Dolly doused her wig with water and ice Thursday as she accepted the ALS ice bucket challenge. She noted she had been challenged by several individuals, most notably duet partner Kenny Rogers, who said she would never agree to do it and dared her to. She removed her scarf and earrings, joking when it was suggested that she remove her shoes: "My shoes are plastic but then again so's the rest of me!" She said the challenge was for a "good cause and a good laugh."Her nieces dumped the water on her head, and she exclaimed: "And yes I have on a bra. Kenny, you gotta pay extra for the wet t-shirt contest!" In a press release, she added: "Although, I didn't challenge anyone, I do challenge everybody to make a generous donation like I did!" News of her challenge was covered by numerous media outlets, including USA Todayhere. Watch the video on YouTube here or in the media player above. (Also, your webmaster accepted the challenge. Watch that video on YouTube here or in the media player below.)
DVD Re-Enters 'Billboard' Music Video Chart Dolly's 2012 Cracker Barrel exclusive DVD/CD set An Evening With . . . Dolly re-enters the top 40 music DVD chart at No. 39 for a 48th week, it was announced Thursday in the Sept. 6 Billboard charts. Unfortunately, her Blue Smoke falls back off the top 50 country albums chart, down from No. 47 last week, its 13th on the tally.
'9 To 5' Tops 'Billboard' Work Song List In observance of Labor Day coming up on Monday, Billboard posted a playlist of 20 work-related songs, choosing Dolly's "9 To 5" as the No. 1 song. Read more here.
Aug. 28: 'Blue Smoke' Passes 175,000 Overseas Mid-week sales updates from across the pond indicate that Dolly's Blue Smoke may fall out of the U.K. pop top 10 albums chart this weekend. As of Wednesday, the album had slipped four spots to No. 11 based on the first few days of sales this week. Last week, the CD was No. 7 pop with 8,940 copies sold, bringing its total cumulative sales during its 11 weeks in the top 10 thus far to 176,161 in Britain. The full charts reflecting the entire week's sales will be released on Sunday.
Library Celebrates 10 Years Of Tennessee Foundation To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Gov. Phil Bredesen's creating the Governor's Books from Birth Foundation to fulfill a campaign pledge to provide funding to help take Dolly's Imagination Library literacy program statewide in Tennessee, a bus tour will visit more than 50 counties throughout the state over coming weeks, ending at the state Capitol in Nashville on Sept. 30. Bredesen celebrated creation of the Foundation with Dolly at Dollywood in June 2004. The program reached all of the state's counties in 2006 and since inception in 1996 has distributed 20 million books in the state. In a press release, current First Lady Crissy Haslam said: "This is truly an amazing state-wide outreach effort that will celebrate and build awareness for Books from Birth. It is critical that our children are exposed to books and reading at the earliest possible age. Tennessee's Imagination Library program, supported by the Governor's Books from Birth Foundation, is a proven and essential component of our state's early childhood development initiatives." In the same release, current Gov. Bill Haslam said: "This program has made a significant impact in Tennessee over the past decade, especially due to the loyal support of hundreds of dedicated volunteers in each county. The First Lady and I encourage communities across the state to celebrate their hard work, which has made the program's 10th anniversary possible."
Aug. 26: Dollywood Accepts ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
Dollywood on Monday posted video of its management staff accepting the ALS ice bucket challenge from Holiday World amusement park. They, in turn, challenged Herschend Family Entertainment (Dolly's partners in the theme park), the staff at Dolly's Dixie Stampede dinner theatre and the Wilderness of the Smokies attraction. Some could say the staff cheated since they used a water feature at Dollywood's Splash Country water park to complete the challenge, and it did not appear to include any ice :) Watch the splash in the media player above or by visiting YouTube here.
GAC Schedules More 'Backstory' Showings Although its Aug. 29 repeat was already revealed here in the TV listings on the left-hand side of the news page, Great American Country (GAC) has revealed additional showings of Dolly's Backstory episode, which originally aired Aug. 2. In addition to the previously-announced 5 p.m. Eastern repeat Friday, it will be broadcast at 2 p.m. Sept. 10, 10 p.m. Sept. 20 and 2 a.m. Sept 21.
American Airlines Highlights Dolly's CD Thanks to Carrie for letting me know that American Airlines passengers may select Dolly's Blue Smoke among the current offerings for the airline's seat back player entertainment.
Dolly Covers 'Gay UK' Magazine Gay UK magazine has issued its fifth edition, for August and September, featuring Dolly on the cover and an interview that promises to touch on "her gay fans, 'Jolene' and why she's a gypsy at heart."
Aug. 25: 'Blue Smoke' Slips On U.K. Tally As was predicted by mid-week sales updates, Dolly's Blue Smoke loses four places this week to No. 7 on the U.K. pop albums chart in its 11th week there. Previously, it peaked for three weeks at No. 2 pop in Britain. The album remains at No. 1 for an 11th week on the country compilations albums chart, while her Ultimate falls off the top 20 country compilations, down from No. 17, her The Tour Collection falls back out of the top 20, down from No. 18, Emmylou Harris's Original Album Series, Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) slips one to No. 14 and Harris's Original Album Series, Volume 1 (with two Dolly covers, one track with Dolly harmony and one track with Trio harmony) moves up four to No. 9 on that list. Down Under, The Very Best Of Dolly Parton, Volume 1 drops seven to No. 39 in its 344th week on the top 40 Australian country albums chart while Dolly's The Box Set Series dips three to No. 40 on the same list.
Share The Meme! Over the weekend, your webmaster created a meme featuring a quote by Dolly from The New York Times article on gays and Dollywood. Find it below (right-click to save a larger version) and feel free to share on your social media!
Aug. 23: Dollywood Profiled In 'NY Times,' 'Backstage' Magazine Dollywood and its relationship with gay and lesbian fans were highlighted in a feature article Thursday for the "Travel" section of The New York Times. In it, Dolly commented: "We're in the business for all families. A family is a family whether you're a gay family or a straight family. If that's your family you should be treated with the utmost respect, and we do that no matter what. I say a good Christian wouldn't be judging anyway. We're supposed to love and accept each other." Read the full story here. In related news, the park is one of a handful noted in a story about being a theme park performer from Backstage magazine here.
'Home' Slides Two On GAC Tally Dolly's music video for "Home" from Blue Smoke slips two places to No. 15 on the Great American Country (GAC) top 20 countdown in its ninth chart week there. You may vote once per day for the video here. Across the pond, Friday's sales update had Blue Smoke at No. 7 in the U.K, the same place it was in Wednesday's mid-week update. The full week's chart will be released on Sunday.
Will Dolly Take The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge? There's been no word whether Dolly will accept the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, which has taken social media by storm and raised more than $53 million over the past three weeks for researching the disease. Several celebrities who have taken the challenge, including duet partner Kenny Rogers and CMT's Katie Cook, have challenged her to dump ice water over her head.
Aug. 22: 'Blue Smoke' Back On U.S. Chart After slipping away for one week, Dolly's Blue Smoke this week re-enters the top 50 country albums chart in the U.S. The CD comes in at No. 47 on the Aug. 30 tally in its 13th chart week, it was revealed Thursday.
Rogers Chats With 'Rolling Stone' About Dolly, Duets Promoting his new Country Music Hall of Fame exhibit, Kenny Rogers sat down with Rolling Stone to discuss his storied career, and there are several Dolly mentions. Check it out here.
'Mental Floss' Discusses Dolly's Avoidance Of Rides Dolly got her own entry in this week's "Mental Floss" information video, this one focusing on "26 Amusing Amusement Park Facts." Watch it here.
Foo Fighters Series Gets HBO Trailer HBO on Thursday released the trailer for the upcoming Foo Fighters series Sonic Highways, which includes Dolly in its Nashville episode. Dolly speaks briefly in the trailer. The weekly series premieres in mid-October. Watch the trailer here.
Amos Covers Dolly In Nashville Show Tori Amos performed in Nashville at the Ryman Auditorium on Monday, and that led her to sing two Dolly covers in tribute to her surroundings. First, there was an audience-requested "Jolene," which she played on two pianos. She also mashed up her song "Cool On Your Island" with "Islands In The Stream." Watch "Jolene" here and "Islands In The Stream" (which comes in just after the 3:00 mark) here. Thanks, Brad!
Aug. 21: 'Blue Smoke' May Slip On U.K. Charts This Week Mid-week sales updates from overseas have Dolly's Blue Smoke slipping four places to No. 7 on the pop albums charts. For the past several weeks, each time the album has been shown on the mid-week charts as falling it either has stayed in place or not dropped anywhere near as far as initially expected once the full week's charts are released on Sunday. Dolly's album has remained in the pop top 10 overseas for all 10 weeks of its release, spending three weeks at a career-high No. 2 position.
'Dolly' Boxed Set Gets U.K. Re-Issue The four-disc, career-spanning Dolly boxed set from 2009 is getting a re-issue overseas. Sony will put the collection out again in the U.K. on Sept. 15, and Amazon is showing it as a U.S. import Sept. 23 here.
U.K. Boy Band Covers Dolly In Music City Show I'm told British boy band One Direction paid a little tribute to Dolly Tuesday night in their Nashville concert, performing her "9 To 5." Thanks!
U.K.'s Dolly Impersonator Profiled Continuing this all-British update tonight, STV's Aberdeen website this week profiled Dolly impersonator Sarah Jayne, who will headline the Granite City Country Music Festival this weekend. Read more here. In related news, and to have one non-U.K. item, New York vocalist Natalie Douglas has a Dolly tribute concert scheduled Sept. 15 at Manhattan's Birdland Jazz Club, Broadway World reported here. Tickets are $30 plus an additional $10 minimum purchase and are available here.
Aug. 19: Solo 'Slippin' Around' Released From Dolly A "new" old Dolly song was released this week, with a solo version of "Slippin' Around" coming out from Heart of Texas Records. She recorded the track for the 2004 tribute album to Floyd Tillman, The Influence, but duet vocals from Tillman were added shortly before the singer passed away. This version is just Dolly's solo vocals and is part of a different tribute, one in Ernest Tubb's memory titled Thanks A Lot Texas Troubador. Download Dolly's track here!
Dolly, Ronstadt Live Tracks Re-Issued, Too In other re-release news, excerpts from Dolly's 1977 radio special taken from a concert at San Francisco's Boarding House theatre have been added to excerpts from a Linda Ronstadt concert at the same venue for a new digital album titled Live At The Boarding House, San Francisco. It takes Dolly's "Higher And Higher," "All I Can Do," "Jolene," "Applejack" and "I Will Always Love You" and adds Ronstadt's "The Only Mama That'll Walk The Line," "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight," "She's A Lovely Woman" and "Break My Mind" for the album. Get it here (or download Dolly's entire Boarding House concert here).
'Blue Smoke' Passes 165,000 Copies Sold In U.K. Dolly's Blue Smoke last week sold 10,905 copies in Britain when it slipped from No. 2 to No. 3 in its 10th week on the pop albums chart. Since its release, it has sold 167,221 units in the U.K.
Miley Takes On 'Love Is Like A Butterfly' Did you know Dolly's goddaughter Miley Cyrus has not only been singing "Jolene" in concert but also "Love Is Like A Butterfly"? Check out audio of her live version here.
Aug. 18: Dolly Slips One Overseas, Still In U.K. Pop Top 3 After three weeks at a career-high peak of No. 2 on the U.K. pop albums chart, Dolly's Blue Smoke slips one in its 10th week overseas to come in at No. 3 pop, while it falls off of the top 40 digital albums tally, down from No. 32. The CD remains at No. 1 for a 10th week on the country compilations albums chart, a list which also sees her Ultimate slip two to No. 17 country compilations, her The Tour Collection re-enter the top 20 at No. 18, Emmylou Harris's Original Album Series, Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) re-entering the top 20 at No. 13 and Harris's Original Album Series, Volume 1 (with two Dolly covers, one track with Dolly harmony and one track with Trio harmony) gaining five to No. 13 on that list. In Australia, The Very Best Of Dolly Parton, Volume 1 regains four spots to No. 32 in its 343rd week on the top 40 Australian country albums chart while Dolly's The Box Set Series debuts at No. 37 on the same list.
Dolly Rises On Great American Country Dolly's music video for "Home" from Blue Smoke regains two places to No. 13 on the Great American Country (GAC) top 20 countdown. You may vote once per day for the video here. Across the pond, Friday's sales update had Blue Smoke at No. 4 in the U.K. Earlier in the week, the tally had the CD at No. 5. It has been No. 2 on the British pop albums chart for the past three weeks. The full week's chart will be released on Sunday.
Aug. 15: Kenny Rogers Exhibit Opens At Hall Of Fame The new Country Music Hall of Fame exhibit Kenny Rogers: Through The Years opens Friday at the Nashville museum, featuring a sprinkling of duet partner Dolly throughout. Most notably, it includes a dress she wore for their most recent music video, "You Can't Make Old Friends" (seen at left), and the dress she wore to perform with Rogers on her 1987-88 ABC variety series, Dolly (seen at right). The exhibit, which also includes several of Rogers's outfits, awards, memorabilia and more, will remain open through June 14. The exhibit was profiled Thursday on NBC's Today, including some Dolly questions for her frequent collaborator. Watch that here. Thanks Ryan Footit, for the photos!
'Blue Smoke' Gone From U.S. Chart, Still Top 5 Overseas After 12 weeks on the Billboard country albums chart, Dolly's Blue Smoke falls off the 50-position list, down from No. 43, Thursday's charts announced. The collection had debuted at No. 2 country and No. 6 pop, her highest debuts ever on each and her career-high peak on the pop charts. Based on chart positions, your webmaster estimates the CD has sold about 67,000 units in the U.S. Across the pond, where the album has sold 160,000 copies, mid-week sales updates on Wednesday had her dipping three to No. 5 pop in the album's 10th week in the U.K., with about 4,000 copies sold for the first half of the week. Full-week charts will come out on Sunday there.
Dollywood Comes In No. 3 In 'USA Today' USA Today on Wednesday released its vote results for the nation's 10 best theme parks, showing Dollywood came in third place behind Six Flags' Magic Mountain in California and Great Adventure in New Jersey. Read more here. In related news, Knoxville's Local 8 television station reported this week that the park will host children's auditions for this winter's Smoky Mountain Christmas musicals Saturday, Aug. 23, at 9 a.m. in the Connor-Short Center on the Sevierville campus of Walters State Community College. Ages 8-12 are sought. Learn more here.
Actress Shares Love For Dolly Brooklyn Nine-Nine star Stephanie Beatriz writes this week about why she loved Dolly growing up and the lessons she learned from her about being poor. Read the enchanting story here.
'Huff Po' Promotes Dolly's Giving Side Dolly's philanthropy through her Imagination Library was highlighted this week in The Huffington Post. Read what they had to say here.
Aug. 13: 'Early Morning Breeze' DVD Track Listing Revealed Laser Media had not released the track listing details in advance for their new Dolly DVD, Early Morning Breeze, which came out on Tuesday. For those who haven't purchased it yet, here are the 13 tracks it contains: four performances from The Porter Wagoner Show ("Early Morning Breeze," "Dumb Blonde," "Gypsy, Joe and Me" and "Mule Skinner Blues" – she is accompanied only by her own guitar on "Early Morning Breeze" and "Gypsy, Joe and Me"), two performances from her 1983 Dolly In London HBO concert ("Coat Of Many Colors" and "Me And Little Andy"), three performances from her 2001 Austin City Limits concert ("Little Sparrow," "Train, Train/Mule Skinner Blues" and "I Don't Believe You've Met My Baby"), "Jolene" from a 1973 appearance on The Wilburn Brothers Show, "I Will Always Love You" from a 1974 Grand Ole Opry appearance, "A Tender Lie" from a 2001 Late Night With Conan O'Brien appearance and "We've Got Tonight" with Kenny Rogers from their 1985 Real Love HBO concert, followed by their concert joking banter. The video and audio quality is about equal to a VHS tape rather than a DVD, but it is nice to have these performances, many of which are available commercially in the U.S. for the first time on DVD. Get yours here!
'Blue Smoke' Might Slip To No. 5 In U.K. The early-week chart updates from Britain show Dolly still in the top 5 pop albums in the 10th week of sales for Blue Smoke. As of Tuesday, with just a couple of days' sales counted, the set has sold another 2,700 copies to come in at No. 5. The album has been No. 2 for the past three weeks. Final, full-week U.K. charts will be released on Sunday.
'Paper' Magazine Features Dolly As 'Original Gangsta' Dolly is among the "Original Gangstas" profiled in the 30th anniversary edition of Paper magazine, noting those individuals "who have moved culture forward and left a stamp on fashion, music, entertainment and lifestyle, changing their given fields while staying true to themselves." Others highlighted people include Patti Smith, Danny Bowien, Rick Owens, Rei Kawakubo, Cindy Sherman, Alice Waters, Jeffrey Deitch, Kehinde Wiley and Sarah Lerfel. Read more from Style Blazerhere.
Report: Post Offices Still Destroying Library Books Post offices in Tennessee are ignoring a state law aimed at protecting books shipped through Dolly's Imagination Library literacy project from being destroyed if undeliverable, Nashville Public Radio reported here on Tuesday. The program mails about 2.7 million books annually to 225,000 children throughout the state and has about 50,000 undeliverable books each year. Most of those books are being destroyed by the U.S. Postal Service because the cost to have them returned to the program is usually more than the book cost to buy in the first place, so the local programs usually choose to not pay for the return postage, which results in the undeliverable books being shredded. Prior to a couple of years ago, nearly all postmasters nationwide provided the undeliverable books back to local programs at no cost until a "waste" study of the Postal Service uncovered the practice. In response, the Tennessee legislature passed and the governor signed a bill making the destruction of undeliverable books illegal, but the Post Office, as a federal agency, is ignoring the state law.
Dolly Episode Of 'The Simpsons' Airs Aug. 25 FX Networks has acquired rights to air all 552 existing episodes of The Simpsons on its FXX channel and will start by airing all of them and the show's one movie in chronological order Aug. 21-Sept. 1 as television's largest-ever marathon, lasting 24 hours a day for 12 days. That means the Super Bowl episode where Dolly is the halftime act and breaks Homer and his friends out of stadium jail using her industrial make up remover will be featured. The network has announced that her episode, "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday," airs at 9 p.m. Eastern Aug. 25.
Aug. 12: Win Night In Dolly's Suite, Meet-And-Greet Every year, Dolly donates a major prize to the Dr. Robert F. Thomas Foundation, of which she is honorary chairperson, to support health care in her native Sevier County, Tenn., and her offering usually brings in several thousands of dollars when auctioned off at the charity's annual Evening of Elegance fundraiser. This year, she has contributed the first night's stay in her 2,200-square-foot Dolly's Suite Dreams suite at Dollywood's 307-room DreamMore Resort, currently under construction and slated for a summer 2015 opening adjacent to her Dollywood theme park and Dollywood's Splash Country water park. In addition to a three-night stay in the suite, the winner will receive a Dolly meet-and-greet, a special in-suite welcome gift from her, four one-day theme park admissions with a Q2Q line management device, four one-day water park admissions with Time Saver line management device, a one-day Riverside Retreat at the water park, four admissions to Dolly's Dixie Stampede dinner theatre, breakfast for four and lunch or dinner for four at the resort's farmhouse-style restaurant and other complimentary meals during the stay. In a press release issued Monday, Dolly said: "Of course, I know how spectacular Dolly's Suite Dreams is going to be because I'm helping with the design, selecting this and that to help decorate and make it special and feel like home. So I'm actually going to be the very first person to spend the night there then I'll welcome this lucky winner and his or her friends as my first official guests. I guarantee it will be the experience of the lifetime at my new Dollywood's DreamMore Resort. And knowing that this helps the Dr. Robert F. Thomas Foundation, which is so very dear to my heart, makes it all the more special for me." Foundation Executive Director Deborah Dowling added: "We're excited about Dollywood's DreamMore Resort and couldn't be happier that Dolly has so generously given the Dr. Robert F. Thomas Foundation the chance to auction the first stay in Dolly's Suite Dreams celebrity suite. Dolly is going to help us make someone very, very happy, and we're thrilled to be a part of this." Tickets for the event to attend the Aug. 16 event at the Sevierville Events Center to bid on the prize package are $200 each and may be purchased by calling Amy Woods at (865) 446-9628.
'Blue Smoke' Gets Third Week At U.K. No. 2 Pop For the third straight week, Dolly's Blue Smoke was the second-best-selling pop CD in the U.K., garnering a third week at her career-peak No. 2 spot on the albums charts overseas. Her set sold 16,665 copies in its ninth week of release, bringing its cumulative total to 156,316 units in the U.K. The set also remains at No. 1 for a ninth week on the country compilations albums tally and rises six to No. 32 digital album sales. Her Ultimate moves up three to No. 15 country compilations, while Emmylou Harris's Original Album Series, Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) falls off the top 20 on that chart and her Original Album Series, Volume 1 (with two Dolly covers, one track with Dolly harmony and one track with Trio harmony) inches down one to No. 18 on that list. Down Under, The Very Best Of Dolly Parton, Volume 1 moves up one to No. 36 in its 342nd week on the top 40 Australian country albums chart. And stateside, the music video for "Home" from Blue Smoke regains one spot to No. 15 on the Great American Country (GAC) top 20 countdown. You may vote once per day for the video here.
Classic Dolly Music DVD Hits Stores Tuesday Don't forget that the new Dolly DVD Early Morning Breeze featuring 44 minutes of live performances of 13 songs from throughout her career, hits stores on Tuesday. If you haven't ordered your copy yet, get it here!
'9 To 5' Alum Performing It Again In Pa. Tony Award nominee Dee Hoty, who played Violet in the first national tour of Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical, is set to reprise that role in a regional production, Playbill reports here. She'll don Violet's costumes once more for a stint with Philadelphia, Pa.'s Walnut Street Theatre with previews starting Sept. 2 and the official opening Sept. 10.
Aug. 8: 'Blue Smoke' Gains On U.S. Charts Dolly's Blue Smoke picks up a few places in its 12th sales week in the U.S., the Aug. 16 charts released Thursday showed. The title gains four spots to No. 43 on the Billboard country albums tally.
Magazine Calls 'Blue Smoke' CD 'Extraordinary' Rolling Stone Country on Thursday revealed a list of 26 albums released thus far this year that fans may have missed but should be sure to "listen to in their entirety" and included Dolly's Blue Smoke, saying: "At 68 years old, Dolly Parton is still gettin' it done. Just ask the more than 100,000 fans who witnessed her impressive performance at England's Glastonbury Music Festival earlier this summer. Better yet, check out the extraordinary Blue Smoke, wherein she beautifully covers both Bon Jovi ('Lay Your Hands on Me') and Bob Dylan ('Don't Think Twice'). Parton's own songs also continue to sparkle with homespun wit and wisdom, from the bluegrass-fed title track to the poignant 'Miss You, Miss Me.' Heck, even the Southern-fried French of the goofy 'Lover du Jour' is, like Parton herself, tout simplement irresistible." Others on the list include releases from Willie Nelson, Martina McBride, Nickel Creek, Suzy Bogguss, Don Williams and others. Read the full list here.
Three Days Left To Vote For Dollywood Just three more days are left to vote for Dollywood in USA Today's 10 Best Awards contest for the world's best theme parks. As of press time, Dolly's park was No. 3 on the list. Vote here until noon Monday!
English Library Volunteers Making Holiday Cards The Salford, England, affiliate of Dolly's Imagination Library early childhood literacy program is making Christmas cards to raise money for their local children's books, The Manchester Evening News reports here. They hope to make 10,000 cards by the holiday.
'Whorehouse' Returning To Broadway Although I'm sure Dolly won't be involved, for those wishing to see the full stage musical of The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas, on which the 1982 film adaptation starring Dolly was based, the Broadway version of the show is returning to The Great White Way for 2015, The Hollywood Reporter reported here.
Aug. 7: Dolly Could Be No. 2 For Third Week Overseas Mid-week chart updates from the British charts company indicates Dolly may hold onto her No. 2 position on the U.K. pop albums chart next week with Blue Smoke. If the CD sticks around for another week at the secondary position, it would be the album's third week at Dolly's career peak position.
Aug. 5: 'Blue Smoke' Passes 140,000 In U.K. Dolly's Blue Smoke last week sold 14,998 copies in Great Britain for its No. 2 pop albums position overseas, it was revealed Monday. The album's U.K. release has sold 140,177 units since its release eight weeks ago. It will likely pass the 150,000 mark this week (and remember, since the U.K. has one-fifth the U.S. population, that would be the equivalent of selling 750,000 copies here). The CD has passed silver and gold award status and is almost halfway to the 300,000-unit platinum status there.
Aug. 4: Dolly Stays No. 2 On U.K. Pop Albums Chart Although mid-week updates had it slipping to No. 3, Blue Smoke this week maintains a second week at her career-peak position of No. 2 on the British pop albums chart in its eighth week of release, it was revealed Sunday. The CD remains at No. 1 U.K. country compilation albums and gains two to No. 38 digital albums. Her The Tour Collection rises five to No. 14 country compilations and Ultimate re-enters the top 20 on the same list at No. 18, while Emmylou Harris's Original Album Series, Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) dips two to No. 19 and her Original Album Series, Volume 1 (with two Dolly covers, one track with Dolly harmony and one track with Trio harmony) loses seven to No. 17. Down Under, The Very Best Of Dolly Parton, Volume 1 falls six to No. 37 in its 341st week on the top 40 Australian country albums chart.
'Idol' Alum Dies At Age 35 American Idol 2008 finalist Michael Johns, remembered for his spectacular cover of Dolly's "It's All Wrong, But It's All Right" on her mentoring episode, died unexpectedly at age 35. An official cause of death had not been released, but several media outlets reported it was due to a blood clot in his ankle. Read more here.
Aug. 2: 'Home' Slips On GAC Tally Dolly's video for "Home" from Blue Smoke slides two to No. 16 in its sixth week on the GAC top 20 countdown in the U.S. You may vote once per day for the video here. And don't forget to watch the network's premiere of Dolly's episode of Backstory on Saturday night.
BBC4 Repeats Dolly's Glastonbury Slot For British fans who missed the broadcast of Dolly's Glastonbury Festival concert set, BBC4 has scheduled a repeat of her show at 10:35 p.m. Saturday.
Dolly Cover Wins iHeartRadio Show Newcomer country artist Lucy Hale, known more for her acting roles such as the series Pretty Little Liars, appeared at the iHeartRadio Theater in Burbank, Calif., Thursday night and wowed the crowd with a cover of Dolly's "Jolene." Watch it on YouTube here or in the media player below.
Aug. 1: 'Blue Smoke' Stays In Top 50 Country Stateside Dolly's Blue Smoke remains in the top 50 country albums in the U.S. in its 11th week since release, slipping two to No. 47 on the Aug. 9 tally, Billboard revealed Thursday.
English Actor Covers Dolly On Debut CD British actor John Partridge has announced his debut music album, Dames, Dudes + Cowboys, to be released Sept. 15 on Big Hand Recordings, will feature a cover of Dolly's classic "Jolene." Read more from Digital Spyhere.
GAC TV Premiere Reminder Don't forget to catch GAC's premiere of Backstory: Dolly Parton at 8 p.m. Eastern Saturday. Read more here.
The new Country Music Hall of Fame exhibit Kenny Rogers: Through The Years opens Friday at the Nashville museum, featuring a sprinkling of duet partner Dolly throughout. Most notably, it includes a dress she wore for their most recent music video, "You Can't Make Old Friends" (seen at left), and the dress she wore to perform with Rogers on her 1987-88 ABC variety series, Dolly (seen at right). The exhibit, which also includes several of Rogers's outfits, awards, memorabilia and more, will remain open through June 14. The exhibit was profiled Thursday on NBC's Today, including some Dolly questions for her frequent collaborator. Watch that 