July 31: Dolly Steps Again For Charity Once Again Dolly will be found this fall helping out yet another deserving organization. The T.J. Martell Foundation, which supports medical research related to leukemia, cancer and AIDS, will host a "Celebrity Tablescapes" show in Nashville in September. Several stars, including Dolly, will work with designers to come up with themed tables, including lavish place settings for eight complete with party favors, floral arrangements, decorated chairs and a recommended menu to complement the design. Items from each table, such as centerpieces, flatware and glassware, will be auctioned off to benefit the charity in addition to some other special items. The tables will be on display at the Hilton Nashville Downtown Sept. 25 and 26, with a preview reception, awards presentation and auction held Sept. 25 (tickets $100 each) and luncheon Sept. 26 (tickets $60 each, or $150 for both events). Read more from Music News Nashvillehere or see a PDF from the Foundation advertising the event here.
New Fan Doc Showings Announced Several additional screenings of the Dolly fan documentary For The Love Of Dolly have been set, according to the film's director. The film had previously been announced here as a selection in the Rhode Island International Film Festival next month, and that screening date has been finalized for 12:30 p.m. Aug. 13 at the Cinematheque at the Columbus Theater. Also, it has been chosen as one of 10 films which screened earlier this year at New York City's LGBT festival, NewFest, to be featured at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's "The Best of The NewFest" series, with a showing scheduled for 9:15 p.m. Sept. 8. Four additional showings have also been scheduled: the 26th Atlantic Film Festival in Halifax, N.S., Canada, Sept. 14-23; 19th Annual Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival Sept. 29-Oct. 7 in Texas; Film Pop in Montreal, Canada, Oct. 4-8; and the 14th annual Mix Brasil in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janerio and Brasilia in November and December.
European Chart Updates "When I Get Where I'm Going" by Dolly and Brad Paisley re-enters the top 10 country singles airplay chart in Spain this week at No. 6, according to the European CMA. That's one digit shy of the tune's previous Spanish peak at No. 5. Elsewhere on the chart, Dolly's cover of "Turn, Turn, Turn" with Roger McGuinn from Those Were The Days falls out of the top 10 in Italy, down from No. 9 the previous week.
Actor Worked With Dolly Boyd Gaines, who plays an FBI agent's father in the new Lifetime series Angela's Eyes, tells Playbill magazine that he loved working with Dolly on her un-aired sitcom Heaven's To Besty in the mid-1990s, in which he played the town preacher. However, he says he's thankful it never made it to the airwaves because the show itself was a "mess." Read more here.
July 28: 'Going' Slides Again After a slight resurgence on the chart last week, "When I Get Where I'm Going" by Brad Paisley with Dolly falls again in the Aug. 5 Billboard country recurrent singles chart, the magazine announced Thursday. The collaboration dips five to No. 16 for the week on the tally that ranks radio popularity of songs that have been removed from the main singles list due to chart longevity rules. As the list only contains 20 songs each week, it's likely the former No. 1 will fall off its final chart in the next few weeks. The disc which contains the song, Paisley's Time Well Wasted, loses three to No. 18 country and one to No. 65 pop and comprehensive in its 49th week, re-entering the top 50 Canadian country albums chart at No. 50. Martina McBride's Timeless, with Dolly on "I Still Miss Someone," drops four more spots to No. 55 country in its 39th chart week. Kenny Rogers's 21 Number Ones, which includes "Islands In The Stream," dips three to No. 38 country in its 26th week, also falling four to No. 196 pop. Rhonda Vincent's All American Bluegrass Girl, featuring the single "Heartbreaker's Alibi" with Dolly, remains steady at No. 4 bluegrass in its eighth week, but her Ragin' Live, featuring its cover of "Jolene," falls back out of the 15-position bluegrass tally, down from No. 14 the previous week, its 70th. Rodney Atkins lands a No. 1 country and No. 3 pop debut for his sophomore album, If You're Going Through Hell, with 55,000 copies sold, while Rascal Flatts' Me And My Gang remains at No. 2 country and gains two to No. 6 pop in its 15th chart week, moving 50,000 units.
Porter Doing Well, Resting At Home Former longtime Dolly duet partner Porter Wagoner is back home comfortably recuperating from surgery for an abdominal aortic aneurysm earlier this month, The Tennessean reported Thursday. He remained in the hospital about a week and a half following the surgery. A spokesperson for The Grand Old Opry said he appears to be doing well. Read the note here.
Another 'Hannah' Note One more article this week mentions Dolly's upcoming guest spot on the Disney Channel series Hannah Montana. Billy Ray Cyrus, one of the show's actors and father of its star, noted his daughter was good with Dolly on the episode. "I watched her work with Dolly Parton, and I could see them feed off each other and I could see the wheels turning in Miley's head," he explained. (The air date for the installment with Dolly still has yet to be announced, but I'd expect it to possibly be sometime in September or so, given the show's current schedule.) Read more from Ontario's The Recordhere.
K.C. Show Starts This Weekend I don't know if I had the dates wrong last week or if the show's start was delayed, but the return of the satirical Come Back To The 9 To 5, Dolly Parton, Dolly Parton at Kansas City's Late Night Theatre opens this Friday, not last, and the opening weekend "Dolly Stampede and Wig Rodeo" party at RecordBar is this Sunday, not last. Read more from The Kansas City Starhere.
New Library Chapter Starts Sunday The Mountain Times in Boone, N.C., noted that Ashe County there will formally kick-off its participation Sunday in Dolly's Imagination Library national literacy program. Read more here.
U.K. Pal Leaving Job Overseas, The Whitehaven News has a nice piece about local WHSmith store manager Joe Skelly, known for promoting Dolly all over the place in the U.K. and most prominently in the store, as he leaves his longtime position at the retailer. Read it here.
Thank You Thank you all so very much for your kind words and support over the past few days. I had placed a note on the site Tuesday night about my father's passing for two main reasons: first, because I have made so many wonderful "Dolly friends" over the years operating the site and knew this would be the easiest way to let you all know about it; and second, because I knew it would interrupt the regular updating schedule for the site, and whenever I skip a day unannounced, I get several e-mails from readers wanting to know what's wrong :) But I never expected the outpouring of love and sympathy which resulted, with several dozens of you writing in to express your concern. The thoughts and prayers during this difficult time are most appreciated. Services will be held Friday morning, so I do not expect to be able to post a site update on Friday night but do anticipate returning to the regular update schedule next week. Thank you all again. (And a special note for the many who referenced in their notes Dolly's duet with Brad Paisley, "When I Get Where I'm Going" -- my mother has chosen that song to open and close the service.) -- Duane
July 26: 'Travel Thru' U.K. Site To Win A DVD To help promote the U.K. arm of The Biography Channel's airing of Biography: Dolly Parton on Aug. 6, British LGBT site Rainbow Network has partnered with the cable outlet to give away five DVD copies of the transgender comedy TransAmerica, which features Dolly's music video for the Oscar-nominated film theme "Travelin' Thru." Registered members of the site may log-on at this page here to enter the contest. Thanks, Mark!
A Prayer Request Please excuse if updates to the site are sporadic in coming days, as your webmaster has suffered two recent deaths in the family. Last week, my grandfather, Alvin Hudson, lost his battle with cancer, and Tuesday night, my father, Tommy Gordon, lost his. Of course, family commitments will limit my available time for a few days. I usually don't make personal requests on the site, but I ask for your thoughts and prayers for my family at this difficult time, especially for my mother, who lost both her father and her husband only days apart. Arrangements for my Dad are being handled by Chancellor Funeral Home. I like to think that both men were at least partially responsible for this site because they brought a love for music into my life at an early age. Paw-Paw was a banjo picker, and Dad played guitar. Both had a bit of local renown as instrumentalists. While their preferred styles were different, this exposure helped instill in me an appreciation for music which grew throughout my life, and for that I will always be thankful.
July 25: Helping Juvenile Diabetes Dolly has once again signed on to assist a good cause, this time the 17th annual Carousel of Hope Ball for childhood diabetes Oct. 28 at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif., according to published reports. Several papers on Monday carried a National Ledger story stating that she is among the stars who are designing special plates for auction at the charity event organized by philanthropist Barbara Davis. Read one version from The Los Angeles Daily Newshere.
Billy Ray Loves Him Some Dolly Dolly gets her props from Billy Ray Cyrus in an interview in Singer Universe Magazine posted Monday. The singer/actor recalled working with Dolly on her single "Romeo," saying doing the video was one of his favorite experiences in his career. He added Dolly "is definitely one of a kind, a professional in every sense of the word. And she just has so much fun with everything she does." The story also noted Dolly's guest appearance on an upcoming episode of Cyrus's current television program, Disney's Hannah Montana. Read the interview here.
Video Makes It To YouTube If you haven't caught the video for "Heartbreaker's Alibi" by Rhonda Vincent with Dolly on CMT or GAC and haven't watched it online from Rounder Records or CMT.com, there's always YouTube. Thanks to Brad for alerting me to it also having been posted the mega-popular video site here.
Who Woulda Thunk It Producer Pharrell Williams tells Blender magazine that one of his greatest musical heroes is Dolly, explaining simply "Dolly Parton was a huge influence." Read more about the interview from Canadian newsmagazine Dosehere.
July 24: Dolly Brings Folks To Tenn. Thanks at least in part to Dolly, tourism increased last year in all 95 Tennessee counties, state tourism officials said in a meeting held in Dollywood's town of Pigeon Forge, according to published reports. Two commercials, one with Dolly on stage in Nashville and one with Isaac Hayes in Memphis, were credited with being partly responsible for a nearly 9 percent jump in tourism in 2005 to $12.4 billion statewide. The impact of a new commercial featuring Dolly inserted by computer into a car with Elvis Presley which started airing in April of this year, should be seen in next year's tourism numbers (although The Mountain Press mistakenly identified this year's commercial instead of last year's spots as being responsible for last year's growth). Media coverage of the new ad resulted in more than 100 million people seeing it, the story noted. In Pigeon Forge, which accounts for about 5 percent of the state's entire tourism dollars, this year's business receipts are up 9 percent to $250 million for just the first five months of the year, The Knoxville News-Sentinel noted. Read more from the News-Sentinelhere and The Mountain Presshere. Image at left courtesy the State of Tennessee's Department of Tourist Development.
Dolly Doc Director Dishes On 'DeCaro' Listen for For The Love Of Dolly fan documentary director Tai Uhlmann to be interviewed Monday nationally on Sirius satellite radio. She is slated to appear as a guest on The Frank DeCaro Show at 1:15 p.m. Eastern Monday on OutQ channel 106 for subscribers to the service. If you're not a subscriber, you may listen online by visiting Sirius and signing up for a free three-day trial membership by clicking on "Start Listening." Don't forget the film's next scheduled screening is as part of the Rhode Island International Film Festival in Providence next month. Thanks!
Rhonda And Dolly On GAC Rhonda Vincent's "Heartbreaker's Alibi" with Dolly got its Great American Country (GAC) premiere Friday afternoon on Edge of Country, one day after its world television premiere on CMT, and the video has been placed in limited rotation (airing about once a day) on the competing cable network.
Porter Update: Going Home Later This Week According to Brad Schmidt's "Celebrities" column in The Tennessean, former Dolly duet partner Porter Wagoner was moved out of intensive care around the middle of last week and into a regular hospital room following his July 14 surgery for an aortic abdominal aneurism. He is expected to remain hospitalized until sometime next week, the story said.
European Chart Update Dolly's cover of "Turn, Turn, Turn" with Byrds member Roger McGuinn enters the Italian country airplay singles chart, the European CMA revealed over the weekend. (Their charts recently shrunk from the top 20 for each nation to the top 10). The tune, from Dolly's Those Were The Days, debuts at No. 9 there.
Here She Comes Again A writer for The Western Mail across the pond offered a great column Friday about her love for Dolly, particularly the album Here You Come Again. Read it from ic Waleshere.
Guitar Raises $1,125 For Charity The guitar autographed by Dolly that was noted here several times over the past week sold on eBay Friday night to benefit The Boys and Girls Club of the Smoky Mountains with a winning bid of $1,125. Thanks to all Dollymania readers who participated in the auction for a good cause!
July 21: U.K. Gets Dolly 'Biography' To celebrate the British airing of A&E's Biography installment on Dolly, the U.K. version of its Biography Channel is having some fun. Dolly's episode anchors a night of country divas on Aug. 6 they're calling "Country Music Queens" night on the network, starting with her show at 7 p.m., followed by the Biography "Hairdos & Heartaches: The Women of Country Music" at 9 p.m. and Biography "Shania Twain" at 11 p.m. (Dolly is featured in both of those latter two as well). Visit their site here to look at the "Dolly For A Day" game. Enter your name and choose Dolly's hairstyle (including her 1975-77 bandana do, her For God And Country wig, a short-cropped look or long hair with a headband), outfit (the Those Were The Days get-up, For God And Country costume, Irish "peasant girl" collection from Dollywood's 2004 season opening or the dress she wore to sing "The Grass Is Blue" with Norah Jones on the CMAs), shoes (boots, closed-toe heels or open-toed heels) and accessories (guitar, microphone, rope or bunny ears). Your choices tell the computer what answers to give as your joke country stage name, country look and biggest hit. Visit here for a giggle. Thanks, Gerard! (And thanks to Bob for alerting me to the website's posting of a preview clip from the program. It's actually much longer than most such teasers generally are. Enjoy it here! Click on "Watch Video Clip.")
'Going' Not Gone Yet "When I Get Where I'm Going" by Brad Paisley with Dolly sees a slight bump in the July 29 Billboard country recurrent singles chart, the magazine announced Thursday. The song moves up two to No. 11 for the week on the tally that ranks radio popularity of songs that have been removed from the main singles list due to chart longevity rules. The disc which contains the former No. 1, Paisley's Time Well Wasted, rise one to No. 15 country and No. 64 pop and comprehensive in its 48th week, falling out of the top 50 Canadian country albums, down from No. 43. Martina McBride's Timeless, featuring Dolly on "I Still Miss Someone," dips five to No. 51 country in its 38th chart week. Kenny Rogers's 21 Number Ones, with "Islands In The Stream," loses one to No. 35 country in its 25th week, also tumbling 27 places to No. 192 pop and falling back out of the top 200 comprehensive, down from No. 191. Rhonda Vincent's All American Bluegrass Girl, featuring her current single with Dolly, "Heartbreaker's Alibi" (the video for which premiered on CMT's Top Twenty Countdown Thursday night), remains steady at No. 4 bluegrass in its seventh week, as Vincent's Ragin' Live, with her cover of "Jolene," also remains steady at No. 14 in its 70th week on the bluegrass list. Johnny Cash's American V: A Hundred Highways remains at No. 1 country in its second week but slides five from the top pop spot to No. 6 with 54,000 copies sold, while Rascal Flatts' Me And My Gang inches up one to No. 2 country but slips one to No. 8 pop in its 14th chart week selling 49,000 units.
Workin' Late Night To Late Night Get ready to bust a gut if you're in the Kansas City area, as Late Night Theatre revives its reportedly hilarious spoof Come Back To The 9 To 5, Dolly Parton, Dolly Parton (visit the troupe's website to take a look at the three men playing Doralee, Judy and Violet in the show). The performances open Friday night and will end on Sept. 2. The show, which they first offered in their 2001-02 season, is a send-up of Dolly's classic film debut, 9 To 5, with its title inspired by the drama Come Back To The Five And Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean. It tells the same basic story as the Dolly-Jane Fonda-Lily Tomlin movie using the same characters but with exaggerated actions and featuring caricatured attributes of the stars who performed in the film. (For instance, in its original run, Violet was a brassy lesbian and Doralee featured constant wig changes showcasing each of the major hairstyles Dolly has donned throughout her full career.) There's also a benefit party for the theatre company called "The Dolly Parton Stampede & Wig Rodeo" Sunday night at Record Bar to celebrate the show.
eBay Reminder Don't forget to get those bids in on the new Delta guitar autographed by Dolly which is being offered to raise funds for The Boys and Girls Club of the Smoky Mountains. The eBay auction ends at about 8:30 p.m. Eastern Friday, and as of Thursday night, bidding had topped $400. Take a look here!
July 20: Behind-The-Scenes Rehearsal On Kenny's DVD Another DVD out this fall will feature some Dolly: a career retrospective and concert disc from old pal Kenny Rogers. Featuring archive footage from through the years, The Journey is reportedly to include 24 songs from his career (one of which will be "Islands In The Stream") as well as concert performances of five songs from his new album. Although a trailer available from DVD distributor Goldhil Entertainment here shows him performing "Islands" with Dolly from their 1989 NBC special Kenny, Dolly & Willie, audio played later in the promo spot is a solo concert version of the song, so there's no word on which version appears on the disc or whether any other of his Dolly duets make the cut. But she will be in the special features. The DVD will include what is described as a "behind-the-scenes studio rehearsal with Dolly Parton." Read about the set from Billboardhere, and reserve your copy of the Sept. 26 release here.
Technology To Help Move Lines At Park Waiting in line at Dollywood could be a little different starting this autumn, as the park tests out a new "line management system." British company Lo-Q announced Wednesday an agreement to test a pilot system at the park this fall and winter. The company's "Q-bots" are in operation under the name Flash Pass at five Six Flags parks across the U.S. (in Georgia, Texas, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Missouri). Visitors pick one up at a ride which would normally have a very long line and then go about their business eating, shopping or looking around instead of standing there. The remote device notifies them when their time has come to get on the ride. No word yet on exactly how the devices will be used at Dollywood, but an article noted this will be the first test of the product at a park where the attractions consist of both rides and entertainment performances. A park spokesperson confirmed to Dollymania that the testing will begin at the Sept. 15 Bluegrass and BBQ Festival (which is also where Dolly is slated to announce the winner of her cookbook contest for a concert and barbeque at the winner's home for 100 friends.). Learn more about the project from Growth Companyhere and Yahoo U.K.here.
Library Coverage Dolly's Imagination Library literacy program gets some coverage this week, but far from her home state of Tennessee, where it was started and earlier this year reached statewide coverage. The program has expanded to its sixth community in the state of Minnesota, according to The Fergus Falls Journal, which profiled the new site in Otter Tail County on Wednesday here. And on the West Coast, the Yakima Herald Republic in Washington state discusses here a new matching grant to expand its efforts in Yakima County there.
Here Mariah Comes Again Mariah Carey a country-singing Dolly fan? Well, that's the role the Glitter singer/"actress" has signed on for in her next film. According to The New York Timeshere, she will play " an aspiring country singer who loves Dolly Parton" in the upcoming Lee Daniels-produced movie Tennessee, which begins filming later this year.
'Alibi' To Debut On CMT Thursday CMT has announced the world premiere of the new Rhonda Vincent video with Dolly, "Heartbreaker's Alibi" from Vincent's All American Bluegrass Girl. Although it has been available online from Rounder Records' website for nearly three weeks, its first television broadcast will be on CMT's Top Twenty Countdown this week, premiering at 4 p.m. Eastern Thursday. The cable network also added a streaming version of the video to its CMT Loaded broadband online free programming when the new service launched on Tuesday. Take a look here!
Porter Improves, Family Says Former longtime Dolly collaborator Porter Wagoner is doing well this week following Friday's abdominal aortic aneurism surgery, family members tell The Tennessean "Celebrities" columnist Brad Schmidt. Wagoner's daughter told the paper several friends have called on the singer, including Dolly and Little Jimmy Dickens, and that he will remain in intensive care for about one more day before being transferred to a regular hospital bed for a few more days. Read more here.
Dolly On DVD, Briefly Although she's only on screen for a few seconds, a new DVD is out with Dolly in it. A reader alerted me that budget movie distributor Direct Source Label last week issued the first American DVD of Love Can Build A Bridge, the made-for-television life story of Naomi and Wynonna Judd which features a short Dolly cameo. (The DVD had previously been released only in Europe.) Coincidentally, starring as Dolly's good friend Naomi in the 1995 teleplay is actress/singer Kathleen "Bird" York, whose "In The Deep" joined Dolly's "Travelin' Thru" at this year's Oscars to lose to "It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp." Get your copy here! Thanks, Tony!
Dance To Dolly An Austin, Texas, performance group, Getalong Gang, has announced its new piece "Dolly Would," choreographed by Zenobia Taylor, will be set to the music of Dolly Parton. Although the group's My Space page indicates it will premiere in January, Austin Statesman blog "Yellow Tape" says here it will be performed in November with auditions to be held July 29.
July 18: Paisley Pranks On ABC Among the segments in next week's ABC broadcast of the CMA Music Festival special will be a gag involving Dolly's mailbox, it was revealed Monday. According to a press release on the program, Dolly duet partner Brad Paisley kidnaps a group of tourists in a bus and takes them on a comedic "Brad-way Tour," which includes picking up Little Jimmy Dickens, stopping by Dolly's home, stealing the newspaper from her mailbox and handing out its sections to the tour participants. The two-hour show starts at 9 p.m. Eastern Monday.
Kudos For Dolly After Special One reader of the Nashville City Paper this week is singing Dolly's praises. In response to CMT's Greatest Moments program on the star, Betty C. Allard wrote in to say the show proved to her that Dolly "is without doubt the most talented woman of today." Read her letter to the editor from Monday's paper here.
Another Auction For Charity Dolly's once again helping out one of her favorite organizations. The Boys and Girls Club of the Smoky Mountains, which often features Dolly items in its charity auctions, has an autographed Delta guitar up on eBay and will include in the auction the pen Dolly used to sign it. As of Sunday night, bidding had reached $150. The auction ends Friday night. Take a look here!
U.K. TV Appearances Noted Thanks to Tracey for alerting the site's readers overseas to some Dolly airings on British television in coming days. 9 To 5 airs on BBC1 at 11:05 p.m. Monday, while Blue Valley Songbird hits the airwaves on Channel Five at 1:35 p.m. July 25. In addition, she will be one of the stars profiled on the "Celebrity Surgery" episode of the series Extreme on Living TV at 8 p.m. July 30, including a claim that they'll attempt to show what she would look like today had she not had any cosmetic surgery procedures. Thanks again!
Georgia Library Program Gets Press The Morgan County Citizen in Madison, Ga., this week profiles Robin Ferst and her Ferst Foundation for Childhood Literacy, which has spearheaded that state's efforts in Dolly's nationwide Imagination Library literacy program. The Georgia chapters have distributed more than 350,000 books to nearly 20,000 children across the state over the past six years, according to the story. Read more here.
July 14: 'Going' Drops Again On The Charts "When I Get Where I'm Going" by Brad Paisley with Dolly slides three places on the July 22 Billboard country recurrent singles chart, the magazine revealed Thursday. The 20-tune tally, which tracks radio popularity of songs that have been removed from the main singles charts due to longevity rules, is the final list in the magazine to contain the former No. 1 hit. Paisley's Time Well Wasted, which features the song, drops one to No. 16 country but gains two to No. 64 pop and comprehensive in its 47th week, tumbling nine to No. 43 Canadian country. Martina McBride's Timeless, with Dolly on "I Still Miss Someone," rises one to No. 46 country in its 37th chart week, moving up 16 to No. 60 Canadian country. Kenny Rogers's 21 Number Ones, featuring "Islands In The Stream," inches up two to No. 34 country in its 24th week, also rising 28 to No. 165 pop and re-entering top 200 comprehensive at No. 191. Up north, it falls 21 to No. 79 country. Rhonda Vincent's All American Bluegrass Girl, with Dolly on the disc's first single, "Heartbreaker's Alibi," loses one to No. 4 bluegrass in its sixth week and falls off the 75-position country albums tally, down from No. 75 the previous week, while her live recording, Ragin' Live, featuring "Jolene," slides one to No. 14 in its 69th week on the bluegrass list. Johnny Cash, one of country's original and most outspoken rebels, enjoys just his second pop No. 1 album as the posthumous release American V: A Hundred Highways debuts at No. 1 country and pop with 88,000 units moved in its first week (his most recent time atop the pop list was in 1969). His sales boot equally outspoken rebels The Dixie Chicks from their roost at the top spot on the country side after six weeks, slipping to No. 2 country and remaining steady at No. 4 pop with 57,000 copies sold of Taking The Long Way in its seventh week.
Dolly Cover Gets New Life Waylon Jennings is getting a massive boxed set this fall slated to include his top 10 Dolly cover, Billboard revealed Thursday. The 92-song, four-CD set, titled Nashville Rebel, will drop Sept. 26 on RLG Nashville/Legacy. In addition to an unreleased duet with Johnny Cash on "The Greatest Cowboy Of Them All," the collection will feature his cover of "Waltz Me To Heaven," which Dolly had written for the film Rhinestone (her brother Floyd performed it on the soundtrack). Jennings recorded the tune in 1984, taking it to No. 10 on the country singles chart early the next year. Read about the upcoming release here.
Tribute Repeating Overseas British entertainer Mandy Winters will be bringing back her tribute to Dolly, "The Dolly Parton Story," this fall, the local media reports. Her show ran in Bedworth, England, back in January and will be performed again at the Grand Theatre in Blackpool, England, Sept. 17, The Citizen Reporter in Lancashire reported Thursday. Read more here.
July 13: Dolly In Print The July 31 issue of Country Weekly, on newsstands this week, features quite a few little Dolly appearances. In coverage of Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman's wedding, she is among the well-wishers quoted offering their best to the newlyweds. The "I Love My Country" section finds a soap star who loves "When I Get Where I'm Going" by Dolly and Brad Paisley, and the issue's word search focuses on Paisley with Dolly's name as one of the items to be found. Finally, the flashback section includes her Hungry Again cover story from eight years ago as the spotlight issue from the magazine's past.
July 12: Fan Flick Returns To New England On the eve of its second screening at Outfest in Los Angeles Wednesday night, the Dolly fan documentary For The Love Of Dolly has been added to yet another major festival, Dollymania has learned. The film's director, Tai Uhlmann, tells the site the picture has been accepted to the 10th Anniversary Rhode Island International Film Festival, which will be held primarily in Providence Aug. 8-13. The exact date of the film's showing there will be announced later. Nearly 2,000 movies were submitted for the festival, but only about 10 percent of those were selected for a screening. Thanks!
Cover Girl Dolly makes the cover of British music magazine Gear this month (issue 18), seen at left. I'm told the article focuses on her latest custom-built guitar. The publication is available free at music instrument stores throughout the U.K. and is also a free insert in this month's Guitar Buyer magazine there as well. Thanks, Steve!
Auction For Cancer Patient Ends The eBay auction to help cancer patient Donna Davis Carter, an artist who has worked for Dolly in the past, ended Tuesday morning. A dress Dolly had worn and donated for the effort went for $2,025, while an autographed tour book from "The Vintage Tour" ended up close to $100. The reserve was not met on the other Dolly-related item, a country music history book signed by several artists, including her.
New Grascals Music Coming Former Dolly backing band and opening act The Grascals will have a new CD out next month on Rounder Records, the band announced Tuesday. While the set isn't scheduled to have Dolly on it (she appeared on "Viva Las Vegas" on their debut effort, The Grascals, two years ago), there will be some big name guests including Dierks Bentley, George Jones, the Jordanaires, Steve Wariner, Lloyd Green and Pig Robbins. The set, titled Long List of Heartaches, will hit stores Aug. 29.
Lucie Speaks Did you wonder who Lucie Diamond is, the singer who won over Dolly for the European CMA's Female Vocalist of the Year over the weekend? Well, British paper The Sun caught up with her after the ceremony. Read here what she had to say about being up there with some pretty big names for the honor.
July 11: 'Going' Continues Slide Although it is likely to still be on the lower half of the full 20-position chart when it is released Thursday, Billboard revealed Monday that "When I Get Where I'm Going" by Brad Paisley with Dolly will drop out of the top 10 on the July 22 recurrent country singles charts. The song had been at No. 10 the previous week on the tally tracking the popularity of songs that have been removed from the main singles charts due to longevity restrictions. In related news, Brad Paisley's "The World" will become his sixth country chart-topper, the magazine reported, coming just four months after his fifth: the collaboration with Dolly.
Winning Another Honor The European CMA announced over the weekend that Dolly and Roy Rivers were named this year's Vocal Collaboration of the Year for their duet on the John Denver hit "Thank God I'm A Country Boy" from Rivers's CD of the same name. The song had taken the No. 1 country single spot in several nations across the pond last year. In a statement, Rivers said to the voting members, in part: "It is with great excitement and thanks that Dolly and I accept your votes awarding us the 2006 Vocal Collaboration of the Year award! For me personally to have been nominated in so many categories was both a humbling and empowering experience. To actually win this award is a tremendous honor that will always be looked back upon as a cherished highlight of my career in music." The duo had also been nominated for Song of the Year but lost to Faith Hill's "Mississippi Girl," and Dolly had been up for Female Vocalist of the Year, which went to Lucie Diamond.
More On 'Love' LGBT site After Elton offers an interesting contrast of the Dolly fan documentary For The Love Of Dolly and a fan documentary looking at Michael Jackson's most devoted followers during his child molestation trial, Camp Michael Jackson, which were shown together last month at the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival. The critic notes that Dolly's fans are less out of the mainstream when compared to Jackson's, adding that the Dolly film is more light-hearted and respectful, while the other picture raises troubling issues. Read the piece here. (And remember that For The Love Of Dolly screens for a second time at Outfest in Los Angeles on Wednesday evening.)
July 10: Fan Film Screens In Hollywood I'm told the Dolly fan pic For The Love Of Dolly earned a great reception Saturday at OutFest: The Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. About 100 folks turned out for the screening of the documentary, including featured fan Jeannette Williams. My friend Greg, who attended, said he loved the picture, adding: "The film really portrayed everyone in a positive manner, and the fans' adoration of Dolly in a loving, caring way really came across well." The showing was introduced by co-producer Steak House, who also moderated the Q&A afterward with Jeannette, director Tai Uhlmann and producer Val Stadler. See some pictures Greg submitted from the event here. The doc screens again in the festival at 5 p.m. Wednesday at the Village Theater. Thanks!
Park Press Over The Weekend Dollywood made the news in a few places this weekend. The Knoxville News-Sentinel profiled the Southern Gospel Hall of Fame, which is headquartered on the park grounds, here, and offered its own story on the new Mystery Mine coaster based on Friday's press release here. Also, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Sunday gave a great little review of the park, complete with the writer lamenting Dolly wasn't on the park grounds the day the paper visited. Read it here. In addition, the Associated Press story on the new coaster made several papers over the weekend as well.
Please Try Again We offer an apology to readers who sent cards and letters to former Dolly.net webmaster Mark Burgess, who has been seriously ill for a while now. Due to an internal error at the commercial mail acceptance center (I won't name which company) where a mutual friend opened a box to collect mail for him, several envelopes addressed to him were returned to the senders by the postal service. I'm told the company has apologized and assured that all future mailings will be properly handled. Mel, who set it up to try and lighten his spirits, asked that I pass along her great gratitude to those readers whose cards were returned but are willing to put them back in the mail to Mark. The mailing address is the same: Mark Burgess, 330 Franklin Road, Suite 135A Box 255, Brentwood, TN 37027. Thanks!
July 8: Park: Mystery Mine $17.5 Million 'Euro-Fighter' Dolly wasn't fibbin' when she said last month that Dollywood's new Mystery Mine attraction would be "the biggest ride that we've ever had here" as the park on Friday officially announced the $17.5 million monster of a coaster to open in April 2007. The largest capital investment in its history, the park's second steel roller coaster will cost just slightly less than its past three expansions combined (this year's $6.5 million Timber Tower, last year's $5 million Country Fair renovation and the $8 million Thunderhead wooden roller coaster two years ago) and add an acre to the Timber Canyon area. Affirming suspicions posted in recent weeks on thrill ride enthusiast message boards, the announcement confirmed the Gerstlauer-built contraption will be the first American version of the company's Euro-fighter design. Themed to represent an abandoned, and apparently haunted, early 20th century coal mine with seven mine carts carrying eight passengers each, the two-and-a-half-minute trek will take riders to speeds of up to 46 miles per hour. Highlights on the 1,811-foot track will include an impressive 95-degree, 85-foot vertical drop (a little less than the 121-feet some early reports cited), a "heart-line roll" weightless inversion, "rollover loop" double inversion (upward half-loop and half-roll) and an Immelmann maneuver (as the car approaches a vertical loop's apex, it rolls on its axis, is inverted and becomes right-side-up as it turns away from the loop in the same direction as it entered). Numerous high-speed twists combine with what are promised as state-of-the-art special effects, a drop from a collapsed trestle, a plunge into an abandoned tunnel and more. "I've had to keep my big mouth shut about the Mystery Mine, but I can tell you now, it's the most exciting thing to come out of these hills in a long, long time," Dolly said in a press release. "And I've got a few more tricks up my sleeve that I'm still not telling you about until it opens at Dollywood next year, but I can guarantee you it's well worth the wait!" Catch a brief story from Knoxville television station WVLT here and an Associated Press story here based on the press release. A simulation animated video, artist's renderings, photos from the groundbreaking, the ride specs and the five-part back-story "legend" which has been posted over the past five weeks are all available at www.mysterymine.com. Artist's rendering of the ride at left is courtesy Dollywood. Click on the photo for a larger view.
CMT Has A Dolly Moment, 20 Of Them, Actually A bevy of celebrities and Dolly herself weighed in on her 20 greatest achievements in the premiere of CMT's Greatest Moments: Dolly Parton on the country music cable network Friday night. Taking the No. 1 spot: the day in 1987 when a bronze statue of her was unveiled on the Sevier County Courthouse lawn in her hometown of Sevierville, Tenn. In one of the program's most touching moments, she followed up her father's joke that to her fans she may be an idol but to the pigeons her statue was just another outhouse with a story that when her parents were living they were so proud of her statue that they would sometimes drive to the courthouse late at night with a broom and bucket and her father would clean it for her. With No. 20 being her big break on The Porter Wagoner Show, Dolly noted "I thank God for Porter all the time, and I thank God for that opportunity." Discussion of "Jolene" (No. 19) brought footage of several artists who have covered it over the years, while the segment on her late '90s return to roots music (No. 16) featured the seldom-seen footage of her winning the International Bluegrass Music Association's Album of the Year. They interspersed additional footage of her into Brad Paisley's video for their duet "When I Get Where I'm Going" (No. 14), singling her out for having a top 10 in each of the past five decades (although it didn't note she is the only artist to have hit No. 1 in each of the past four decades). Regarding "Travelin' Thru" (No. 6), her controversial Oscar-nominated song this year about a transgendered person, she said, "I felt led to do it." And it was noted that her Imagination Library (No. 5) is the largest privately-funded literacy program in the nation. At the program's end, Dolly offered that she had fun reminiscing about her greatest moments thus far, adding "It is my belief that my greatest moments are still ahead." Read some excerpts from the interview on CMT.com here. Image at left from the interview for the show courtesy CMT. Used with permission. See more shots here. Those interviewed for the program included journalists Wade Jennsen and Chet Flippo, biographer Alanna Nash, WSM's Jennifer Herron, producer Steve Buckingham, former manager Sandy Gallin, Dollywood's Pete Owens and Steve Summers, co-stars Daryl Hannah, Lily Tomlin and Dabney Coleman, TransAmerica actor Kevin Zegers, Uncle Bill Owens and singers Lee Ann Womack, Alison Krauss, Vince Gill, Brad Paisley, Joe Nichols, Wynonna, Dan Tyminski, Kenny Rogers and Whitney Houston (in stock footage from 1991).
The complete top 20 "Moments" were:
20. The Porter Wagoner Show (1967-1974)
19. "Jolene" (1974)
18. Honky Tonk Angels (1993)
17. Playboy (1978 cover)
16. The Grass Is Blue (1999)
15: Grand Ole Opry (1969)
14. "When I Get Where I'm Going" (2006)
13. Johnny's Favorites (1977 The Tonight Show)
12. Trio (1987)
11. Dolly & Kenny (1983)
10. Entertainer of the Year (1977 ACM, 1978 CMA)
9. Dollywood (1986)
8. Steel Magnolias (1989)
7. "Coat of Many Colors" (1971)
6. "Travelin' Thru" (2006)
5. Imagination Library (1996)
4. "I Will Always Love You" (1974)
3. 9 To 5 (1980)
2. Hall of Fame (Country Music 1999, National Songwriters 2001)
1. Bronze Dolly (1987)
The show repeats at 12:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. Eastern Saturday, 7 p.m. Sunday, 8 p.m. Monday, 10 p.m. Tuesday and 8 p.m. Thursday. In the interest of ethics, I have to disclose that your webmaster and this site have a "special thank you" acknowledgement in the show's credits.
Fan Doc In L.A. Don't forget if you're out West to catch the captivating Dolly fan documentary For The Love Of Dolly as it plays as part of OutFest: The Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival in California. The film shows at 5 p.m. on both Saturday and Wednesday at the Village Theater. This is the final announced scheduled screening of the movie following rave reviews at film festivals over the past five months in Miami, Nashville, Dallas, New York, Provincetown and San Francisco. I would expect additional festival engagements to be forthcoming in the next few months, followed by a likely cable TV premiere and DVD release in the next couple of years. Check out the special section of Dollymania dedicated to the project here.
Talking 'Bout Them Parton Girls The Gainesville Times down in Georgia had an interesting column Friday by a local author who is friends with Dolly's sister, Stella. She marvels at Dolly's talent as "undeniably, one of the greatest songwriters who's ever lived" but explains why she prefers Stella's singing voice. Read it here.
Auctions End Next Week Make a note that the eBay auctions of several autographed Dolly items, including one of her dresses, to help artist Donna Davis Carter as she undergoes cancer treatment end in the wee hours of Tuesday morning Eastern/late Monday night on the West Coast. As of Friday night, the dress was up near $1,200. See the items here.
July 7: Dolly's Just Recording Demos, Not CD There won't be a new Dolly CD out anytime soon, Dollymania has learned. The Dolly fan community has been buzzing in recent weeks about the possibility of a new album with rumors that she has been in the studio in Nashville recording material for an upcoming project, but a spokesperson for the singer confirms to the site this week that this is only partially true. While she has been in the studio, he explained, she is merely laying down some demos "just for fun" with no plans at present to release any of the material she is recording. Thanks! (Image at left of Dolly in the studio recording tracks for The Grass Is Blue courtesy Sugar Hill Records.)
CMT Reminder, Pics Posted Get those VCRs and DVRs ready, as Dolly gets her "moment" tonight on CMT. The cable network will premiere CMT Greatest Moments: Dolly Parton at 8 p.m. Eastern on Friday. Producers tell me Dolly sat down with them in her Nashville office back in May for what they described as a "rare" two-hour interview, much of which was used for the hour-long program. They also say that they used Dollymania for much of the historical data in the Biography-like documentary program. After Friday's first airing, the show will repeat several times Saturday through Thursday (see full schedule in the TV listings on this page's left-hand column). Check out some shots of Dolly during the interview, including a larger version of the image at left, here courtesy CMT, and visit CMT.com's page dedicated to the episode here.
Sites: Dolly On 'Hannah Montana' You may recall it noted here a few months back that TV Guide Online had reported a source saying Dolly would guest on the Disney Channel series Hannah Montana this summer, and soon thereafter, it was revealed that an upcoming episode would be titled "Good Golly, Miss Dolly." Well, both the Internet Movie Database and TV.com have just reported in their guides for this particular episode that Dolly will, in fact, appear as herself in a guest-starring role. No word yet on when the episode will air. The series stars Dolly friend Billy Ray Cyrus as a songwriter who moved from Nashville to California with his daughter, Miley (played by his real-life daughter of the same name), who keeps secret from her friends at school that in her spare time she performs as pop teen sensation Hannah Montana.
'Going' Gone From Another Chart Its chart run almost everywhere is over, as "When I Get Where I'm Going" by Brad Paisley with Dolly has fallen off Billboard's all-genre 25-position Hot 100 recurrent airplay chart, which tracks radio popularity of songs that have been removed from the main chart under longevity rules. The tune had been No. 21 the previous week. As has previously been reported here, the collaboration slides four to No. 10 on the country recurrent singles list. In other news in the July 15 numbers, the disc which contains the hit, Paisley's Time Well Wasted, dips one to No. 15 country and two to No. 66 pop and comprehensive in its 46th week, also falling two to No. 34 Canadian country. Martina McBride's Timeless, featuring Dolly harmony on "I Still Miss Someone," loses four to No. 47 country in its 36th chart week. Kenny Rogers's 21 Number Ones, with "Islands In The Stream," drops four No. 36 country in its 23rd week, also plummeting 25 to No. 193 pop and falling out of the top 200 comprehensive, down from No. 187 the previous week. Rhonda Vincent's All American Bluegrass Girl, featuring Dolly on its current single, "Heartbreaker's Alibi," remains steady at No. 3 bluegrass but descends seven to No. 75 on the 75-position country albums tally in its fifth week, while her concert disc Ragin' Live, and its version of "Jolene," inches up two to No. 13 in its 68th week on the bluegrass list. The Dixie Chicks hold on to the No. 1 country spot but lose one No. 4 pop with Taking The Long Way moving 78,000 copies in its sixth week, while Rascal Flatts' Me And My Gang remains at to No. 2 country but gains four to No. 7 pop in its 12th chart week selling 59,000 units.
Hot Spot For Summer Travel USA Today included Dollywood on Thursday as one of seven "quirky alternatives to major theme parks," noting that its travel guides have attempted to single out the best from a list "overflowing with funky alternatives to the dense crowds, long lines, and high prices of major theme parks." Read about it here. Thanks, Jim!
July 5: Burke Talks Up Project With Dolly "King of Rock and Soul" Solomon Burke is already out plugging his country album, hitting stores in September and including a duet with Dolly on "Tomorrow Is Forever." Burke told The Toronto Sun this week: "What an experience I had recording the new album in Nashville! Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris are just two of the fantastic ladies singing with me. It was so exciting -- I got autographs, I even got a new cowboy hat. I'm ready." Read the full story here.
Get To Know Some Ride Workers The Jasper Newsboy in Jasper, Texas, this week profiles a couple of its former residents who stopped at Dollywood one day and decided to stay to run the rides there. Read the story here
'Going' Also Gone Overseas "When I Get Where I'm Going" by Brad Paisley and Dolly drops out of the top 20 country airplay singles tally in Malta this week, down from No. 19, the European CMA revealed Tuesday, and the title track to Dolly's Those Were The Days also falls out of the top 20 in Italy, down from No. 17.
July 4: HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!
Re-Issues Coming In January Some old Dolly albums will be getting new life as part of Sony BMG's "American Milestone" series, it has been announced. The label's Legacy imprint will re-release three of Dolly's most critically-acclaimed titles under the series heading in January: 1971's Coat Of Many Colors, 1973's My Tennessee Mountain Home and 1974's Jolene. While Coat and Jolene were re-issued on CD for the first time in the U.S. on BMG's Buddha imprint in 1999, Mountain has only been available on CD in Europe, where BMG put it out as a double-CD with Jolene in 2001. All three versions are now out-of-print and no longer available from most music stores. While no further details have been released yet for Dolly's entries, CDs in the "Milestone" series typically feature the original artwork, new liner notes and, often, previously-unreleased bonus tracks. All three are scheduled for release on Jan. 23 and are available for pre-orders now at Amazon by clicking on the link beneath each title above. Thanks, Tony!
'Billboard' Update Continuing to lose radio audience, "When I Get Where I'm Going" by Brad Paisley and Dolly will drop four more spots to No. 10 on the July 15 recurrent country singles charts, the magazine announced Monday. The song lost about 1 million listeners to a nationwide total of in 10.1 million for the week as gauged on the tally tracking the popularity of songs that have been removed from the main singles charts due to longevity restrictions. Were the two charts combined, the tune would have come in at No. 33, compared to the equivalent of No. 30 the previous week.
Vincent Disc On Bluegrass List Rhonda Vincent's new release, All American Bluegrass Girl, featuring Dolly on its first single, "Heartbreaker's Alibi," debuts at No. 14 on the July Bluegrass Unlimited bluegrass albums chart, it was revealed Monday.
This Week's 'CW' Has Little Dolly There's not much Dolly in the new issue of Country Weekly out this week. The only mention I saw was a photo of the lunchbox she contributed to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee charity auction on eBay from three weeks ago in the celebrity round-up. Also, while she was one of the 25 preliminary nominees for the magazine's title of country's sexiest woman, she didn't make the top 10 in final reader voting, which selected Faith Hill as No. 1.
Fan Site Updates Here are a couple of items in Dolly Internet news: Fan site Our Queen Dolly Parton has moved to a new home here, and after a few months' absence, British fan site Ultimate Dolly UK has returned with its re-vamped layout and content here. Thanks for letting me know, guys!
July 3: Dolly Dress Up For Auction, Again After an in-person silent auction in April failed to bring in bids large enough to meet the minimum reserves, a few items from the event to raise funds to assist artist and muralist Donna Davis Carter in her second fight against cancer were listed on eBay over the weekend. These include a black velvet evening dress with gold lame sequins in triangular patterns which family members say Dolly donated from her personal closet (an image of her wearing what appears to be the same dress to the 1997 Vanity Fair Oscar party is available here), an autographed tour book from "The Vintage Tour" and a country music history book with several artists' signatures, including Dolly's. View the items here. Well-known in the Nashville art community for decorative murals, historic Santas and as designer of the Murfreesboro bicentennial poster, Carter will be unable to work for several months as she undergoes treatment for myxoninflammatory fibroblasticsarcoma. As the artist has worked for Dolly several times in the past painting murals in her home, Dolly agreed to donate several items for the silent auction, Carter's family said. Several smaller Dolly-signed items sold at the April auction. The eBay auctions end on July 10, and as of Sunday bidding for the dress was past $700. Thanks!
CMT Special Almost Here We're now less than one week away from the big premiere of CMT Greatest Moments: Dolly Parton, which airs at 8 p.m. Eastern Friday with repeats throughout the next couple of weeks. Those involved with the show tell me that Dolly granted them a "rare" two-hour interview, portions of which were used throughout the hour-long program. They also used a great deal of historical data from Dollymania in the show as well, I'm told. The page on CMT.com dedicated to the episode here has added a photo gallery of some shots of her over the years used in the program as well as streaming video of a couple of clips from the show's interview (one on filming Steel Magnolias and one on her songwriting) and a poll of which classic Dolly tune you like best ("Here You Come Again," "I Will Always Love You," "Islands In The Stream," "Jolene" or "9 To 5" -- "IWALY," as it is known in some fan circles, was leading as of last count with more than 40 percent of the vote). Thanks!
More Library Coverage Dolly's Imagination Library national literacy program turns up again this weekend in The Tennessean, this time spotlighting the League of Extraordinary Teens, a group of teen-agers who work to publicize, raise funds and sign up kids for the statewide effort in Tennessee. Read more here.
July 1: 'Going' Gone From GAC Well, after a good run, the former No. 1 "When I Get Where I'm Going" by Brad Paisley with Dolly is off the last major chart that still had it on there, as the video has fallen out of the Great American Country (GAC) Top 20 Countdown, the network announced Friday. The video had been at No. 14 the previous week after nearly half a year on the chart. You may still vote for it daily, however, in the fan-determined countdown for next week by clicking here. Now it only remains on the Billboard "recurrent" charts and will likely drop off of those in a few more weeks.
Vincent Video Available I've been alerted that Rounder Records this week posted streaming video of Rhonda Vincent's "Heartbreaker's Alibi." As was previously reported, Dolly is featured both in the song and in the video. Take a peak at the unique video, and others offered by Rounder artists (including Dolly pals The Grascals), here. (Dolly looks great!) Thanks, Trey!
Another Piece Of The Mine 'Mystery' Although info is still pretty hush-hush about next year's big Dollywood addition, the Mystery Mine, German amusement manufacturers Gerstlauer this week identified themselves as the company which will construct the attraction at the park, set to debut in April 2007. Speculation on roller coaster enthusiast message boards has been that the few details which have leaked out about it indicate it is likely a "Euro-Fighter" or "Bobsled Coaster." Both look terrifying but oh, so cool! Thanks, Tony! Formal announcement of the coaster, with many more details, is expected in another week. The park has been teasing it by providing a video back story in several installments, the fifth and final one of which premiered here on Friday.
Keep Those Cards And Letters Coming Just a reminder that former Dolly.net webmaster Mark Burgess could use your thoughts and prayers during his time of illness. Letters of encouragement and cards may be mailed to 330 Franklin Road, Suite 135A Box 255, Brentwood, TN 37027. I understand he is doing better and has returned home, but his condition is still pretty bad. Thanks Mel!
Thanks at least in part to Dolly, tourism increased last year in all 95 Tennessee counties, state tourism officials said in a meeting held in 
A few more details have come to light on this fall's 
The illness which prompted former Dolly duet partner Porter Wagoner to be admitted to a Nashville hospital Friday was an abdominal aortic aneurysm, according to published reports. Wagoner underwent surgery on Friday and was expected to make a full recovery, although he will remain hospitalized for several days, it was reported Saturday. Read a brief from CMT.com 
Prayers are requested for former longtime Dolly duet partner and mentor Porter Wagoner, who was admitted to a Nashville hospital Friday. According to published reports, Wagoner, who turns 79 next month, became ill at home earlier in the day, prompting the hospital admission and cancellation of his scheduled appearances Friday night on The Grand Ole Opry. Although an Opry spokesperson told The Tennessean that the Hall of Famer did not suffer a heart attack, details of his symptoms or illness were not released. Read more from the newspaper 
Dolly makes the cover of British music magazine Gear this month (issue 18), seen at left. I'm told the article focuses on her latest custom-built guitar. The publication is available free at music instrument stores throughout the U.K. and is also a free insert in this month's Guitar Buyer magazine there as well. Thanks, Steve!
I'm told the Dolly fan pic 
A bevy of celebrities and Dolly herself weighed in on her 20 greatest achievements in the premiere of CMT's Greatest Moments: Dolly Parton on the country music cable network Friday night. Taking the No. 1 spot: the day in 1987 when a bronze statue of her was unveiled on the Sevier County Courthouse lawn in her hometown of Sevierville, Tenn. In one of the program's most touching moments, she followed up her father's joke that to her fans she may be an idol but to the pigeons her statue was just another outhouse with a story that when her parents were living they were so proud of her statue that they would sometimes drive to the courthouse late at night with a broom and bucket and her father would clean it for her. 
There won't be a new Dolly CD out anytime soon, Dollymania has learned. The Dolly fan community has been buzzing in recent weeks about the possibility of a new album with rumors that she has been in the studio in Nashville recording material for an upcoming project, but a spokesperson for the singer confirms to the site this week that this is only partially true. While she has been in the studio, he explained, she is merely laying down some demos "just for fun" with no plans at present to release any of the material she is recording. Thanks! (Image at left of Dolly in the studio recording tracks for 
Get those VCRs and DVRs ready, as Dolly gets her "moment" tonight on CMT. The cable network will premiere CMT Greatest Moments: Dolly Parton at 8 p.m. Eastern on Friday. Producers tell me Dolly sat down with them in her Nashville office back in May for what they described as a "rare" two-hour interview, much of which was used for the hour-long program. They also say that they used Dollymania for much of the historical data in the Biography-like documentary program. After Friday's first airing, the show will repeat several times Saturday through Thursday (see full schedule in the TV listings on this page's left-hand column). Check out some shots of Dolly during the interview, including a larger version of the image at left, 
Did you know that although she has appeared in numerous films, Dolly was unable to vote when ballots went out earlier this year on her second Oscar nomination? That's because she was not a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), which hands out the little gold statues each year. That should change next year, as the Academy announced Wednesday that Dolly is among 120 artists and executives invited this week to join as voting members of the Academy. "Two years ago the Academy decided to slow membership growth, and to become even more selective in choosing members," Academy President Sid Ganis explained in a press release. "Instead of inviting every proposed person who has achieved the minimum qualifications for his or her branch, the membership committees are selecting the most exceptionally qualified names from those lists." No more than 30 new membership slots are added each year, so at least 90 of this year's selected ones are filling vacancies left by deceased or retiring previous members. Among the group honored with membership this week are several of Dolly's fellow nominees from this year's awards, including 