Feb. 27: 'Dumplin'' Returns To U.S. Charts It was a week delayed, but Dolly's post-Grammys sales bump pushed her Dumplin' Original Motion Picture Soundtrack back onto the March 2 charts Billboard released Tuesday. The album re-enters the soundtracks albums chart at No. 16 for a seventh week and the folk/Americana albums chart at No. 21 for a seventh week. The 2003 compilation Ultimate Dolly Parton falls back off the 50-position country albums chart, down from No. 17 country albums in its 49th week and top 200 pop albums chart, down from No. 177 in its fourth week. Dolly falls back off the Artist 100 chart, down from No. 65, and Social 50 chart, down from No. 28, while her original recording of "Jolene" falls back off the top 25 digital country songs chart, down from No. 11.
More From Overseas Press On '9 To 5: The Musical' Across the pond, ITV's This Morning featured an interview with Dolly where the reporter jokingly presented her with membership in the "Fingers As Rhythmic Tools Society" (FARTS) for using her fingernails to write "9 To 5." Watch the segment here or in the media player below. Also, catch Amber & Dolly: 9 To 5 on ITVBe at 9 p.m. Wednesday, a behind-the-scenes look at one of the actresses in the British version of 9 To 5: The Musical prepping for the role including a couple of interviews with Dolly both in Nashville and London. Read more about the special here.
Feb. 26: CMT Plans A Lot Of Dolly March 8 CMT has scheduled some sort of Dolly marathon on Friday, March 8. The morning starts at 8 a.m. with a repeat of Dolly & Friends: The Making Of A Soundtrack, a behind-the-scenes look at her recording the Dumplin' Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. A little later in the day will see a repeat of her 2005 guest appearance on Reba in the episode "Reba's Rules of Real Estate." Then the night belongs to her movies with showings of 1989's Steel Magnolias at 8 p.m. and 2012's Joyful Noise at 10:45 p.m. (Joyful Noise will repeat at noon March 9, while Steel Magnolias repeats at 3 p.m. March 9).
Feb. 25: Four Dolly Tribute Songs Sold 13,000 Post-Grammy Downloads Some SoundScan data became available over the weekend on Dolly's post-Grammy performance sales figures. As was reported previously, "Jolene" re-entered the country digital sales chart at No. 11. Now known is that it was due to selling 5,000 downloads following her performance of the song with Miley Cyrus at the Grammys, bringing its U.S. downloads total to 887,000. Two other songs from the Grammy salute just barely missed making the official Billboard top 25 chart, as "9 To 5" was the week's 27th-biggest selling country download and "Here You Come Again" was No. 30. Both tracks sold about 3,000 copies for the week, bringing their cumulative totals to 500,000 and 271,000, respectively. "Red Shoes" also sold its first stand-alone downloads (as all previous sales had been full-album downloads only), moving 2,000 copies online. On the album side, her Dumplin' Original Motion Picture Soundtrack sold 700 copies for the week to pass the 22,000-unit mark since release.
More Dolly Press From London Appearances A couple new Dolly interviews from overseas when she was promoting the London opening of 9 To 5: The Musical came out on Sunday. First, there was a lengthy discussion with a reporter from The Guardian posted here, and The Daily Star observed how she had turned down requests from several talent shows, including The X Factor and The Voice, to work as a judge here.
Overseas Chart Updates The "gold series" re-issue of The Very Best Of Dolly Parton (Australian Tour Edition) dips two to No. 13 in its 388th chart week on the Australian country albums chart since its original 2007 release, it was revealed Sunday. In its 12th week on the charts across the pond, Dolly's Dumplin' Original Motion Picture Soundtrack inches up one to No. 5 British Country Albums and up three to No. 24 British Soundtrack Albums. The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe by Dolly, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt loses one to No. 4 British country compilation albums chart in its 128th chart week. Also on the U.K. country compilation albums chart, 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 Ronstadt) holds steady at No. 8, while her Original Album Series, Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) falls three to No. 16, Ronstadt's Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) dips two to No. 9 and The Essential Dolly Parton re-enters the top 20 at No. 18.
Feb. 22: Fred Foster, Producer Of Dolly's First Album, Dies At 87 Fred Foster, founder of Monument Records and Combine Music and the man who launched Dolly's music career in Nashville, died Wednesday after an illness. He was 87 years old. In a statement on social media, Dolly reacted, saying: "I am heartbroken that my friend Fred Foster has passed on. Fred was one of the very first people to believe in me and gave me chances no one else would or could. We've stayed friends through the years and I will miss him. I will always love him." Foster created the label and publishing house in 1958, moving to Nashville two years later. In 1965, one year after she moved to Nashville, Dolly was signed by Foster as a singer and songwriter for both companies. Foster also signed Willie Nelson for one song before he switched labels, produced most of Kris Kristofferson's hits (including co-writing "Me And Bobby McGee" with him), and produced most of Roy Orbison's hits. He initially promoted Dolly as a bubblegum pop singer, with only one track, "Happy, Happy Birthday Baby," seeing much airplay, making it to No. 108 on the pop charts. After four singles, he switched her to the country format following the success of "Put If Off Until Tomorrow," a top 10 country duet she co-wrote for Combine Music with her uncle, Bill Owens, and sang as a duet with Bill Phillips on a competing label. In 1967, he produced her debut album, Hello, I'm Dolly, which went to No. 11 on the country albums chart and yielded the top 25 single "Dumb Blonde" and top 20 single "Something Fishy." That success brought Dolly to the attention of Porter Wagoner, who signed her to his television and touring show and eventually signed her to his label, RCA Records, when her Monument contract expired in late 1967. Foster released an album of her previously-unreleased country tracks under the title As Long As I Love in 1970 after she had begun to see more success at RCA. Both albums were re-issued in full by Monument under the title The World Of Dolly Parton Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 in 1972 (re-released once more in 1988 and then again in 1993) and selections from them were compiled onto In The Beginning in 1978. Some tracks from the albums and several of her bubblegum pop singles and B-sides were released on the compilation The Little Things in 1998 on the Country Stars label in Europe. In the 1980s, a banking investment in which Foster was a major funder went bad, wiping him out. He got Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson and Brenda Lee together in 1982 to record new songs and add their vocals to some of Dolly's 1960s masters for an album of duets, The Winning Hand. Although it was a significant success and included a television special to promote it, it wasn't enough to keep the label open for long, and he was forced to sell the company in 1990 to avoid bankruptcy. Dolly attempted to buy it herself at the time but was outbid by her own label, CBS/Columbia. (Coincidentally, both CBS/Columbia and RCA Records were later taken over by Sony Music, consolidating all of Dolly's career recordings from 1965 to 1996 on one label with the exception of her Trio albums and a few guest appearances on others' recordings.) His obituary from The Tennessean is available here.
Camilla Reads To Children For Dolly's Library Her Royal Highness Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, joined Dolly's Imagination Library this week in Liverpool, England, to read to children in celebration of the program reaching 1,000 children in the community. Dolly joined the event via video. Check out the program's Facebook posting here or below.
Feb. 21: Post-Grammy Sales Push 'Ultimate' Back To Top 20 Unfortunately, Dolly's post-Grammys sales bump wasn't enough to bring her Dumplin' Original Motion Picture Soundtrack back onto the Feb. 23 charts Billboard released Wednesday, but her tribute segment as MusiCares Person of the Year did result in significant sales increases for the 2003 compilation Ultimate Dolly Parton, which shoots up 31 places to No. 17 country albums in its 49th week, also re-entering the top 200 pop albums chart at No. 177 for a fourth week. Dolly herself re-enters the Artist 100 chart at No. 65, and her original recording of "Jolene" re-enters the top 25 digital country songs chart at No. 11. Finally, Dolly re-enters the Social 50 chart for social media activity at No. 28 for a second week and a new peak.
U.K. Charts List Dolly's Top Streaming Songs With Dolly's media appearances overseas to promote the London opening of her 9 To 5: The Musical, The U.K. Official Chart Company here released a list of her 20 most streamed songs in the U.K. since the British charts began tracking online streams in 2014. The actual numbers for only her top two songs were publicly noted in the article: over the past five years, "9 To 5" has been streamed 33.4 million times and "Jolene" has seen 29.5 million. The full top 20, with year of release as singles in the U.K., were as follows:
1. "9 To 5," 1981
2. "Jolene," 1976
3. "Islands In The Stream" with Kenny Rogers, 1983
4. "I Will Always Love You," 1974
5. "Here You Come Again," 1984
6. "Coat Of Many Colors," 1971
7. "Jolene" with Pentatonix, 2016
8. "Rainbowland" with Miley Cyrus, 2017
9. "Love Is Like A Butterfly," 1974
10. "Baby I'm Burning," 1978
11. "The Bargain Store," 1975
12. "Blue Smoke," 2014
13. "My Tennessee Mountain Home," 1973
14. "Why'd You Come In Here Lookin' Like That," 1989
15. "Two Doors Down," 1978
16. "Applejack," 1977
17. "Silver Threads And Golden Needles" with Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette, 1993
18. "Try," 2014
19. "In The Ghetto," 1969
20. "Dumb Blonde," 1967
Dollywood Previews Wildwood Grove Site Dollywood this week held a media tour of the construction grounds for its 2019 expansion area, Wildwood Grove, confirming it won't open until May. Check out pictures from The Knoxville News-Sentinelhere.
Britain's Lorraine show on Monday posted its interview with Dolly to promote her London opening of 9 To 5: The Musical. Watch it here or in the media player above. In related news, it has been announced that the play's Amber Davies has been filming a behind-the-scenes series on the making of a musical which will feature how she researched for the role and traveled to Nashville to meet with Dolly when she started rehearsing the show and interviewed her again while she was in Nashville. Amber and Dolly: 9 To 5 will air in the U.K.'s ITVBe network. Learn more from The Daily Mailhere.
'Blue Smoke' Re-Issue On Blue Vinyl Coming Music On Vinyl, the boutique European label which has reissued several classic Dolly albums on vinyl (Just Because I'm A Woman, Coat Of Many Colors and Jolene) as well as the European vinyl edition of Blue Smoke back in 2014, has announced here that it will re-issue Dolly's Blue Smoke album on vinyl March 8 limited to 1,000 numbered copies on "blue smoked vinyl" (transparent blue vinyl with black marbling). They will be available only in stores, such as The Sound Of Vinyl here.
Dolly's Branson Stampede Turns 25 Dolly's Branson location of her Stampede dinner theatre has announced it will welcome its 10 millionth visitor during this, its 25th year operating in the city. Learn more of the venue's plans for its anniversary season here.
Feb. 18: '9 To 5: The Musical' Gets London Opening
Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical had its invitation-only opening night gala and press performance evening Sunday in London's West End, Britain's version of Broadway. The new version of the show has moved "I Just Might" to after "Backwoods Barbie" and replaced the four marijuana fantasy numbers ("The Dance Of Death," "Cowgirl's Revenge," "Potion Notion" and "Joy To The Girls") with a new song, "Hey Boss," which appears between "Heart To Hart" and "Shine Like The Sun." Dolly was among the stars on the red carpet and joined the cast on stage for the curtain call to speak briefly and acknowledge the team that put the show together. Coverage included some additional interviews in advance of the official opening, such as with Smooth Radiohere and BBC Newsnight as summarized by The Independenthere. Opening night coverage, mainly from the red carpet, included The Irish Independenthere, Broadway Worldhere, Skyhere and here and here and Reuters here. Since the show marked the end of previews and the first official performance, reviews could now be published, and they for the most part mirrored reviews of the 2008 original Broadway production, which is likeable but mediocre. They included three stars from each The Guardianhere which found it slick and stylish and cliched but said he couldn't help but like it, Time Outhere which said it was a "willfully preposterous crowd pleaser," The Timeshere which called it a "feelgood feminist classic," London Theatrehere which said there are some catchy musical numbers to enjoy in a slick and spirited production, and The Telegraphhere which called it a feelgood but flimsy musical, and two star reviews from Metrohere and Broadway Worldhere which called it a considered combination of sugar and steel.
'Very Best' Remains Steady Down Under The "gold series" re-issue of The Very Best Of Dolly Parton (Australian Tour Edition) holds steady at No. 11 in its 387th chart week on the Australian country albums chart since its original 2007 release, it was revealed Sunday.
Feb. 16: Dolly Promotes '9 To 5' In London
Dolly has landed in London and begun her campaign to promote the West End engagement of her 9 To 5: The Musical. She appeared Friday night on BBC's The One Show, where the cast performed the main theme and Dolly remained to sit on the couch and chat with the hosts throughout the program. Watch the opening performance via Facebook here or in the media player above, and the rest of the program via YouTube here or in the media player below. She was also interviewed on BBC Radio 2. She is expected to appear next week on ITV's Lorraine program, although the exact date has not been announced, and she is expected to be in attendance at Sunday night's official "opening night" performance of the musical at the Savoy Theatre.
Dolly Items For Auction To Help Grammys Thanks to Christian for alerting me that the Grammy Foundation is currently auctioning off two items with Dolly autographs to benefit the MusiCares program and Grammy Museum. Both auctions end next Thursday evening. An autographed Gibson guitar is available here and at press time the bidding was at $2,675, and the awards ceremony's Green Room Guestbook, signed by Dolly and many other stars, is available here and as of press time the bidding was at $4,550.
U.K. Chart Updates In its 11th week on the charts across the pond, Dolly's Dumplin' Original Motion Picture Soundtrack inches down one to No. 6 British Country Albums and down three to No. 27 British Soundtrack Albums. The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe by Dolly, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt holds steady at No. 3 British country compilation albums chart in its 127th chart week. Also on the U.K. country compilation albums chart, 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 Ronstadt) falls three to No. 8, while her Original Album Series, Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) drops two to No. 13, and Ronstadt's Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) moves up one to No. 7.
Feb. 15: Dolly Wins Biggest Post-Grammy Streaming Bump Dolly's song "Red Shoes" from her Dumplin' Original Motion Picture Soundtrack saw the greatest post-Grammys bump in streaming listens to songs performed on the telecast, Billboard reported Thursday. The track, included in her MusiCares Person of the Year tribute segment, was up 526 percent to 36,000 streams Feb. 10-11 compared to Feb. 8-9, it was reported here. In addition, the Trio's version of "After The Goldrush" saw the sixth-biggest increase at 263 percent to 20,000 streams, while "Here You Come Again" was ninth at 43 percent to 151,000 streams, "Jolene" was 10th with 33 percent to 379.000 steams and "9 To 5" was 11th with 21 percent to 324,000 streams, just edging out the percentage increase of No. 12 "Shallow" by Lady Gaga with 19 percent to 2.3 million streams for the two-day period.
'Shallow' Bests 'Girl' At Music Supervisors Guild Awards The Guild of Music Supervisors Awards were held in Los Angeles on Wednesday night and Lady Gaga's "Shallow" from A Star Is Born continued its steamroll over the competition, winning yet another Best Song award over Dolly and Linda Perry's "Girl In The Movies" from the Dumplin' Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Perry was on hand as a presenter during the ceremony. Ed Note: This report originally misidentified the entity giving the award as the Producers Guild instead of the Guild of Music Supervisors. Thanks to Jay for notifying us of the error.
Imagination Library Expands To Ireland Dolly's Imagination Library early childhood literacy program is expanding to yet another country, it was announced on Thursday. The book-a-month from birth to age 5 project is launching in Tallaght in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, with plans to expand nationwide later in the year. Read more from The Irish Examinerhere. Operating primarily in the U.S., the program distributes more than 1 million books per month and has sent out more than 100 million books since inception in 1995. Today, it reaches children throughout America as well as Canada, Great Britain, Australia and Ireland.
Australian Town Plans Big Dolly Fest Next Year The small town of Narromine in New South Wales, Australia, has announced that it will celebrate all things Dolly in a two-day Dolly Parton Festival April 17 and 18, 2020. Read more from The Nyngan Observerhere.
Paper Previews Wildwood Grove At Dollywood USA Today on Wednesday previewed Dollywood's Wildwood Grove expansion set to open this spring. Check out the story here.
Feb. 13: Ratings: Dolly Was Most-Watched Part Of Grammy Telecast According to Nielsen fast national data, Sunday's Grammy broadcast saw a slight increase over the previous year's audience, 19.9 million viewers versus 19.8 million, average over the more than three hours of the entire program, but the numbers showed that the largest audience of the evening was only watching for the segment featuring Dolly's tribute, which means several hundred thousand people likely turned their sets to the program just before her tribute and turned away just after because that was the only portion they were interested in watching. Read more from Ad Agehere. The program, however, got one set of anchors in trouble Down Under, as two of the male on air team members of Australia's Today found themselves in hot water after making a couple of boob jokes about Dolly on their program the next morning: with one saying she was "age defying and defying gravity" and the other joking about her duet with goddaughter Miley Cyrus: "seeing those two on stage, I thought, fantastic. And, Miley, of course." Read more from The West Australianhere.
Catch Dolly On BBC One Friday Night I understand that Dolly is scheduled as a guest on BBC One's The One Friday evening, presumably to promote next week's official opening of her 9 To 5: The Musical on London's West End. The program airs at 7 p.m.
'Ultimate' Back On U.S. Charts, 'Dumplin'' Falls Again The 2003 compilation Ultimate Dolly Parton re-enters the top 50 country albums chart at No. 48 in its 48th week, the Feb. 16 Billboard charts released Tuesday showed. Dolly's Dumplin' Original Motion Picture Soundtrack falls back off the U.S. charts this week after a sixth week on the top 25 soundtrack albums list at No. 16 and sixth week on the 25-position Americana/folk albums list at No. 20, but I expect the post-Grammy sales bump to bring the album back to the charts next week. Dailey & Vincent's The Sounds Of Christmas, featuring a Dolly collaboration on "Road To Bethlehem falls off the top 25 Bluegrass Albums Chart, down from No. 12 in its 16th week.
Feb. 12: Netflix Details Remaining 'Heartstrings' Episodes Netflix on Monday announced the remaining installments in Dolly's Heartstrings anthology movie series in The Hollywood Reporterhere. In addition to the previously detailed "Jolene" with Julianne Hough as the hussy nightclub singer, Dolly as her boss and Kimberly Williams-Paisley as her best friend; the 1940s-set "These Old Bones" with Kathleen Turner as the mountain fortune teller; 1880s Bonnie-and-Clyde-type Western "J.J. Sneed" with Colin O'Donoghue and Willa Fitzgerald plus Mac Davis; and "If I Had Wings" featuring Gerald McRaney and wife Delta Burke in her first role in many years as a couple dealing with his estranged children on his 70th birthday, the following plot lines and cast were revealed:
"Cracker Jack" starring Sarah Shahi, Rochelle Aytes, Jessica Collins and Tammy Lynn Michaels; written by Lisa Melamed and directed by Liesl Tommy, about the power of unconditional love between a girl and her dog told in two time periods, the past as a child and the present as an adult questioning what her life means when faced with her greatest fear.
"Sugar Hill" starring Timothy Busfield, Patricia Wettig, Virginia Gardner and Tom Brittney; written by Thomas Ian Griffith and Mary Page Keller and directed by Lev L. Spiro, following a married couple in their twilight on a road trip back to where they first fell in love, revisiting the history of their love story along the way.
"Down From Dover" starring Holly Taylor, Shane McGhie, Robert Taylor, Bellamy Young, Camryn Manheim and Mary Lane Haskell; written by John Sacret Young and directed by Erica Dunton, about a pregnant teen who finds a home for unwed mothers after being shunned by her pious widowed father as she hopes for the safe return of the young man she loves from the Vietnam War.
"Two Doors Down" starring Melissa Leo, Ray McKinnon, Andy Mientus, Katie Stevens and Michael Willett; written by Mark B. Perry and directed by Wendey Stanzler, as a family's lifetime of secrets come bursting out during a chaotic and comedic New Year's Eve wedding weekend.
More From Grammy Tribute Responses The world was tuned to Dolly on Monday as viewers reacted to her stunning tribute on Sunday night's Grammy Awards recognizing her as MusiCares Person Of The Year. Vanity Fair said here that she "stole the show in her own Grammy ensemble tribute" and The Huffington Post opined here that her performance in her own tribute "shut down the Grammys." Billboard ranked the segment the best of all of the night's musical performances in a critique here and included it as one of the night's "best moments" in its top 10 best and worst list from the ceremony here. USA Today said here that the tribute was "worthy of Dolly's presence" and that she taught "the younger girls how it's done" in a medley in which "every segment was better than the one before" leading up to her triumphant "Red Shoes" and celebratory "9 To 5." It wasn't all positive, as several fans online and several media outlets criticized Katy Perry's over-singing the first number in the tribute, "Here You Come Again," such as this summary of those dislikes from The Daily Mailhere. But the tribute had a positive impact on Dolly's bottom line, as the five songs featured in the medley saw a 718 percent increase in one-day download sales from about 1,000 downloads on Thursday to 6,000 collectively on Friday, according to The Hollywood Reporterhere.
Watch Classic Dolly On Carson Via YouTube Someone on Monday posted to YouTube Dolly's original first and second solo appearances to The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson from January and February 1977. Watch them here and here before they get taken down by the Carson estate for copyright!
Feb. 11: Grammys Honor Dolly Again And Again This Week
A spectacular performance and tribute on the Grammy Awards telecast capped Dolly's Grammy week Sunday night as this year's MusiCares Person Of The Year in honor of her lifetime of career achievements and her record of philanthropic work. Kasey Musgraves and Katy Perry kicked off the second hour of the ceremony with "Here You Come Again," as Dolly joined them halfway through the song. Next, she performed "Jolene" with Miley Cyrus and then "After The Goldrush" with Miley and Maren Morris. Little Big Town came out to join her for "Red Shoes," and then everyone returned for "9 To 5." Watch it here! The performance followed Friday night's star-studded full-length concert for the MusiCares Award, which ended with a surprise appearance by Trio partners Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris to honor her with the actual award. She called the two over for a photo with the award, and Linda, unstable on her feet due to advanced Parkinson's Disease, knocked the statuette off the pedestal and broke the tip. She looked extremely embarrassed but Dolly assured her it was her own fault for making her come over there and she'd just glue that little piece back on. Dolly's acceptance speech, which you may watch here or in the media player above, was heartfelt and sincere but also was full of punchlines, most notably that watching the other stars perform her songs was kind of like watching porn because you're not directly participating in it "but you still get off." The concert, which raised $6.7 million for the Grammys' MusiCares charity, featured the following line-up:
P!nk — "Jolene"
Brandi Carlile and Willie Nelson — "Everything's Beautiful (In Its Own Way)"
Lauren Daigle — "The Seeker"
Miley Cyrus, Shawn Mendes & Mark Ronson — "Islands in the Stream"
Chris Stapleton — "9 to 5"
Katy Perry and Kacey Musgraves — "Here You Come Again"
Norah Jones and Puss N Boots — "The Grass Is Blue"
Don Henley and Vince Gill — "Eagle When She Flies"
Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood — "Old Flames Can't Hold a Candle to You"
Mavis Staples, Leon Bridges and Jon Batiste — "Not Enough Love"
Yolanda Adams — "I Will Always Love You"
Jennifer Nettles, Cam and Margo Price – "Do I Ever Cross Your Mind"
Dolly and Linda Perry — "Coat of Many Colors"
And, of course, the two evenings followed Tuesday's opening of the exhibit on Dolly's costumes at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, which was previewed with a Q&A Linda Perry hosted with Dolly on Monday. Coverage of the exhibit included AV Clubhere, The Los Angeles Timeshere and Billboardhere.
Coverage of the tribute concert included The Grammys here, Stereogumhere, Billboardhere and here, Varietyhere, USA Todayhere and Yahoohere. Some clips from rehearsals were provided by Sounds Like Nashvillehere, and Linda Perry had a pre-Grammy interview with Entertainment Weeklyhere.
Check out Dolly on the red carpet for Sunday's awards show here.
CBS, which broadcast the Grammy Awards (no announcement yet on when or where the MusiCares concert may later be broadcast or released for DVD sale), also featured Dolly on its Sunday Morning news program with an interview here or in the media player below.
U.K., Aussie Chart Updates The "gold series" re-issue of The Very Best Of Dolly Parton (Australian Tour Edition) rebounds a dozen digits this week to No. 11 in its 386th chart week on the Australian country albums chart since its original 2007 release, it was revealed Sunday. Also overseas, in its 10th week on the charts across the pond, Dolly's Dumplin' Original Motion Picture Soundtrack loses one to No. 5 British Country Albums and holds steady at No. 24 British Soundtrack Albums. The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe by Dolly, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt regains four to No. 3 British country compilation albums chart in its 126th chart week. Also on the U.K. country compilation albums chart, 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 Ronstadt) holds steady at No. 5, while her Original Album Series, Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) falls two to No. 11, and Ronstadt's Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) gains six to No. 8.
Dolly Chats About '9 To 5' Legacy I'm told Dolly herself sat down while in Los Angeles this week to chat with the documentarians behind From Hollywood To Dollywood for their new project analyzing the continuing impact that her 1980 film 9 To 5 has on American culture and its many spin-offs (the TV series and Broadway and West End musicals), Still Working 9 To 5. Check out a photo from their Facebook page here. And speaking of the musical's London opening, check out a couple of new articles about it from Playbillhere and London Theatrehere. Now that her Grammy duties are completed, Dolly is expected to travel in the next few days to London, where she'll be involved in the final preview performances of the musical and promotions for its official opening night in a little over a week.
Feb. 6: Grammy Tribute Details Confirmed Although the Recording Academy's President revealed two months ago that Dolly would appear on Sunday's Grammy Awards ceremony telecast in her role as MusiCares Person of the Year and the vice president of CBS a week ago said the tribute to her would serve as the major "tentpole" segment for one of the broadcast's hours, and Linda Perry – who arranged the tribute for the ceremony – let the details out of the bag on Monday at the Grammy Museum's town hall, the Grammys on Tuesday officially announced Dolly's tribute segment for Sunday's awards show broadcast. They confirmed Dolly will perform songs from her Dumplin' Original Motion Picture Soundtrack – Dolly's first time since singing "Travelin' Prayer" on the 2001 show the year she won Best Bluegrass Album – and classic hits from her career will be performed by Little Big Town, Maren Morris, Kacey Musgraves and Katy Perry. (Linda Perry had listed all of these except Maren Morris and had said Miley Cyrus was performing in the tribute as well, but she was not listed in the Grammy announcement so either she is to be a "surprise" or her schedule has changed.) In related news, Billboard recapped the town hall meeting here, as did New Now Nexthere, and Billboard also spoke with the Grammy's vice president in charge of MusiCares about the charity and Dolly's selection for its honor this year here.
'Dumplin'' Returns To U.S. Charts Dolly's Dumplin' Original Motion Picture Soundtrack re-enters the U.S. charts this week to mark a sixth week on the top 25 soundtrack albums list at No. 16 and sixth week on the 25-position Americana/folk albums list at No. 20 in the Feb. 9 tallies. The 2003 compilation
Ultimate Dolly Parton falls off the top 50 country albums chart, down from No. 39 in its 47th week, while Dailey & Vincent's The Sounds Of Christmas, featuring a Dolly collaboration on "Road To Bethlehem," drops four to No. 12 Bluegrass Albums in its 16th week.
Feb. 5: Grammy Tribute Details Revealed At Town Hall
Linda Perry hosted the Dolly Town Hall meeting at the Grammy Museum to open their exhibit on her costumes in advance of Friday's MusiCares Person of the Year concert tribute to her and Sunday's Grammy Awards. The two chatted about several subjects and even brought a young girl up from the audience to interact with Dolly and sing a little bit of "Jolene." The biggest news to come from the discussion was at the very end when Perry announced she and Dolly will be closing out the MusiCares concert on Friday with just the two of them performing "Coat Of Many Colors" and that she had put together the Grammy Awards performance in Dolly's honor which will feature a medley that includes "9 To 5," "Red Shoes" and "Jolene" with performers including Katy Perry, Little Big Town, Miley Cyrus and Casey Musgraves. Putting the tribute together was stressful, Perry noted, "that's like heavy fucking duty shit!" Watch the full hour-long talk courtesy Billboard's Facebook page here or in the media player above, and check out some shots of Dolly looking at the exhibit from the Grammy Museum Facebook page here. In related news, Billboard chatted with Perry about several things, including what she learned from Dolly, here.
Kathie Lee Says She's Doing Movie With Dolly Kathie Lee Gifford returned to NBC's Today Monday and said while she was off for the month of January she was "supposed to" film a movie with Dolly but the script wasn't ready in time, so it will have to be done later in the year. No other details were revealed about the project.
Feb. 4: Grammy Museum Exhibit Opens Dolly's costume exhibit at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles opens this week, but some people got a preview a few days early, including one who posted photos and video to Facebook here. As was previously reported, Dolly and Linda Perry will hold an 8 p.m. Eastern Town Hall Meeting Monday about the exhibit to be livestreamed on Billboard's Facebook page here. Also, thanks to Todd for alerting me that Sunday's Parade newspaper insert featured Dolly and Lady Gaga on the cover with a photo promoting next Sunday's Grammy Awards telecast and asking which one has the most Grammy Awards. Inside, it notes Gaga, with six statues, is a big nominee for "Shallow," while Dolly, with eight wins, is being recognized as the MusiCares Person of the Year.
'Dumplin'' Falls Off The Australian Tallies After eight weeks on the country chart Down Under, Dolly's Dumplin' Original Motion Picture Soundtrack this week falls out of the top 40 Australian County Albums Chart, down from No. 36, it was revealed Sunday, while the "gold series" re-issue of The Very Best Of Dolly Parton (Australian Tour Edition) loses seven to No. 23 in its 385th chart week since its original 2007 release.
Mindy Smith Debut Re-Issued On Vinyl To celebrate its 15th anniversary. Mindy Smith's groundbreaking debut album One Moment More featuring her cover of Dolly's "Jolene" with guest vocals from Dolly herself was issued about a week ago on vinyl for the first time ever. Get your copy on an 180 gram LP from Craft Recordings here.
Ronstadt Appears On CBS 'Sunday' Linda Ronstadt, whose Parkinson's Disease has continued to progress since her retirement from music, was interviewed by CBS News Sunday Morning this weekend and, of course, the Trio came up. Watch the interview here.
London '9 To 5' Developments Reported Louise Redknapp, the actress in the London production of Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical who had to miss the preview performances due to injuries from a fall, has shared her recovery with The Mirrorhere and announced she expects to soon return to the show and replace her understudy. In related news, Broadway World spoke with the show's Doralee, Natalie McQueen, here.
Feb. 2: Dolly Grammy Week Begins With 'Billboard' LiveStream
Dolly's big Grammy week begins on Monday with the Town Hall Meeting to discuss her costumes and open the Grammy Museum's exhibit "Diamond In A Rhinestone World: The Costumes Of Dolly Parton," which opens to the public Tuesday and runs through March 17. It was announced Friday here that Monday's 8 p.m. Eastern Town Hall Meeting will be moderated by Dumplin' Original Motion Picture Soundtrack producer Linda Perry and will be livestreamed on Billboard's Facebook page here. In addition, Apple Music on Friday unveiled "What Would Dolly Do?," a playlist curated by Dolly and Apple Music's editors to look at country music's past, present and future, which will be updated on a weekly basis as part of the Grammy celebrations surrounding her honor this year as their MusiCares Person of the Year. Listen to it here or in the media player above. The Grammys also released an interview with Dolly on Friday via its website here. Things continue Friday with the MusiCares gala featuring an all-star concert in tribute to Dolly, complete with a headlining performance by Dolly herself, and a segment in tribute to her on next Sunday night's live Grammy Awards telecast.
'We Found It' Released For Download For First Time Yet another classic Porter & Dolly album was released for the first time ever digitally on Friday: 1973's We Found It. Sony Music has for the past several months been releasing titles from Dolly and Porter & Dolly's back catalog on RCA Records, and this latest release leaves just three duet albums (Love And Music, Say Forever You'll Be Mine and Porter & Dolly) and two solo albums (In The Good Old Days and Bubbling Over) unavailable for download from her RCA period. Get the latest release here!
Dolly Completes Purchase Of Competing Pigeon Forge Theatres Dolly's World Choice Investments, which operates her dinner theatres Stampede and Pirates Voyage, announced this week it had completed its purchase of competitor Fee/Hendrick, which operated several other Pigeon Forge dinner theatres including The Comedy Barn,, Smoky Mountain Opry (which was to become a pirate-themed theatre), Hatfield and McCoy Dinner Feud (formerly Black Bear Jamboree) and Magic Beyond Belief, which had first been announced back in November. While the terms of the deal were not disclosed, Fee/Hendrick announced at Christmas that it had provided all employees a Bahamas cruise and bonuses that totaled $5 million. As was revealed at the time, Dolly's company plans to continue operating the venues as normal for the 2019 season, but what happens to them after the end of this year has not been announced. In a press release, Dolly said: "My theater production company just purchased Fee Hedrick Entertainment, and I am so excited to have more family entertainment to present to our guests in Pigeon Forge. In 2019, we'll operate Comedy Barn, Hatfield & McCoy and Smoky Mountain Opry in the same way folks have come to remember them. David, Jim and their team have done a great job with these shows through the years and, for now, we don't plan to change anything. They are fun family entertainment, and that is the business I'm in."
Buy '9 To 5' London Merch Online The UK version of Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical continues its previews this week prior to its official opening night on London's version of Broadway, the West End, but its posters, t-shirts and other memorabilia are now available online via the show's official store at West End Merchhere.
Ginger Minj Chats About Dolly Drag queen and Dumplin' stress Ginger Minj this week spoke with Logo about her experience on the film here and played a game to guess whether quotes were said by Dolly or RuPaul here.
U.K. Chart Updates In its ninth week on the charts across the pond, Dolly's Dumplin' Original Motion Picture Soundtrack loses one to No. 4 British Country Albums and rebounds seven places to No. 24 British Soundtrack Albums. In other overseas chart news, The Complete Trio Collection Deluxe by Dolly, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt loses three to No. 7 British country compilation albums chart in its 125th chart week. Also on the U.K. country compilation albums chart, 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 Ronstadt) advances three to No. 5, while her Original Album Series, Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Linda Ronstadt) holds steady at No. 9, and Ronstadt's Original Album Series (featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) falls five to No. 14.
Dolly Party Coming To Charleston For Valentine's Thanks to Dustin for alerting me that the gay bar Dudley's On Ann in Charleston, S.C., will host a Night Of 1,000 Dollys evening for Valentine's Day Feb. 14 hosted by Patti O'Furniture to raise money for Palmetto Community Care and The Ryan White Wellness Center. A Dolly look-a-like contest will take place as well as Dolly music all night from guest Jamie Monroe and other entertainers. Learn more from the event's Facebook listing here.
PBS 'Country Music' Doc Airing In September PBS has announced that Ken Burns' long-anticipated eight-part, 16-hour documentary Country Music, which will profile the genre's top stars including Dolly, the Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, Bob Wills, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Loretta Lynn, Charley Pride, Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, Garth Brooks and more, will premiere Sept. 15 and run nightly at 8 p.m. Eastern through Sept. 18 and Sept. 22-25. A 30-city tour to screen parts of the documentary and host discussion groups will precede its premiere, and a companion book will be released Sept. 10 here. Sony Music plans to release a suite of soundtracks in the fall, PBS will launch an interactive website, and the network will release it on DVD and BluRay upon airing. Check out a clip they released Friday featuring Dolly here or in the media player below.
