May 29: Dolly Collects Six Gold, Platinum Awards Dolly earned some new heavy metal last week with six certifications from the RIAA. The 1999 compilation Super Hits and 1974 studio album Jolene were both certified gold for more than 500,000 units physically shipped or downloaded, as they were listed as standard releases. In addition, digital awards for downloads and streams were awarded to "Coat of Many Colors" for 500,000 downloads or streaming equivalent and "Jolene," "9 To 5" and "Islands In The Stream" with Kenny Rogers each registering the triple platinum level for 3 million downloads and streaming equivalent.
'Billboard' Details Rock Sales, Streams, Airplays A few days after Dolly's "World On Fire" hit No. 1 on the Rock Digital Song Sales Chart, Billboard posted an article here noting that in its first full week of availability the track had 6,000 downloads in the U.S., 1.5 million streams and 98,000 radio broadcasts. In its first day of release, which allowed it to debut at No. 13 on the chart the previous week, it had sold 1,000 downloads in its first 24 hours. Overseas, the song falls off both the U.K. singles pop chart, wheee it hit No. 81 for one week, and downloads chart, down from No. 78. Dolly's Diamonds & Rhinestones, The Greatest Hits Collection remains in the top spot on the British county compilation albums chart, logging a 19th nonconsecutive week at No. 1 in its 27th week on the chart, her The Monument Singles Collection loses five to No. 13 in its fourth week, The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe holds steady at No. 11, and Emmylou Harris' Original Album Series: Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) rises three to No. 17 while Very Best Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 and Harris'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) both fall back off the top 20, down from No. 15 and No. 17, respectively.
'The Voice' Honors Blake Dolly was among the GOATs paying tribute to The Voice GOAT Blake Shelton on his final episode of the series last week. Check out the video here.
Indiana Getting Dolly Library Indiana's governor last week announced his intention to join the states taking Dolly's Imagination Library early childhood literacy program statewide. Read more from WRTV here.
Dolly Remembers Tina Turner Icon Tina Turner, 83, passed away May 24 and Dolly was among those paying tribute, posting to social media here: "Now she's rollin', rollin', rollin' on to glory. Roll on, Tina. We will always love you. Dolly"
Dolly In Upcoming Hulu Doc Hulu has announced it will on July 5 premiere a new documentary featuring Dolly and many other Music City entertainers through the years for CMA Fest: 50 Years of Fan Fair.
Monet Covers 'Light Of A Clear Blue Morning' Drag legend Monet X Change last week released a cover of the choral arrangement of Dolly's "Light of a Clear Blue Morning" with The Unsung Collective in protest of Tennessee's anti-drag laws. Listen here or in the media player below.
May 24: 'World On Fire' Tops Rock Digital Songs Chart Dolly has conquered the rock chart, as her debut rock single "World On Fire" rises a dozen digits to reach the top of the rock digital sales singles chart at No. 1 in its second week, recognizing its first full week of downloads, the May 27 Billboard charts released Tuesday showed. The track also debuts at No. 21 Hot Rock Songs, Dolly's debut on that tally that includes radio airplay and streaming in addition to sales. The song also debuts at No. 3 country digital song sales chart, No. 4 all-genre digital song sales chart and No. 26 Hot Rock and Alternative Songs. It did not register enough strreams to debut on any of the other charts that include streams. Elsewhere on the charts, her Diamonds & Rhinestones, The Greatest Hits Collection re-enters the top 100 current album sales chart at No. 90 for a 22nd chart week and Run, Rose, Run reaches its 100th chart week gaining two to No. 6 bluegrass albums.
Dolly Bus Trip Donated To Irish Look-A-Like Effort Dolly has donated two nights in her tour bus hotel room at the Dollywood DreamMore Resort, valued at $10,000, for a cancer charity auction in County Kerry, Ireland, where fans aim to set a word record for the most Dolly look-a-likes gathered at one place. They will do this on June 24 at "Dolly Day," which Dollywood president Eugene Naughton will fly over to attend, The Independent reported here. An online link is expected soon for the June 27 auction from Sheppard's Irish Auction House.
Vandy Funds Bio Firm Helped With Dolly Gift Vanderbilt University's Discovery Vanderbilt Fund recently announced investments in three faculty-created start-ups including IDBiologics, which was partially funded by Dolly's Covid-19 gift to the University and develops monoclonal antibodies to treat infectious disease. Learn more here.
Dolly Song Contest Winners Selected Sevierville's Bloomin' BBQ Music & Food Festival crowned its Dolly song competition winners again this year. Read more about them from WVLT here.
Dolly Included In 'Simpsons' 750th Episode The Simpsons aired its 750th episode this weekend complete with an opening sequence featuring 750 characters who have appeared on the program over the years. Dolly's cartoon version was in the music room between The Rolling Stones and John Lennon, The Daily Mail reported here.
May 22: 'World On FIre' Debuts On Rock Sales Chart Nearly 58 years since her Billboard chart debut ("Happy, Happy Birthday Baby" on the Bubbling Under the Hot 100 chart in October 1965), Dolly makes a new chart debut last week as "World On Fire," the lead single from her upcoming rock album, lands at No. 13 on the digital rock songs sales chart in the May 20 tallies released Tuesday, her first time to chart in the genre. What is even more impressive is the debut is on one-day sales from media coverage alone, as the chart week ended at midnight Eastern last Friday morning, 24 hours after the song was released to retailers and less than an hour after she sang it on television for the first time at the close of the Academy of Country Music Awards ceremony. As most sales of the single to date occurred in the days following its release, it will likely rise in its second chart week, the first that will reflect a full week's worth of downloads. That chart will come out on Tuesday of this week. Elsewhere in Billboard, Run, Rose, Run drops four to No. 8 bluegrass albums in its 99th chart week, and Bebe Rexha's new album, Bebe, featuring its Dolly collaboration on "Seasons," falls off the charts after one week each at No. 132 top 200 all-genre pop albums, No. 46 current album sales, and No. 77 overall album sales. Overseas, "World On Fire" debuts at No. 81 U.K. singles sales and No. 78 downloads, although it doesn't get enough streams to debut on the sales-and-streaming-based top 100 singles tally. Dolly's Diamonds & Rhinestones, The Greatest Hits Collection remains in the top spot on the British county compilation albums chart, logging an 18th nonconsecutive week at No. 1 in its 26th week on the chart, her The Monument Singles Collection loses six to No. 8 in its third week, The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe rises five spots to No. 11, Very Best Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 dips six to No. 15, Emmylou Harris'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 two to No. 17, Harris' 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. 20, and Linda Ronstadt's Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly duet and one Dolly cover) falls back off the top 20, down from No. 10.
Album Promotions Continue In promoting the album and her recent visit to Dollywood, Dolly was interviewed for Today, which NBC aired on Monday. Check out the piece here in which she noted her song is about "any" and "all" politicians and that she declined the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Joe Biden just as she did when Donald Trump offered it to her. In related news, Dolly held an old fashioned industry preview party last week for her upcoming album Rockstar, coming out Nov. 17. Read about it from Music Rowhere. Also, while at the park, Dolly also met with a hospice patient whose desire to meet Dolly before she died went viral on social media. See her story from NBC 15 here. Finally, your Dollymania.net gallery of images from the ride opening ceremony for Big Bear Mountain has been posted to the site here. Enjoy!
'Rainbowland' Teacher May Be Fired The superintendent of the school district where an elementary principal banned a class from singing Dolly and Miley Cyrus's "Rainbowland" song about love and acceptance because it was too controversial intends to fire the teacher who brought media attention to the situation in retaliation for her speaking out, The Milwaukee Journal-Star reported here. The state superintendent had previously stepped into the picture, advising the district that its misuse of its controversial issues policy was creating a hostile work environment for teachers and an unsafe learning environment for students, but the district officials said they didn't care what the state superintendent said. The School Board placed the teacher on administrative leave weeks ago even though nearly all of her students' parents protested before the hearing in favor of the teacher.
Dolly To Stop By Tuesday's 'The Voice' Although her exact role hasn't been revealed, I suspect it will be a pretaped video greeting, NBC has announced Dolly will be among those appearing on Tuesday's season finale of The Voice to say farewell to coach Blake Shelton, who is being replaced by Reba McEntire next season. Read more from Yahoohere.
Senator Compares NASA To Dolly Former astronaut Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) last week said in a Congressional appearance: "Sometimes I think NASA is the Dolly Parton of government agencies. It's like everybody loves Dolly Parton. But we have to work to get the message out and talk about why these programs are important." Read more from Spectrum news here.
May 15: Dolly Kicks Off Big Bear Mountain Opening
Dolly was back home this weekend to celebrate the opening of Dollywood's largest ride addition ever with the $25 million Big Bear Mountain coaster debut Friday. She came out wearing bear ears (similar to ones sold in the park at the ride's merch shop – although they are very similar to Disney's Mickey ears) and carrying a honey pot purse to welcome guests for the new ride and to witness a group of "Adventure Scouts" take the first official ride on the attraction themed around a hunt for an elusive giant bear in the Smokies. She also celebrated the ride with a song about Big Bear set to the tune of "The Davey Crockett Theme." The two-minute, 4,000-foot-long ride is very smooth with several twists and turns plus a couple of unexpected accelerations. Dolly also had park tours on Friday and Saturday to see fans. Check out Dollywood's video feed of the ride launch here and coverage from WVLT here and here, Knoxville News-Sentinelhere and photo gallery here, WJHL here and WATE here. Check out Dollymania.net's video of the ride launch here or in the media player above and Friday's parade here or in the media player below. Click on the photo from the event for a larger view. Image is copyright 2023 T. Duane Gordon/Dollymania.net. All rights reserved. Look for more coverage coming!
Dolly Hosts ACMs, Debuts Rock Single
Dolly brought her signature sense of humor to her hosting duties on the Academy of Country Music Awards from the Dallas area Thursday night before she flew back to Dollywood in Tennessee. When co-host Garth Brooks introduced her as the Greatest of All Time (GOAT), she brought an actual goat on stage with her. She also joked that she learned she was Garth's "hall pass" from Tricia AND Tricia's "hall pass" from Garth, and he blushed when she accused him to trying to set up a threesome for them. Midway through the program, there was a somber tone as the pair remembered legends lost in the past year, most notably Loretta Lynn and Naomi Judd, whom Dolly called her "sisters." This led Dolly to sing an impromptu a capella "Precious Memories" in their memory. The show ended with the debut performance of her first single from the rock album, "World's On Fire," which you may watch here or in the media player above, and download the single here. The show is available for on-demand streaming from Amazon. To sign up for a free Prime Video trial to watch, click here.
Kid Rock Concerns Continue Speaking of the new album, the controversy over the inclusion of anti-trans artist Kid Rock continued to spark debate, with the senior editor of LGBTQ publication The Advocate condemning her for the choice here and openly gay Canadian country artist Drake Jansen supporting his inclusion as a symbol of her loving heart here.
Paper Scolds Mayor For Ending Dolly Program The Pittsburgh Post Gazette last week to the mayor to task for not finding the funds to keep Dolly's Imagination Library early childhood literacy program active in the city. Read what they had to say here.
Dolly, Lainey Record 'Mama, He's Crazy' A Dolly duet with Lainey Wilson was confirmed last week. The two teamed up for "Mama He's Crazy" for an upcoming Judds tribute album. Check out more from Music Mayhemhere.
Steve Summers Chats With 'Vogue' Vogue recently spoke with Dolly's stylist Steve Summers about her looks. Check out what he had to say .
U.K. Chart Updates Overseas, Dolly's Diamonds & Rhinestones, The Greatest Hits Collection moves up one to regain the top spot on the British county compilation albums chart, logging a 17th nonconsecutive week at No. 1 in its 25th week on the chart. Her The Monument Singles Collection falls one to No. 2 after its first two weeks topping the chart. Run, Rose, Run falls off the top 20 country albums chart, down from No. 20 in its 49th chart week. Elsewhere on the country compilations tally, The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe loses 10 spots to No. 16, Very Best Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 inches up one to No. 9, Linda Ronstadt's Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly duet and one Dolly cover) slips one to No. 10, and Emmylou Harris'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) and Harris' Original Album Series: Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) both re-enter the top 20 at No. 19 and No. 20, respectively.
May 10: 'Rockstar' Details Finally Officially Announced Dolly on Tuesday officially announced her long-discussed double-album rock project, disclosing the cover art (at left, click on it for larger view), release date, and track listing for the massive two-CD/four-LP, 30-song collection featuring the surviving Beatles, Lynyrd Skynyrd members, Fleetwood Mac members (albeit on two different songs), and even Lizzo on flute. Rockstar will be available Nov. 17 from Butterfly Records and Big Machine Records on two-CDs here, four-LPs (Amazon exclusive pink vinyl) here, and download. Boxed sets featuring t-shirts and a themed black box are being sold on Dolly's website. The vinyl version will be released in multiple exclusive variants: the CD cover of Dolly in a hot rod for the mainstream release black vinyl, Dolly's store's clear vinyl, and Target's metallic gold vinyl; an alternate cover of Dolly on a motorcycle with red vinyl through her website; an alternate guitar-playing cover on pink vinyl from Amazon and blue vinyl from Barnes & Noble; and an alternative eyepatch cover on purple vinyl for indie stores, white vinyl in a numbered 1,000-limited edition from Vinyl Me Please, and metallic silver vinyl from Wal-Mart in the US and HMV in the U.K.
In a press release, Dolly said: "I'm so excited to finally present my first Rock and Roll album Rockstar! I am very honored and privileged to have worked with some of the greatest iconic singers and musicians of all time and to be able to sing all the iconic songs throughout the album was a joy beyond measure. I hope everybody enjoys the album as much as I've enjoyed putting it together!"
Many fans expressed disappointment on social media that one of the entertainment industry's most vocal and longest-supporting LGBTQIA allies chose to include Kid Rock on the album given his viral refusal to apologize two years ago after a homophobic tirade during a show in Nashville and again four weeks ago for a transphobic tirade. Even the critics at Entertainment Weekly pointed out the inclusion as inappropriate and concluded "even Dollys make ill-advised decisions from time to time" in its coverage here.
The full track listing is:
01. Rockstar (special guest Richie Sambora of Bon Jovi)
02. World on Fire
03. Every Breath You Take (feat. Sting)
04. Open Arms (feat. Steve Perry of Journey)
05. Magic Man (feat. Ann Wilson with special guest Howard Leese, both of Heart)
06. Long As I Can See The Light (feat. John Fogerty)
07. Either Or (feat. Kid Rock)
08. I Want You Back (feat. Steven Tyler of Aerosmith with special guest Warren Haynes of the Allman Brothers)
09. What Has Rock And Roll Ever Done For You (feat. Stevie Nicks with special guest Waddy Wachtel)
10. Purple Rain
11. Baby, I Love Your Way (feat. Peter Frampton)
12. I Hate Myself For Loving You (feat. Joan Jett & The Blackhearts)
13. Night Moves (feat. Chris Stapleton)
14. Wrecking Ball (feat. Miley Cyrus)
15. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction (feat. P!nk & Brandi Carlile)
16. Keep On Loving You (feat. Kevin Cronin of REO Speedwagon)
17. Heart Of Glass (feat. Debbie Harry of Blondie)
18. Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me (feat. Elton John)
19. Tried To Rock And Roll Me (feat. Melissa Etheridge)
20. Stairway To Heaven (feat. Lizzo & her flute, Sasha Flute)
21. We Are The Champions
22. Bygones (feat. Rob Halford of Judas Priest with special guests Nikki Sixx & John 5 of Motley Crue)
23. My Blue Tears (feat. Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran)
24. What's Up? (feat. Linda Perry of 4 Non Blondes)
25. You're No Good (feat. Emmylou Harris & Sheryl Crow)
26. Heartbreaker (feat. Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo)
27. Bittersweet (feat. Michael McDonald)
28. I Dreamed About Elvis (feat. Ronnie McDowell with special guest The Jordanaires)
29. Let It Be (feat. Paul McCartney & Ringo Starr with special guests Peter Frampton & Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac)
30. Free Bird (feat. posthumous vocals from Ronnie Van Zant with special guests Gary Rossington – who passed away in March -- and Artimus Pyle, all of Lynyrd Skynyrd)
Dolly held a press conference in Texas Tuesday to announce the album, as she is in the Dallas area to host Thursday night's ACM Awards, and was asked about the recent shooting at a mall nearby. She said that is exactly the type of tragedy her new song from the album she will debut on the awards show, "Word On Fire," addresses. The song becomes available for download Thursday. Check out coverage from WFAA here and The Dallas Morning Newshere, while checking out her pop-up store there from WFAA here and an interview about the show's inclusivity for USA Todayhere.
'Bebe' Debuts On Albums Chart Bebe Rexha's new album, Bebe, featuring its Dolly collaboration on "Seasons," debuts this week on the May 13 Billboard charts released Tuesday at No. 132 top 200 all-genre pop albums, No. 46 current album sales, and No. 77 overall album sales. Since it was a one-week release only, Dolly's The Monument Singles Collection: 1964-1968 falls off all charts after one week at No. 28 current albums sales, No. 39 overall albums sales and No. 43 country albums. Her Diamonds & Rhinestones, The Greatest Hits Collection falls off the 50-position country albums chart after 22 weeks, down from No. 47. Run, Rose, Run slips three to No. 4 bluegrass albums in its 98th chart week.
May 8: Dolly, Slash, Jansen Collab Drops
Chris Janson on Friday released his new single "21 Forever" featuring a guest verse and harmony from Dolly and a guest guitar solo from Slash. Listen here or in the media player above, and download the track here.
'Billy The Kid' Is 'NYT' Best Seller Dolly Parton's Billy The Kid Makes It Big debuts at No. 6 in the Children's Picture Books category on this week's New York Times Best Seller List.
RSD 'Monument' Vinyl Sees Chart Debut Dolly's The Monument Singles Collection: 1964-1968 was the 19th best-selling of this year's Record Store Day exclusive releases, Billboard magazine reported last week. Those sales allow the title to debut at No. 28 current albums sales chart and No. 39 on the overall albums sales chart for the May 6 Billboard tallies released Tuesday. The album didn't sell enough to break the top 25 position vinyl albums sales chart for the week due to non-RSD albums being included or the top 200 overall all-genre albums chart because of that chart's weight on streaming numbers. Likewise, it ranked No. 43 on the streaming-heavy country albums chart in its debut, even though it was the week's 6th best-selling country album of the week without counting streams. Dolly's Diamonds & Rhinestones, The Greatest Hits Collection loses two to No. 47 country albums in its 22nd week. Run, Rose, Run gains two to No. 4 bluegrass albums in its 58th chart week. Overseas, Dolly's The Monument Singles Collection earns a second consecutive week at No. 1 on the U.K. country compilation albums chart, it was revealed Friday. Diamonds & Rhinestones, The Greatest Hits Collection holds on at No. 2 on the same chart to log a 24th week, 16 of which were spent at No. 1. Run, Rose, Run falls two on the country albums chart to No. 20 for a 49th chart week. Elsewhere on the country compilations tally, 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) falls off the top 20, down from No. 14, The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe holds steady at No. 6, Very Best Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 regains six to No. 10, and Linda Ronstadt's Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly duet and one Dolly cover) rises three to No. 9.
Host Your Own Dolly Party With Her Supplies Dolly's Amazon store has added a line of paper partyware products to its offerings. Check them out here!
Dolly At Dollywood On Friday Don't forget Dolly will be at Dollywood on Friday to open the new Big Bear Mountain roller coaster at 10:30 a.m., followed by Diamond passholder exclusive ride times before it opens to the public that day at 2:30 p.m. Preview rides for gold and diamond passholders begin Monday. And then the water park Splash Country opens on Saturday for its 23rd season.
'Hollywood Reporter' Touts Dolly Emmy Buzz The Hollywood Reporter has updated its frontrunners list for this year's Emmy Awards, and Dolly makes their cut. Her Dolly Parton's Mountain Magic Christmas on NBC, which was the holiday season's highest-rated TV movie, is included as a frontrunner for Best TV Movie, a category she won for Dolly Parton's Christmas On The Square two years ago. Right now, they see its other frontrunners as Roku's Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, Hulu's Fire Island, Hulu's Prey and HBO's Reality. In addition, Dolly is included as a "possibility" for Best Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or TV Movie for playing herself in the holiday special. She didn't make that category's six front-runners or nine "major threats" but is in their next category of "possibility." Read more here.
Dolly Tells 'Today' About Olivia Collaboration Today posted an interview here with Dolly last week asking her about her collaboration with Olivia Newton-John on "Jolene" which was released Friday in her posthumous album Just The Two Of Us: The Duets Collection.
Library Helps Couple With Tax Bill WKYC has a story of an unmarried Ohio couple who used Dolly's Imagination Library to beat a tax bill. They have two kids together and moved to Ohio from Indiana after losing their jobs during the pandemic and since they weren't married filed separate taxes, and since she was the higher earner, she claimed the kids as her dependents. In Ohio, he became the higher earner and began claiming the kids instead as his dependents, but the IRS demanded proof that they lived with him throughout that past year. Unwilling to accept documents such as school enrollment records, local Legal Aid did get the IRS to accept several months' worth of mailing labels for the kids' Imagination Library books as proof of residency to allow the tax deduction. Read more here.
Garth, Dolly Talk ACMs With 'Dallas Morning News'
Don't forget to watch Dolly and Garth Brooks host the ACM Awards live on Amazon Prime Video Thursday night! Check out an interview the pair did with The Dallas Morning Newshere or in the media player above. And if you don't have Prime to watch, get a free trial here.
Chicks Cover 'Rainbowland' In Vegas The Chicks kicked off their Vegas residency last week, and they included a Dolly tribute of sort in their set, debuting their cover of her Miley Cyrus collaboration "Rainbowland" that a Wisconsin elementary school banned children from performing as too controversial. Watch them sing it here or in the media player below.
May 2: More Info On May 12 Dollywood Stop More details came to light Monday regarding Dolly's Big Bear Mountain grand opening appearance on May 12 at Dollywood. As was predicted here Sunday night, the ceremony will be at 10:30 a.m. with media, VIPs, and invited guests. The Diamond passholder riders with reservations for the 11:30 time period for preview rides will be in the vicinity to experience the ceremony but not necessarily close to the stage. The ride will open to the public at the park upon the end of the preview ride period that day at 2:30 p.m.
'Parents' Interview With Dolly Debuts Dolly's promotions for her book Billy The Kid Makes It Big continue with Parents magazine here.
Dolly Participates In Aerosmith Video Rock legends Aerosmith on Monday announced their farewell tour and enlisted numerous celebrities to help in the video announcement, including Dolly. Watch for her here.
Newton-John Duets Collection Hits Friday Don't forget Olivia Newton-John's posthumous album Just The Two Of Us: The Duets Collection with her collaboration with Dolly on "Jolene" hits stores on Friday.
Two Dolly Singles Available For Download Dolly recently released two of her past bonus tracks for download: "Travelin' Thru" and "Berry Pie."
'9 To 5' Doc Heading To Cincinnati One of the directors of Still Working 9 To 5 and the founder of the national 9 to 5 movement talked about the documentary spoke with Cincinnati Edition in advance of a screening in that city (disclosure: scheduled by your webmaster and to benefit the charity he runs) on May 10. Tickets are available here. Listen to the interview here.
May 1: Dolly Returning To Dollywood May 12 Although exact details of her appearance have yet to be revealed, Dollywood last week confirmed Dolly will be on park May 12 for the official grand opening of the park's largest-ever ride addition, Big Bear Mountain. Passholders who purchased their passes during the Oct. 17-30 presale last year may sign up starting at 11 a.m. Monday for the first ride slots before it opens to the general public. At that time, an Eventbrite order page will become active and passholders (pass number must be entered) may register for one time slot out of their choices available:
Monday, May 8, 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. (Gold and Diamond only)
Tuesday, May 9, 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. (Gold and Diamond only)
Friday, May 12, 11:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. (Diamond only)
Saturday, May 13, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. (Silver, Gold, and Diamond)
Sunday, May 14, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. (Silver, Gold, and Diamond)
It is unclear whether the ride will be open to the general public after the May 12 ride period ends at 2:30 p.m., or if they will have to wait until a later date to ride.
It is also unknown yet when Dolly will appear or the circumstances of the appearance, but in past years she has opened new rides around 10:30 a.m. before an audience of VIPs, invited guests, and media only. In some years, the area has been roped off close enough that the public may also view the opening ceremony, but some years the ropes have been too far away so the public couldn't see her. It is also unknown whether any of the early ride periods on that day will be during Dolly's appearance or not.
Bebe Rexha Duet Released With Video
Bebe Rexha's new album, Bebe hit stores Friday, as did her video with Dolly for their collaboration from the record, "Seasons." Check it out on YouTube here or in the media player above, and download it, here!
Vinyl Me, Parton, Adds Monthly Option
Vinyl Me Please, the boutique vinyl distributor, continues to promote its 12-,month "Vinyl Me Parton" Dolly album-of-the-month club, noting Little Sparrow is May's selection in a video on social media here or in the media player above. The service has also updated its billing to allow a month-to-month option instead of just the 3-, 6-, and 12-month commitments originally offered. In addition, the service has announced June's free bonus item for subscribers is a bandana that reads "Listen to more Dolly Parton."
Rock Album Coming In November Sans Jagger Dolly updated fans on Entertainment Tonight last week that her rock double-album will be released in November but that she failed to get Mick Jagger for the project. Watch the interview here.
More 'Billy' Interviews From Dolly Dolly continued last week conducting interviews to plug her new children's book about her goddog, Billy The Kid Makes It Big including FOX News and the Associated Press, which has posted its video here.
Pop-Up Dolly Store Coming To Texas Dolly has announced that during ACM Awards week next week, her team will host her first-ever pop-up merchandise store at The Star in Frisco, Texas, May 9-14.
Dolly Tops U.K. Charts Again Overseas, Dolly's The Monument Singles Collection debuts at No. 1 on the U.K. country compilation albums chart, it was revealed Friday. Diamonds & Rhinestones, The Greatest Hits Collection slips one to No. 2 on the same chart to log a 23rd week after 16th nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1. Run, Rose, Run re-enters the country albums chart at No. 18 for a 48th chart week. Elsewhere on the country compilations tally, 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 one to No. 14, The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe loses one to No. 6, Very Best Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 loses six to No. 16, and Linda Ronstadt's Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly duet and one Dolly cover) drops three to No. 12.
Dolly Gets Her IBMA, Dove Awards Jerry Salley, board member of the International Bluegrass Music Association, visited Dolly last week and presented her with the two IBMA Awards she recently won for "In The Sweet By and By" being named Gospel Recording of the Year and Collaborative Recording of the Year as well as her Dove Award for the song being named Bluegrass/Country/Roots Recorded Song of the Year.
Dolly was back home this weekend to celebrate the opening of Dollywood's largest ride addition ever with the $25 million Big Bear Mountain coaster debut Friday. She came out wearing bear ears (similar to ones sold in the park at the ride's merch shop – although they are very similar to Disney's Mickey ears) and carrying a honey pot purse to welcome guests for the new ride and to witness a group of "Adventure Scouts" take the first official ride on the attraction themed around a hunt for an elusive giant bear in the Smokies. She also celebrated the ride with a song about Big Bear set to the tune of "The Davey Crockett Theme." The two-minute, 4,000-foot-long ride is very smooth with several twists and turns plus a couple of unexpected accelerations. Dolly also had park tours on Friday and Saturday to see fans. Check out Dollywood's video feed of the ride launch here and coverage from WVLT here and here, Knoxville News-Sentinel here and photo gallery here, WJHL here and WATE here. Check out Dollymania.net's video of the ride launch here or in the media player above and Friday's parade here or in the media player below. Click on the photo from the event for a larger view. Image is copyright 2023 T. Duane Gordon/Dollymania.net. All rights reserved. Look for more coverage coming!
Although exact details of her appearance have yet to be revealed,