Dolly U Continues At Belmont The next five courses in Belmont University's "Dolly U" course of study have launched for the spring semester. Learn more from Music Rowhere.
'Morning' Makes U.K. Chart With the attention brought by release of the new multi-artist version of Doly's "Light Of A Clear Blue Morning," the original 1977 track debuts this week at No. 10 on both the British single sales chart and British download singles chart. However, the song didn't have enough streams to push it into the top 100 pop chart across the pond. Elsewhere on the U.K. charts,
Very Best Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 re-enters the top download albums chart at No. 69 while holding its No. 1 spot on the British country compilation albums list as her Diamonds & Rhinestones, The Greatest Hits Collection rises three to No. 7, Glen Campbell's Ghost On The Canvas Sessions with a Dolly duet, re-enters the top 20 at No. 17, The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe climbs five to No. 13, and Emmylou Harris' first installment in Original Album Series re-enters the top 20 at No. 11 while the second installment holds steady at No. 15, as both feature several Dolly appearances. Sabrina Carpenter's Short & Sweet Deluxe Edition, with its Dolly duet, finds itself at No. 20 U.K. pop. Post Malone's F 1 Trillion, with its Dolly duet, falls out of the top 20 country albums, down from No. 20. Beyonce's Cowboy Carter, with its Dolly appearances, is No. 13 British country albums and No. 11 Americana albums.
On the Jan. 24 U.S. charts, Carpenter is No. 16 U.S. pop albums, while Malone is No. 11 country and No. 98 pop.
Down Under, Carpenter is No. 8 pop albums, Malone No. 4 Australian country albums and No. 35 pop, and Beyonce at No. 25 country.
Jan. 20: Happy, Happy 80th Birthday, Dolly!
On Monday, the lady herself turned 80 years old, and the world celebrated its most beloved celebrity. USA Today collected well wishes from fellow country artists here including Keith Urban playing a recording of him singing "Applejack" at age 10 and sounding almost exactly like Dolly. The Tennessean shared a longer version of the video on YouTube here or in the media player above. As was previously announced, and has been her habit in past years, she for the fourth time did not attend the Grand Ole Opry birthday tribute to her Saturday night, but she did accept a Coat of Many Colors cake from an Arkansas baker here and a bagpipe serenade sent from Bono and U2 here. The Governor of Tennessee declared Monday Dolly Parton Day in honor of her milestone birthday, and People shared an exclusive interview about the occasion here. Cracker Barrel restaurants used the opportunity to announce its new Dolly section of its stores featuring her home goods. And multiple career retrospectives aired including from WBIR here, NBC's Todayhere and Extrahere.
New 'Light Of A Clear Blue Morning' Released
Dolly on Friday released a new recording of her 1977 song of liberation from her decade under Porter Wagoner's thumb, "Light Of A Clear Blue Morning," as a celebration of her 80th birthday and as a fundraiser for pediatric cancer research at the Monroe Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Joining her on the song to inspire Americans to hope for a better tomorrow were Lainey Wilson, Miley Cyrus, Queen Latifah, Reba, Christ Church Choir, and David Foster on piano (who also played the recognizable piano parts on her 1970s singles "Here You Come Again" and "Heartbreaker" in addition to producing her Christmas album with Kenny Rogers). Watch the video of them recording in studios here or in the media player above, and download the track from Amazon here.
Opry's Dolly Mic Stand Up For Auction The Grand Ole Opry is auctioning off a custom-designed 100th anniversary microphone stand honoring Dolly and used on the program. Check it out from Juliens Auctions here.
U.K., U.S., Aussie Chart Updates Across the pond, Very Best Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 holds its No. 1 spot on the British country compilation albums list, while her Diamonds & Rhinestones, The Greatest Hits Collection slides three to No. 10, as Dolly's Live from London and Glen Campbell's Ghost On The Canvas Sessions with a Dolly duet, both fall back out of the top 20, down from No. 15 and No. 16, respectively, while the second Emmylou Harris installment in Original Album Series, featuring several Dolly appearances, and The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe both re-enter the top 20 at No. 15 and No. 18, respectively. , Sabrina Carpenter's Short & Sweet Deluxe Edition, with its Dolly duet, finds itself at No. 13 U.K. pop. Post Malone's F 1 Trillion, with its Dolly duet, is at No. 20 country albums. Beyonce's Cowboy Carter, with its Dolly appearances, is No. 13 British country albums and No. 10 Americana albums.
On the Jan. 17 U.S. charts, Carpenter is No. 14 U.S. pop albums, while Malone is No. 10 country and No. 86 pop.
Down Under, Carpenter is No. 8 pop albums, Malone No. 4 Australian country albums and No. 33 pop, and Beyonce at No. 24 country.
Jan. 13: Dolly Narrates Tennessee Short Film
Dolly last week was unveiled as the narrator for a short film the State of Tennessee released about the state's history for the nation's 250th birthday. Watch it here or in the media player above.
'Opry Goes Dolly' Names Cast
The Grand Ole Opry last week announced the acts performing for their fourth annual "Opry Goes Dolly" birthday celebration in her honor and it will be headlined by Lainey Wilson, Vince Gill and Rhonda Vincent. Dolly recorded a video for the show to promote it but noted she wouldn't be there in person, leading to lots of media speculation that it is due to her recent health issues, but in truth she didn't attend the first, second, or third annual events so there is no reason for her to join them for the fourth one. However, she did agree to their release of a selection of branded merch for the evening under the emblem "80 Years of Song." Check out her video for the show that is this coming Saturday night (in advance of her 80th birthday on Monday) here and in the media player above.
Download 'Sing For The Common Man' Collab
As promised, Dolly's niece Jada Star released her cover of "Sing for the Common Man" featuring Dolly harmony vocals on Friday. Download it from Amazon here or stream it on YouTube here or in the media player above. The song, which was originally the B-side to "9 To 5," was written by Jada's parents, Freida Parton and Mark Andersen.
U.S., U.K., Aussie Chart Updates Former No. 1 "Butterfly" by the Zac Brown Band and Dolly falls back off the Billboard Country Digital Sales Chart last week on the Jan. 10 charts after returning for a second week and claiming No. 6 on the tally. Also, her 1984 holiday collection with Kenny Rogers, Once Upon A Christmas, falls back off the Holiday Albums Chart, down from No. 50, and the Country Albums Chart, down from No. 42. Elsewhere on the U.S. charts, Sabrina Carpenter's Short & Sweet Deluxe Edition, with its Dolly duet, is No. 10 U.S. pop albums, while Post Malone's F 1 Trillion, with its Dolly duet, is No. 11 country.
Down Under, Carpenter is No. 6 pop albums, Malone No. 3 Australian country albums and No. 32 pop, and Beyonce at No. 21 country.
Jan. 6: 'Sing For The Common Man' Collab Coming Friday A new collaboration will hit streamers on Friday with Dolly joining niece Jada Star on a new version of "Sing For The Common Man," The B-side to her million-seller "9 To 5" in 1980, the song was written by Star's parents, Freida Parton and Mark Andersen. It will feature Jada, Dolly, Jada's cousin Rebecca, Jada's musical partner Barry J. and a children's choir. Pre-save the track here.
'Butterfly,' 'Once Upon' Return To Charts Three months after spending one week at No. 1 on the Billboard Country Digital Sales Chart, "Butterfly" by the Zac Brown Band and Dolly re-enters for a second week, coming in at No. 6 on the tally's Jan. 3 edition released last week. That's not the only re-entry, as her 1984 holiday collection with Kenny Rogers, Once Upon A Christmas, re-enters both the Holiday Albums Chart at No. 50 and the Country Albums Chart at No. 42. Elsewhere on the U.S. charts, Sabrina Carpenter's Short & Sweet Deluxe Edition, with its Dolly duet, is No. 30 U.S. pop albums, while Post Malone's F 1 Trillion, with its Dolly duet, is No. 24 country.
Down Under, Carpenter is No. 5 pop albums, Malone No. 3 Australian country albums and No. 34 pop, and Beyonce at No. 13 country.
Country Hall Of Fame To Talk Dolly's Fashion The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum will be host a panel discussion of Dolly's 2023 book Behind The Seams: My Life In Rhinestones in celebration of her 80th birthday featuring her co-authors Holly George-Warren and Rebecca Seaver, director of museum and archive services for Dolly Parton Productions, as well as Dolly's longtime creative director Steve Summers. Supporting the current exhibit "Dolly Parton: Journey of a Seeker," the panel is 3-4:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 17, and is free for Hall of Fame membership holders with tickets available for non-members. Read more from WSMV here.
Sister Opens Up About Prayer Controversy Dolly's sister Freida was interviewed about her new album recently but the published story chose to focus on the uproar she caused when she asked for prayers for Dolly during her recent illness. She explained she asked for prayers for her sister because that's what their mother encouraged them to do when she was alive. Read more here.
Ohio Promotes Imagination Library Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine plans to focus on supporting his existing successes for his final year in office, he told Cleveland.comhere, including his support for the state's affiliate of Dolly's Imagination Library early childhood literacy program. Ohio surpassed Tennessee a couple of years ago as the state with the largest number of enrolled children participating. The international program surpassed 300 million books delivered worldwide in December.
