Dolly last week announced she will be re-issuing her 2020 holiday collection this year with special bonus tracks, including songs recorded in 1986 for her first television movie which are being released for the first time. A Holly, Dolly Christmas Ultimate Deluxe Edition hits stores Oct. 14 on CD and vinyl and will contain the album's original 12 tracks plus the bonus cuts that had appeared on the 8-track and cassette special editions ("The Wish Book" and "Three Candles"), her No. 2 adult contemporary hit single with Rod Stewart from 2004 "Baby It's Cold Outside," her contributions to the 1997 Annbelle's Wish soundtrack ("Silent Night" and "Something Bigger Than Me") and three recordings fans have waited 36 years to hear commercially released: "A Smoky Mountain Christmas," "I'd Like To Spend Christmas With Santa," and "Wrapped Up In You" from her 1986 ABC film A Smoky Mountain Christmas. From the single "A Smoky Mountain Christmas" (listen on YouTube here or in the media player above) released on Friday with the announcement, the tracks appear to be the original 1986 recordings used in the film.
New '9 To 5' Single Coming Sept. 9
Friday also brought the announcement in honor of National Women's Equality Day that Sept. 9 will be the release date for the new single of "9 To 5" by Dolly and Kelly Clarkson from the documentary Still Working 9 To 5. The song was teased by being added to the end of a new trailer for the film here or in the media player above.
'Home For Christmas' Coming On Vinyl Sony Music has announced a first-ever U.S. vinyl release of Dolly's 1990 Home For Christmas Oct. 7 through its Legacy Records imprint at most music retailers that carry vinyl. The album will contain the original 10 tracks as first released. When it originally came out, only The Netherlands released the title on vinyl at the time. The few surviving copies now sell for $200-$300 each. The new version is available for pre-order for $22 here.
Dolly Releases Doggy Parton Line Of Dog Toys An upcoming line of canine toys and clothing from Dolly had been anticipated for some time, her Doggy Parton line made its Amazon debut last week without fanfare. The collection includes plush toys, Dolly costumes for dogs, and rhinestone-studded leashes and collars. Check it out here!
Dolly Makes Another EDM Collaboration EDM DJ trio The Cheat Codes have completed a country music project titled One Night In Nashville, expected for release early next year, and it includes Dolly among its guest artists, The Effingham Radio reported here.
Texas Kid's Mural Defaced A Texas high school senior Dolly fan had painted his senior parking spot with a Dolly portrait which was vandalized, garnering the town's sympathy, The Weatherford Democrat reported here.
U.S., U.K. Chart Updates Ultimate Dolly Parton regains three on the Aug. 27 Billboard country albums chart released Tuesday to No. 47 in its 93rd chart week, while her Run, Rose, Run CD inches up one to No. 2 bluegrass albums in its 24th chart week. Overseas, Run moves up one to No. 8 country albums and 10 to No. 27 Americana albums in its 25th chart week in the U.K., while the British country compilations chart sees Very Best Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 slip two to No. 6 and The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe move down two to No. 11. Back in the U.S., Chapel Hart's "You Can Have Him, Jolene" re-enters the digital singles sales charts for a third week landing at No. 15 country and No. 41 overall.
Aug. 22: Dolly, Bill Anderson Release Bluegrass Remix
Dolly and Bill Anderson on Friday released a new bluegrass remix of their duet "Someday It'll All Make Sense." Watch it in the media player above or on YouTube here and download it here.
Dolly Earns Another British Platinum Single Award The BPI on Friday certified the digital single for her 1973 classic "Jolene" as Dolly's third double-platinum digital single in the U.K., representing downloads of more than 1.2 million copies, following "9 To 5" last year and "Islands In The Stream" reaching that designation earlier this summer.
Dolly's Newest Scent Announced Scent Beauty last week announced availability of samples of Dolly's fourth and final fragrance in her new Front Porch Collection, Tennessee Sunset.
U.S., U.K. Chart Updates Ultimate Dolly Parton drops two on the Aug. 20 Billboard country albums chart released Tuesday to No. 50 in its 92nd chart week, while her Run, Rose, Run CD holds steady at No. 3 bluegrass albums in its 23rd chart week. Overseas, Run holds steady at No. 9 country albums and loses two to No. 37 Americana albums in its 24th chart week in the U.K., while the British country compilations chart sees Very Best Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 gain one to No. 4, The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe move up one to No. 9, and Emmylou Harris's Original Album Series: Volume 1 (with two Dolly covers, one track with Dolly harmony and one track with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) fall off the top 20, down from No. 17.
Hear Abbreviated Dolly, Patterson 'MasterClass' Dolly on Sunday premiered via social media here a 10-minute conversation with her Run, Rose, Run co-author James Patterson about their projects together presented by MasterClass. Check it out in the media player below.
Aug. 15: Dolly Visits Ohio, West Virginia To Promote Library
Wednesday was officially Dolly Parton Day in both Ohio and West Virginia as Dolly visited each state to celebrate their statewide implementation of her Imagination Library early childhood literacy program. She started the day in Columbus, Ohio, where she entertained a crowd of politicians, donors, and current local affiliate representatives viewable here or in the first media player below, with photos available from The Columbus Dispatchhere and an interview with Dolly that the Governor's Office released and is available on Dollymania's YouTube channel here or in the media player above. Then she flew down to West Virginia for a similar presentation there viewable here or in the second media player below as well as an interview with West Virginia Public Broadcasting available here or in the third media player below.
Dolly Seen With Willie, Jimmy At Dollywood Fans this past week were treated to a lot of Dolly sightings at her Dollywood theme park as she began filming for her NBC holiday movie. She was seen on park with Willie Nelson early in the week and Jimmy Fallon over the weekend. She also said in an interview that Billy Ray Cyrus was coming last week to film as well. Shooting is expected to continue at the park off and on throughout the remainder of the month.
Dolly Reportedly Records With Sting While I don't have any specific details yet, I'm told that Dolly recently recorded a new song with rock legend Sting that is currently being engineered, Dollymania has learned.
Dolly Up For Dove Award Dolly last week earned her sixth career Dove Award nomination for Christian music, her third consecutive nod in the past three years, competing for Bluegrass/Country/Roots Recorded Song of the Year for "In The Sweet By and By" she recorded lead vocals on with support from Larry Cordle, Carl Jackson, Jerry Salley, and Bradley Walker. They face off against "All Is Well" by Carrie Underwood, "God Is Real" by The Sound, "Grace and Goodness" by Sunday Drive, and "Mamas" by Anne Wilson featuring Hillary Scott. Winners will be announced Oct. 18 in Nashville and the awards telecast on TBN at 7 p.m. Oct. 21. Dolly was previously nominated in the same category in 2015 as the songwriter of "Daddy Was An Old Time Preacher Man" for a cover version by Rhonda Vincent and Volume Five. She and For KING & Country won Short Form Video of the Year for "God Only Knows" in 2020, and she was also nominated for Country Recorded Song of the Year with Dottie Rambo for "Stand by the River" in 2004 and with Brad Paisley for "When I Get Where I'm Going" in 2006 as well as Pop/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year for "There Was Jesus" with Zach Williams last year.
2008 London Show, 'Dumplin' Doc Released Digitally Dolly Records last week re-issued Dolly's 2008 London concert for online rentals as well as her behind-the-scenes special about recording the Dumplin' Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. While the London concert had previously been released on its own in a DVD/CD double set and as a special reissue sold through Cracker Barrel and the soundtrack documentary originally aired as a CMT special, both videos were included in the Time Life DVD collection of Dolly's career. Now they are both available for digital viewing from Amazon. Rent or buy Dolly: Live From London and Dolly and Friends: The Making of a Soundtrack.
Own A Piece Of Kenny & Dolly History The Estate of Kenny Rogers announced last week an Oct. 21-23 Julien's Auctions offering of many of his personal effects including some Dolly-related items. The auction will be in person in Beverly Hills as well as online at julienslive.com, and a public exhibition of its items will be held at the Beverly Hills auction house Oct. 17-21. While the full catalog has yet to be released, the announcement noted the lot will include two typed and signed letters from Dolly (one thanking him for visiting her theme park in 2016 to help raise funds for her charity and one following their final performance together at his tribute concert) as well as a gold digital sales award for their duet "Islands In The Stream."
Cake Mix Boxed Sets Coming Back Next Week Duncan Hines announced last week that they will restock their Dolly Baking Collection boxes for online ordering starting Aug. 23. Supplies will be limited. While the individual items are sold in stores, fans have reported trouble finding the chocolate frosting in stock anywhere. Reserve your set starting Tuesday of next week here.
In Memoriam: Olivia Newton-John Australian singing legend Olivia Newton-John died at age 73 Aug. 8, and Dolly honored her with a statement on her social media: "So sad to have lost my special friend Olivia Newton-John. So happy that our lives crossed paths. I know her voice is singing beautifully with the angels. With love, Dolly" Newton-John famously covered "Jolene" early in her country music career before becoming a pop superstar, and when the foreign-born singer wasn't fully accepted by American country artists, Dolly's sister Stella wrote and recorded "Ode To Olivia" to protest her mistreatment. While Dolly was originally pressured by her boss Porter Wagoner to briefly join an anti-Olivia/anti-John Denver group in Nashville, she soon became one of their fellow country artists criticized for being too pop herself and became a supporter of them both.
No One Doesn't Like Dolly A Reddit survey of celebrities no one can hate placed Dolly as the world's most-liked female celebrity and second only to skater Tony Hawk overall. British nature documentary narrator David Attenborough came in third, according to We Got This Coveredhere.
New Dolly Fragrance Announced Scent Beauty last week announced availability of samples of Dolly's third fragrance in her Front Porch Collection, Dancing Fireflies.
U.S., U.K. Chart Updates Chapel Hart's "You Can Have Him, Jolene" ends its run on the charts with the Aug. 13 Billboard tallies released Tuesday, as the track falls off the country digital singles sales chart, down from No. 4, and off the overall digital singles sales chart, down from No. 9, after two weeks on each chart. Ultimate Dolly Parton slips one to No. 48 country albums in its 91st chart week, while her Run, Rose, Run CD inches down one to No. 3 bluegrass albums in its 22nd chart week. The audio book for Run, Rose, Run falls off the 15-position New York Times monthly audiobook best seller chart for August released on Friday, down from No. 15 in July, its fourth month on the chart. Overseas, Run loses one to No. 9 country albums and four to No. 35 Americana albums in its 23rd chart week in the U.K., while the British country compilations chart sees Very Best Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 gain one to No. 5, The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe hold steady at No. 10, and Emmylou Harris's Original Album Series: Volume 1 (with two Dolly covers, one track with Dolly harmony and one track with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) lose three to No. 17.
Aug. 8: Dolly Announces Big Bear Mountain At Dollywood
A sparkling "Park Ranger," Dolly took to the stage at Dollywood Friday to announce the park's largest-ever single attraction, the $25 million Big Bear Mountain steel Vekoma coaster (click on the photo for a larger view). Themed around a search for an elusive giant bear rumored to roam the hills around the park, the ride stretches around the west, north, and east perimeter of Wildwood Grove for nearly 4,000 feet of track, taking riders up to 48 miles per hour across the mountainous terrain through three separate launches, multiple airtime hills, high-speed carousel turns and tunnels, including a pass behind a waterfall. It becomes the park's longest coaster and is first with on-board audio. The trains will be themed as four-wheel-drive-SUVs and the ride expects to open in spring 2023. Watch the announcement here or in the media player above.
Dolly Visits Ohio, W.V. Tuesday Dolly is scheduled to spend Tuesday promoting her Imagination Library early childhood literacy program with stops at lunch in Columbus, Ohio, and early evening in Charleston, W.V. The first appearance, at Ohio State University with Gov. Mike DeWine and First Lady Fran DeWine, is a private fundraiser for the charity, should be viewable through the state program's Facebook event here at noon. And the 5:30 stop at Marshall University is also a private, invitation-only gathering and should be available on West Virginia Public Broadcasting's television channels and social media streams. Each visit celebrates the state's statewide partnership in her program.
Dolly Named Carnegie Medal Of Philanthropy Recipient The Carnegie Institutions announced last week that Dolly has been selected as one of this year's Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy recipients. She is being honored in a private ceremony in New York Oct. 13 for "alleviating poverty, strengthening early childhood education through the distribution of free books worldwide, increasing college access, and advancing medical research, including on pediatric infectious diseases and the development of a COVID-19 vaccine." Also being honored are entrepreneur Lyda Hill, Kenyan industrialist Manu Chandaria, and Lynn and Stacy Schusterman.
BMI Names Nashville Song Competition For Dolly Music publishing rights organization BMI announced last week the renaming of its annual Nashville Songwriting Scholarship to the Dolly Parton Songwriters Award. The annual competition is open to aspiring songwriters nationwide and will be funded by the Dolly Parton Music Fund, created with establishing gifts from Luke Combs and Sony Music Publishing's Rusty Gaston, Music Row reported here.
Third Perfume Revealed Last Week Scent Beauty last week announced availability of samples of Dolly's second fragrance in her Front Porch Collection, Early Morning Breeze.
U.S., U.K. Chart Updates Answer song "You Can Have Him, Jolene" from Chapel Hart scoots up four spots to No. 4 country digital singles sales and 27 places to No. 9 overall digital singles sales on the Aug. 6 Billboard charts released Tuesday, the song's second week on the charts. Ultimate Dolly Parton slips one to No. 47 country albums in its 90th chart week, while her Run, Rose, Run CD remains steady at No. 2 bluegrass albums in its 21th chart week. Overseas, Run inches down three to No. 8 country albums and six to No. 31 Americana albums in its 22ndt chart week in the U.K., while the British country compilations chart sees Very Best Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 dip four to No. 6, The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe slip three to No. 10, The Essential Dolly Parton fall off the top 20, down from No. 10, and Emmylou Harris's Original Album Series: Volume 1 (with two Dolly covers, one track with Dolly harmony and one track with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) rise one to No. 14.
'9 To 5' Parody Opens In NYC Next Week New York's Drunk Musicals returns next Monday, Aug. 15, with a send-up of Dolly's foray into Broadway with 5 To 9: A Drunk Dolly Parton Musical at Haswell Greens NYC. Tickets are available here for this mostly-drag parody musical, Broadway World reported here.
Aug. 1: Dolly Headed To Dollywood Friday Dolly is scheduled to make an appearance at her Dollywood theme park Friday morning to announce its 2023 ride addition, teased as "the largest single attraction investment in the history of Dollywood." It is believed from site plans approved by city officials that the attraction will be a new coaster around the Wildwood Grove area. The park has for the past couple of weeks been promoting the attraction with signs about bear sightings and a hotline to report them (which takes one to a recording about bears in the area – 865-868-0168), suggesting it will be themed around bears or possibly a bear hunt. Additional bear-themed promotions have been teased in recent days. The announcement is open to invited guests and as a Golden Event for Diamond Passholders only (who were required to reserve space when the event was revealed), leading some Gold Passholders to complain that they were led to believe when buying their passes this year that all special Golden Events would be open to both Gold and Diamond passholders, as all other Golden Events so far this year have been. It has not been announced as of press time whether she will make any additional appearances or park tours while in town. In related news, Travel & Leisure magazine published an interview with Dolly about being the park's Dreamer In Chief here.
Here Comes Platinum Dolly With 'Jesus' "There Was Jesus" just passed the 1 million paid downloads (or 150 million streaming plays) level to be awarded a digital platinum single trophy from the RIAA, it has been announced. The song was formally certified July 18 and marks Dolly's seventh platinum digital single of the download era, following "Islands In The Stream," "9 To 5," and "Jolene" reaching digital double platinum in January along with "Here You Come Again" reaching digital platinum, while "I Will Always Love You" hit digital platinum last year and "When I Get Where I'm Going" with Brad Paisley was her first to mark the feat in 2015.
Dolly Reveals 'Smoky Mountain' Perfume Dolly on Wednesday announced her second official perfume with the fragrance "Smoky Mountain," following last year's phenomenally successful "Scent From Above." The new scent, described as "a woody, floral scent featuring notes ot tiger orchid warm tonka, and cashmere woods," is available from Scent Beauty in $10 discovery size (0.1 ounce) samples with the full-sized bottle to come out in the fall. The fragrance is the first of her new Front Porch Collection, which was previously available as four body sprays from Walmart, suggesting the other three body spray scents will be coming as perfumes in the near future.
Dolly Nominated For Two Bluegrass Awards Dolly snagged two nominations for the 33rd annual IBMA Bluegrass Music Awards, it was announced last week. Her recording of "In The Sweet By and By" with Carl Jackson, Larry Cordle, Bradley Walker and Jerry Salley is up for both Gospel Recording of the Year and Collaborative Recording of the Year. These mark her sixth and seventh nominations, having been considered for Best Female Vocalist in 2000 when she won Album of the Year for The Grass Is Blue. She also won Recorded Event of the Year in 2002 as one of the performers on Clinch Mountain Sweethearts and 2004 as one of the performers on Livin', Lovin', Losin': Songs of the Louvin Brothers. She also won Gospel Recorded Performance of the Year in 2017 as the songwriter for Joe Mullins' and Ricky and Sharon Skaggs' cover of her "Sacred Memories."
Bill Anderson Duet Video Premieres Dolly and Bill Anderson premiered their music video for their new duet "Someday It'll All Make Sense" on Good Morning America." Watch it here or in the media player below.
'You Can Have Him, Jolene' Hits Charts The darlings of America's Got Talent, Chapel Hart, saw their answer song to Dolly's "Jolene," "You Can Have Him, Jolene," debut last week at No. 8 country digital singles sales and No, 36 overall digital singles sales on the July 30 Billboard charts released Tuesday, Ultimate Dolly Parton moves up three spots to No. 46 country albums in its 89th chart week, while her Run, Rose, Run CD remains steady at No. 2 bluegrass albums in its 20th chart week. Overseas, Run holds steady at No. 5 country albums and No. 25 Americana albums in its 21st chart week in the U.K., while the British country compilations chart sees Very Best Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 hold steady at No. 2, The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe slip two to No. 7, The Essential Dolly Parton gain three to No. 10, and Emmylou Harris's Original Album Series: Volume 1 (with two Dolly covers, one track with Dolly harmony and one track with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) rises one to No. 15.
Dolly's Cake Named Year's Best People magazine issued its 2022 awards for new food products and named Dolly's Coconut Cake from Duncan Hines as the year's best new cake mix.
We're Back! Apologies for the lack of updates the last two weeks. Your webmaster was on vacation and had spotty wifi or cell service.
Dolly Takes Over 'The Orville' Holodeck Dolly stole the show two weeks ago with a surprise guest appearance on the Hulu science fiction dramedy series The Orville. Set in the 25th century, a previous episode focused on a world where female babies were banned and forced to undergo gender reassignment surgery to become boys, and a female activist discovers Dolly and her classic song "9 To 5," which she recites in her plea for asylum. In the new episode, the activist faces a decision on whether to testify about her activities in the asylum colony, and it showcases their admiration for Dolly through a wall of photos dedicated to her as well as a tribal dance scene set to an instrumental version of "Jolene." To convince her to testify, the captain has her talk to "Dolly," a holographic re-creation of Dolly digitally de-aged to appear as she looked about 20 years ago. Dolly tells her the true story of almost losing her toes as a child and sings "Try" to inspire her. Due to increased Covid infections at the time, Dolly refused to fly to Los Angeles to film the scene, so producers tore down the set and rebuilt it in Nashville, where Dolly's studio team shot her portion of the scene, which was later edited together with the other actor's performance. The result was seamless and clean, unlike the obviously CGI appearance in Netflix's Grace & Frankie. The other actress in the scene eventually traveled to Nashville in person to put on her costume and take a photo with Dolly. For those without Hulu, the show moves to Disney+ on Aug. 10. Watch part of the scene on Facebook here or in the media player below and the second part here.
Sony Music has announced a first-ever U.S. vinyl release of Dolly's 1990 
Dolly is scheduled to make an appearance at her