania.net that season passholders attending the Season Passholder Preview Day on March 13 at the park will be provided access to Dolly's 10:30 a.m. media appearance on a "first-come, first-served basis." For the past couple of years, that has meant lining up at the main gate before opening to get a wristband for admittance.
Hospital Celebrates Decade Of Service Sevier County's LeConte Medical Center on Thursday celebrated its 10th anniversary, complete with a video greeting from Dolly herself. She recalled riding a bulldozer at the facility's groundbreaking. Dolly donated $1 million to the hospital when it relocated to a new campus and in appreciation both the birthing center and women's health center are named in her honor. Learn more about the anniversary from WVLT here.
Feb. 27: Dolly To Pop In At Dollywood March 13 Although Dolly is expected to miss the first public opening day of Dollywood's 35th operating season due to her Paley Media Center appearance scheduled in Los Angeles that day, she will be on park the day before during Season Passholder Preview Day March 13 to announce her company's "largest investment plan" in its history, it was revealed in a media alert released Wednesday. The alert did not note whether or not the public will be able to attend the appearance.
'Heartstrings' Wins Movieguide Award The "These Old Bones" episode of Dolly Netflix series Heartstrings won the Movieguide Award's Faith and Freedom Award for TV, it was announced this week. The awards were actually handed out a month ago but the winners not revealed publicly until after they aired on Hallmark Drama this week. The program had also been up for the Epiphany Prize for TV, which both of her NBC movies Dolly Parton's Christmas Of Many Colors: Circle Of Love and Dolly Parton's Coat Of Many Colors had won, and its star Kathleen Turner for the Grace Prize for TV, which Coat star Alyvia Alyn Lind had won, but lost each of those honors. More information is available from Christian Posthere.
New Magazine Interview Down Under Dolly recently sat down with Australian Women's Weekly magazine to talk about her life and career as her stage musical premieres Down Under. Check out the interview here.
U.S. Chart Updates Dolly's collaboration "Faith" with Galantis featuring Mr. Probz gains three to No. 12 on the hot dance/electronic songs chart, the Feb. 29 charts released Tuesday showed. The band's album with the track, Church, slips nine to No. 13 in its second week on the top dance albums chart. "There Was Jesus", her duet with Zach Williams, remains steady at No. 42 hot Christian songs.
Harry Potter Thinks Dolly Should Play God Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe is a huge Dolly fan, he told Smooth Radiohere and says he wishes he had suggested she be cast as God in his current show Miracle Workers.
FOX Show Taking Dolly Drag To ER Fans will want to catch FOX's The Resident on March 10 when the plot centers around a Dolly drag queen being admitted to the ER after collapsing on stage. The episode title is "Doll E. Wood."
Feb. 24: New 'Jesus' Music Video Coming Soon Steve Summers, Dolly's creative director, on Thursday shared to Instagram a photo of the pair with singer Zach Williams and news that they had just finished filming a music video for their collaboration "There Was Jesus". No word on when the video will be released.
Dolly's Words Spoken At Shabalala Funeral Ladysmith Black Mambazo founder Joseph Shabalala was laid to rest on Saturday in his native South Africa following his death Feb. 11 at age 78. South African station Channel 24 listed a letter from Dolly, read at the service by South African Minister of Arts and Culture Nathi Mthethwa, as the No. 1 of five standout moments from the funeral here. In a separate story here, the channel noted Dolly said: "My heart, love, and prayers are with Joseph Shabalala's family and friends today. I, like all of you, know what a great, warm, and talented man he was. One of the greatest joys of my life and career was working with Joseph and Ladysmith Black Mambazo on my record pf Peace Train. Well, Joseph is riding that peace train now. And my wish for you, Joseph, is to rest in peace as you ride today." Dolly had recruited the band for her cover of Cat Stevens' "Peace Train" for her 1996 album Treasures and returned the favor for their 1997 album Heavenly with a cover of Bob Dylan's "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" featuring Bonnie Raitt on slide guitar.
U.S., U.K., Aussie Chart Updates The track "Faith" by Dolly and Galantis featuring Mr. Probz, regained three spots this week to No. 12 on the hot dance/electronic songs chart, the Feb. 22 Billboard numbers released Tuesday showed. "There Was Jesus", her duet with Zach Williams, regained two to No. 40 hot Christian songs. Across the pond, 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 eight to No. 10 on the British top 20 country compilation albums chart, while Ronstadt's Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) falls seven to No. 14, Essential Dolly Parton slips two to No. 18, and The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe by Dolly, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt falls off the top 20, down from No. 13, after 179 weeks on the chart. Down Under, the "gold series" re-issue of The Very Best Of Dolly Parton (Australian Tour Edition) increases four to No. 4 in its 440th chart week on the Australian country albums chart since its original 2007 release.
ABC Special Headed To REELZ REELZ cable network over the weekend announced it had acquired the ABC News special Dolly Parton: Here She Comes Again! which aired in November and will broadcast it at 9 p.m. Eastern Sunday, March 29.
Movieguide Awards Air Monday Hallmark Drama has announced that the Movieguide Awards, where Dolly's Heartstrings series on Netflix is up for three awards for its "These Old Bones" episode, will air at 11 p.m. Eastern Monday on the network and be available on the Hallmark Everywhere app on Tuesday.
Feb. 17: Library Film Opening Nationwide April 2, Ohio Program Lauded
You should soon be able to find out when and where to see a local premiere of the upcoming Imagination Library documentary The Library That Dolly Built, on or about April 2. Dollymania.net has learned the documentary, made by University of Tennessee students and faculty, is expected to open at about 250 cinemas across the country for special showings. A search confirmed several locations for showings (all are April 2 except for Anchorage, Alaska, which is April 6). Known screenings at this time are:
Bear Tooth Theatre, Anchorage, Alaska
Plaza Atlanta, Atlanta, Ga.
Music Box Theatre, Chicago, Ill.
Rhea County, Tenn. (location unknown)
Greene County, Tenn. (location unknown)
Mary Pickford Theater, Cathedral City, Calif.
Bloomington Cinema, Bloomington Ill
Brannon Crossing Cinema, Nicholasville, Ky.
Denton Cinema, Denton, Texas
Hulen Cinema, Hulen, Texas
Movie Tavern Brookville Square, Brookville, Wisc.
O'Fallon Cinema, O'Fallon, Ill.
Ronnie's Cinema, St. Louis, Mo.
Roswell Cinema, Roswell, Ga.
Southbridge Crossing Cinema, Shakopee, Minn.
St. Charles Cinema, St. Charles, Mo.
Syracuse Cinema, Camillus, N.Y.
Trexlertown Cinema, Allentown, Penn.
Williamsburg Cinema, Williamsburg, Va.
Regal Wilsonville Town Center 9, Wilsonville, Ore.
Regal Downtown West Cinema, Knoxville, Tenn.
Regal Pinnacle, Knoxville, Tenn.
In related news, the program celebrated its recent efforts to expand statewide in Ohio thanks to a $5 million legislative appropriation and promotion by the state's first lady with a video from Dolly posted over the weekend here or in the media player above.
U.S., U.K., Aussie Chart Updates The track "Faith" by Dolly and Galantis featuring Mr. Probz, could be ending its Billboard run, the Feb. 15 charts released Tuesday indicated. The track fell off the dance/electronic digital sales chart, down from No. 15, dance airplay chart, down from No. 23, and dance club play chart, down from No. 48. It slipped three to No. 15 on the hot dance/electronic songs. "There Was Jesus", her duet with Zach Williams, inched down one to No. 42 hot Christian songs. Across the pond, 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) drops eight to No. 18 on the British top 20 country compilation albums chart, while Ronstadt's Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) dips three to No. 7, Essential Dolly Parton gains two to No. 16, The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe by Dolly, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt holds steady at No. 13, and Ultimate Dolly Parton falls back out of the top 20, down from No. 20. Down Under, the "gold series" re-issue of The Very Best Of Dolly Parton (Australian Tour Edition) falls two to No. 8 in its 439th chart week on the Australian country albums chart since its original 2007 release.
'Little Sparrow' Video Premieres Taste Of Country on Friday premiered the music video for Candi Carpenter's cover of Dolly's "Little Sparrow," which she performed on her Opry anniversary special. Check it out here.
'9 To 5' Documentary Wraps Filming, Again The filmmakers behind the upcoming documentary Still Working 9 To 5 reported over the weekend that they had previously announced the ending of filming prematurely, as they added another interview, this one with original film co-star Dabney Coleman. Now the project goes to editing.
Feb. 10: '9 To 5: The Musical' London Cast Album Released Ambassador Theatre Group on Friday released a live West End Cast Recording of Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical featuring the original London cast. You may purchase it here. It differs from the original Broadway cast album in that Dolly appears on three tracks ("9 To 5," the entr'acte, and the finale reprise of "9 To 5," where she sings and provides voice-over narration via videotape appearance during the revised production), has added the entr'acte and cast bows that were not included in the original album, and has replaced the fantasy scenes' songs ("Dance Of Death," "Cowgirl's Revenge," "Potion Notion," and "Joy To The Girls") with one new number, "Hey, Boss." Also on Friday, Galantis released their full-length album Church, featuring the original version of their collaboration with Dolly and Mr. Probz, "Faith." And Amazon UK updated the information on the upcoming four-albums-on-two-CDs release of Just Between You And Me/Always, Always/Porter Wayne And Dolly Rebecca/Love And Music that it has been delayed until Feb. 14.
U.S., Aussie, U.K. Chart Updates The track "Faith" by Dolly and Galantis featuring Mr. Probz, fell back out of the top 10 on the hot dance/electronic songs last week, the Feb. 8 Billboard charts released Tuesday showed. The song lost two to No. 12 on that overall tally, also slipping three to No. 15 dance/electronic digital sales, 17 spots to No. 23 dance airplay and six to No. 48 club play. "There Was Jesus", her duet with Zach Williams, loses two to No. 41 hot Christian songs. Across the pond, 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) loses three to No. 10 on the British top 20 country compilation albums chart, while Ronstadt's Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) gains three to No. 4, Essential Dolly Parton falls four to No. 18, The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe by Dolly, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt inches up one to No. 13, and Ultimate Dolly Parton re-enters the top 20 at No. 20. Down Under, the "gold series" re-issue of The Very Best Of Dolly Parton (Australian Tour Edition) holds steady at No. 6 in its 438th chart week on the Australian country albums chart since its original 2007 release, and Dolly's single "9 To 5" debuts on the Australian top 100 pop singles chart at No. 53 due to the musical theatre adaptation launching in the country.
Dolly Fan Mark Burgess Memorial Site Seeks Pics The sister of Mark Burgess, former webmaster of the Dolly fan site Dolly.net who died several years ago, has created a memorial page for him and is asking his Dolly friends to submit any photos of him through the years that they have. The page is located here.
Feb. 4: Dolly Reveals Husband Was Hospitalized Last Week
Dolly's husband, Carl Dean, was in the hospital in Nashville last week, she disclosed at an event. It is not known at this time whether he is still being treated at the facility. Video surfaced over the weekend on Facebook here (and in the media player above) at an event from Wednesday night to honor producer Brian Ahern on his birthday. Taking the stage with Trio member Emmylou Harris (for whom Ahern produced 11 albums from 1975 through 2008 and to whom he was married from 1979 to 1984) to sing with her Emmy's hit "To Daddy," which Dolly wrote, she revealed to the crowd: "My husband's over at Vanderbilt tonight. He's not doing good. He's been over there a couple of days." Dolly is very private about Carl so she almost never publicly discusses his health. That was six days ago and most hospital stays for the elderly are only a few days so it would not be surprising if he has since been sent home, but I wouldn't expect her to be likely to address the matter publicly anytime soon. She then headlined the Gift of Music benefit in Nashville at the Ryman Auditorium Thursday night, performing several songs. Check out footage of her singing "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" a capella here or in the media player below.
PaleyFest Tickets Still Available Thanks to Greg for alerting me that plenty of tickets remain available for Dolly's next scheduled public appearance, her panel discussion at The Paley Center for Media March 14. Tickets, available at Ticketmaster, quickly sold out in the orchestra and first mezzanine sections, and all but a couple of tickets are gone in the second mezzanine. Although most presentations in the venue do not open the third mezzanine for sale, that section was opened soon after tickets first became available, and most of those seats remain available at this time. Dolly is expected to miss the opening weekend at Dollywood due to this special appearance.
U.S., Overseas Charts The track "Faith" by Dolly and Galantis featuring Mr. Probz, remained steady last week at No. 10 hot dance/electronic songs, the Feb. 1 Billboard charts released Tuesday showed. The song lost two to No. 12 dance/electronic digital sales, three spots to No. 6 dance airplay and four to No. 42 club play. "There Was Jesus", her duet with Zach Williams, inches up one to No. 39 hot Christian songs. Across the pond, 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 Ronstadt) shoots up seven to No. 7 on the British top 20 country compilation albums chart, while Linda Ronstadt's Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) loses five to No. 7, Essential Dolly Parton dips one to No. 14, The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe by Dolly, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt falls six to No. 14, and Harris's Original Album Series, Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) falls back off the top 20, down from No. 17. Down Under, the "gold series" re-issue of The Very Best Of Dolly Parton (Australian Tour Edition) holds steady at No. 6 in its 437th chart week on the Australian country albums chart since its original 2007 release.
Ambassador Theatre Group on Friday released a live West End Cast Recording of Dolly's