www.dollymania.net                News                          May 2014

May 30:
'Blue Smoke' Still High On Several Charts
The full June 7 Billboard charts were released on Thursday, and as was expected and previously reported here, Dolly's Blue Smoke descended five places to No. 7 country and 30 points to No. 36 pop in its second week on the charts. The album also lost 29 to No. 35 current albums and 11 to No. 16 Internet sales but fell off of the 25-position digital albums chart, down from No. 15. Thanks to publicity surrounding her new release, her 2012 Cracker Barrel exclusive DVD/CD set An Evening With . . . Dolly re-entered the top 40 music DVD chart at No. 15 for a 41st week. Linda Ronstadt's Duets, featuring a 1977 top 10 country hit with Dolly, "I Never Will Marry," inches up one digit to No. 165 current albums in its seventh week there. In related news, Wednesday's online premiere of Dolly's video for "Home" from her current album garnered notice from Billboard on Thursday here and the video was added to CMT's voting page for its Hot 20 Countdown here.

Blue Smoke World Tour Continues
Dolly brought the house down with her concert Wednesday night in Knoxville to raise funds for her Imagination Library literacy program and the local hospital's health foundation. Check out coverage from Local 8 News here and The Knoxville News-Sentinel here. Her Blue Smoke World Tour's U.S. leg wraps up Friday and Saturday in Oklahoma before she heads to Europe. Thanks to Digi Image for the photo at left from the concert. (Yes, your webmaster still owes you photos from her Richmond concert on Tuesday. I promise they're still coming!) And British fans will be interested in a Sony Rewards auction here to meet her at her Nottingham show.

Dolly Grants Wish Of Child With CF
A little boy from Hedgesville, W.V., with cystic fibrosis got to enjoy Dollywood's new FireChaser Express roller coaster and meet Dolly herself recently at the park thanks to the Kids Wish Network. Read more, and see a photo, here.

'People' Talks To Dolly About Children
People magazine posted an excerpt online Thursday from its recent Dolly interview. Read it here.


May 29:
'Home' Video Released, 'Blue Smoke' To Fall To 36 Pop


Dolly's official video for the single "Home" from Blue Smoke debuted Wednesday on Vevo as promised. Check it out here or in the media player above. In related news, Yahoo reports here that the Billboard charts that will be released in full on Thursday will show the album slipping a little more than was originally expected in its second week to No. 36 pop. As was reported here Tuesday night, early sales figures released on Tuesday had suggested a fall from its No. 6 debut to around No. 28 for the week. And Roughstock confirms here that as the early sales data indicated, it will be No. 7 country, down from No. 2.

More Stories From Kentucky Concert
Coverage continued Wednesday for Dolly's Tuesday night concert in Richmond, Va. Check out stories from The Richmond Register here and WKYT here. Your webmaster has additional galleries of photos to post but did not have time to get them up tonight. Look for them soon! And friends tell me the show was spectacular Wednesday night in Knoxville. The final U.S. dates of the Blue Smoke World Tour convene Friday and Saturday nights in Thackerville, Okla., before she heads off to Europe.

Mobile Bridge Has Dolly Moniker
Did you know Dolly has a bridge named after her in Mobile, Ala.? Not officially, but thanks to the span's twin arches that looked to some like cleavage, it has for many years been known to locals and the news media as the Dolly Parton Bridge. Check out a story about it from WKRG here.


May 28:
Dolly 'Kicks Ass' In Kentucky Concert
Dolly wowed the East Kentucky University Center for the Arts on Tuesday night with a rousing set list from her Blue Smoke World Tour. She had the sold-out audience of 2,000 singing and dancing along throughout the evening, even earning a mid-song standing ovation for her "sax solo" during "Rocky Top." (Cut from her set at the charity fundraiser was her usual 20-minute intermission and the songs around it: "Together You and I," "Lay Your Hands On Me," "Better Get to Living," "White Limozeen," "River Deep, Mountain High" and "Lover du Jour," making the show about two hours instead of two hours and 40 minutes including the intermission.) A large section of the audience stood and danced to "Two Doors Down" as the set drew to a close, and then the entire audience was encouraged to stand for "Islands In The Stream" and complied, remaining on their feet for "9 To 5." Prior to her "I Will Always Love You" encore, event founder Father Jim Sichko joined her on stage with a very young fan from the crowd to present her several gifts including a blessing from Pope Francis (he explained he sent the pope a copy of her new CD and the pope sent back a blessing), a framed print of Kentucky Derby winner California Chrome, a "Kentucky Kicks Ass" t-shirt and an unlimited food card for Sonic (he said when he found out she and her husband like to pull their RV up to Sonic while traveling he called up the CEO of the company, who created a special lifetime food card for her). They also announced at the end of the show the winner (out of more than 600,000 entries) for the trip to London to attend her concert there and meet her and also revealed that Reba will be headlining their next fundraiser in October (a story on that was posted online at The Richmond Register here). Dolly's tour next hits Knoxville on Wednesday night and back-to-back nights in Oklahoma (promoted with an interview in The Oklahoma Gazette here) before she's off to Europe. Image is copyright ©  2014 T. Duane Gordon/www.dollymania.net. Click on it for a larger version. More to come! The complete set list was:

  • Burning Medley
  • Why'd You Come in Here Lookin' Like That?
  • Jolene
  • Blue Smoke
  • Don't Think Twice
  • Precious Memories
  • My Mountains
  • Grandpa Medley (Give Me That Old Time Religion, I'll Fly Away, On My Way To Canaan's Land)
  • Coat of Many Colors
  • Smoky Mountain Memories
  • Applejack
  • Rocky Top
  • Home
  • Banks of the Ohio
  • Little Sparrow
  • Hits Medley (Old Flames, But You Know That I Love You, Real Love, Think About Love)
  • Here You Come Again
  • Two Doors Down
  • Islands in the Stream
  • Nine to Five
  • I Will Always Love You

    'Blue Smoke' To Remain In Country Top 10, Pop Top 30
    Preliminary sales data were released on last week's CD sales and downloads on Tuesday and it appears Dolly's Blue Smoke will get a second week in the country top 10 and remain in the pop top 30 albums. The set looks to have sold about 8,000 units for the week making it around the No. 7 country album and No. 28 pop album. The album had debuted last week at No. 2 country, No. 6 pop with sales of 37,000, more than half of which were thanks to a QVC concert appearance. The complete charts, with this week's final confirmed positions, will come out on Thursday. In related news, the music video for the album's second single, "Home," will premiere Wednesday on Dolly's official Vemo channel here.


    May 27:
    Dolly To Take Richmond (Kentucky, That Is)
    Dolly's benefit concert for St. Mark Catholic Church in Richmond, Ky., takes place Tuesday night, and the founder of the fundraising series spoke with the local paper about why he believes Dolly is making a second trip to the city for the fundraiser. Read it from The Richmond Register here. Your webmaster will be in transit for the next few days (including attending this concert) so please excuse if updates are a bit sporadic for the remainder of the week.

    Dolly Repeats Johansson-For-Biopic Story
    Music-News excerpted a little from Dolly's current brief People magazine profile and posted it here focusing on the possibility of Scarlett Johansson playing her in a biopic movie.


    May 26:
    Blue Smoke Tour Back On The Road
    The second American leg of Dolly's Blue Smoke World Tour kicked off Thursday and Friday night with sold out shows in Tulsa. Tulsa World praised the first performance in a review here. Then it was on to Cherokee, N.C., on Sunday. Next it's Richmond, Ky., for her St. Mark's benefit on Tuesday night and then on to Knoxville on Wednesday before Thackerville, Okla., on Friday and Saturday, after which she heads off to Europe. The Knoxville News-Sentinel had Dolly as its weekend section cover girl, complete with a guide to her essential music (which they titled "Dolly Mania") here and The Lexington Herald-Leader had an interview posted here. Finally, thanks to Jeffrey for providing the picture at left from Tulsa (click on it for a larger view) and information on the show's set list (which ran two hours and 40 minutes, including a 20-minute intermission):

  • Burning Medley
  • Why'd You Come in Here Lookin' Like That?
  • Jolene
  • Blue Smoke
  • Don't Think Twice
  • Precious Memories
  • My Mountains (with a bit of Tennessee Mt Home)
  • Grandpa Medley (Give Me That Old Time Religion, Fly Away, On My Way)
  • Coat of Many Colors
  • Smokey Mountain Memories
  • Applejack
  • Rocky Top (with a bit of Yakety Sax--played on her mini, jeweled sax)
  • Together You and I
  • Lay Your Hands On Me
  • (intermission)
  • Better Get to Living
  • White Limozeen
  • Home
  • Banks of the Ohio
  • Little Sparrow
  • River Deep, Mountain High
  • Lover du Jour
  • Hit Medley (Old Flames, But You Know That I Love You, Real Love, Think About Love)
  • Here You Come Again
  • Two Doors Down
  • Islands in the Stream
  • Nine to Five
  • I Will Always Love You

    'Blue Smoke' Slips In U.K., Down Under
    Dolly's Blue Smoke slips three spots to No. 7 in its second week on the British country albums chart based solely on import sales of the American version of the set prior to its actual release in the U.K. On the other side of the world, the album dips nine to No. 24 in its 16th week on the Australian top 40 country albums tally, while The Very Best Of Dolly Parton, Volume 1 loses a dozen digits to No. 26 country in its 331st week in the top 40 Down Under and The Essential Dolly Parton falls five to No. 39 for a 77th week on the same list. Back in the U.K., Emmylou Harris's Original Album Series, Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Ronstadt) holds steady at No. 3 in its 37th week on the British country compilations chart, while her Original Album Series, Volume 1, released in 2011, rises five to No. 9 in its 36th week back on the same tally with two Dolly covers, one track with Dolly harmony and one track with Trio harmony, and Ronstadt's own Original Album Series (also from 2011 and featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) falls out of the top 20, down from No. 17.

    Actress Imitates Dolly On New Show
    Lisa Rinna does a Dolly impersonation in the American adaptation of the European hit Sing Your Face Off that premieres on ABC next Saturday, and Access Hollywood spoke with her about it last week. Check out a clip here and another here.

    Porter & Dolly Boxed Set Is On Its Way
    Amazon.com is now showing the Porter & Dolly six-CD boxed set Just Between You And Me: Complete Recordings 1967-76 in stock and has sent notices to those who advance ordered it that the sets should be delivered this week. Get your copy here.


    May 23:
    'Blue Smoke' Makes Current, Internet, Digital Charts
    The full May 31 Billboard charts were released on Thursday, and Dolly's Blue Smoke debuted at No. 6 current albums, No. 5 Internet sales and No. 15 digital sales in addition to its previously-announced No. 6 pop and No. 2 country debuts. As was previously reported, the set sold 37,000 units to log Dolly's highest-ever solo pop album and her highest-ever debut on both charts. Linda Ronstadt's Duets, with her 1977 top 10 country hit with Dolly, "I Never Will Marry," falls off the top 200 pop albums chart, down from No. 155 in its fifth week, and off the 25-position Internet sales album chart, down from No. 21 in its fifth week, and declines 36 places to No. 166 current albums in its sixth week there.



    Dolly Gets Back On The Road
    Dolly's Blue Smoke World Tour resumed Thursday night with the first of two concerts in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the shows were plugged on News OK here and Tulsa World here.


    May 22:
    'Blue Smoke' Record Position Is From QVC Sales
    Dolly can thank QVC for her career high debut with Blue Smoke. Billboard on Wednesday released its official top 10 stats here, confirming Dolly's No. 6 pop and No. 2 country debut for the CD with 37,000 copies sold, behind Rascal Flatts with 61,000 copies and ahead of Tori Amos with 20,000 units. The magazine noted that 55 percent of her sales were from "non-traditional sellers" such as home shopping channels. Dolly promoted the release with an hour-long concert on shopping channel QVC, which the network said immediately afterward had generated 18,000 pre-sale orders. Using the percentage reported from those types of retailers, it would be about 20,000 total, likely almost all of which were sold by QVC. (That also means that if she had not made a deal with the network, she likely would have only sold about 17,000 units, which would put it about halfway between 2011's Better Day (11,000) and 2008's Backwoods Barbie (27,000), but it still would have debuted in the top 10 around No. 9.) The magazine also noted it was her biggest one-week sales total since the fifth week of sales for Slow Dancing With The Moon back in 1993 totaled 39,000 copies to reach No. 4 country and No. 16 pop. As was previously reported here, the CD marks her career-high debut for the pop or country charts and is her highest-charting pop album, tying the position she reached with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris for Trio in 1987 and surpassing her previous solo record, No. 11 pop for 9 To 5 And Odd Jobs in 1981. In a statement, Dolly reacted to the news, saying: "I am glad that people are enjoying the music from my new Blue Smoke album. It feels great to be in the Top 10. It's always an honor to know the fans spend their hard earned money on my music. Thanks everybody!"


    May 21:
    'Blue Smoke' To Be No. 6 Pop, No. 2 Country
    It appears a done deal that Dolly's Blue Smoke will debut this week at No. 6 pop and No. 2 country to become her highest-ever debut and her highest pop position of her five-decade career. The Hits Daily Double building chart final numbers on Tuesday put the release at 37,629 copies and one digit above Tori Amos with 20,187 copies and one digit behind Rascal Flatts at 61,721 copies. Although the publication's list of reporting stores is slightly different that the SoundScan list used to build the official Billboard charts, it usually only varies slightly, and given the approximately 20,000-unit difference between No. 5 and No. 6 and between No. 6 and No. 7, it appears impossible for her position to change when the Billboard top 10 comes out on Wednesday. In related news, Pop Matters posted an interview here and Dollywood has opened a contest to win four tickets to her Knoxville concert. Enter below.

    Three Dolly Homes In California On The Market
    Dolly is selling three of her California homes, Real E Stalker uncovered and reported here, garnering coverage from several other sites including Hollywood.com here and LA Curbed here. In addition to the previously-reported West Hollywood property offered for $1.4 million, she has placed on the market her three-home mini-compound in Solvang for $950,000 (she bought it in 2007 for a little over $1 million) and a cabin in Idyllwild outside of Palm Springs for $600,000 (she bought it in 2000 for $235,000).

    Mary Sarah, Porter & Dolly Sets Delayed
    Two new Dolly releases that had originally been planned for the same day as her new album have been delayed. The Mary Sarah duets CD Bridges, which includes a Dolly collaboration on "Jolene," has been delayed to July 8. In addition, the 160-song, six-CD Porter & Dolly boxed set Just Between You And Me: Complete Recordings 1967-76 has yet to ship to customers. On May 15, Bear Family Records posted to its Facebook page that the sets were "almost" ready for shipping. Amazon.com had earlier changed the release date to May 20, but as of Tuesday it was just shown as not yet in stock.

    Australia Gets '9 To 5' Coffee Commercial
    Nescafe coffee has unveiled a new ad campaign in Australia which rewrote Dolly's "9 To 5" to "5 To 9" to reflect what it feels are the real working hours of today's modern woman: 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. (Unfortunately, the video is not available for viewing in the U.S.) Read more from Mumbrella here.


    May 20:
    'Blue Smoke' Still Appears Headed For Top 10 Pop Debut
    Preliminary sales data released Monday show Dolly still on track for her likely first-ever solo top 10 pop album with Blue Smoke. At the day's first update, just before 3 p.m. Monday, Dolly's album was No. 14 pop with 5,353 copies sold at the retailers that report to the Hits Daily Double Building Chart and No. 4 country behind Rascal Flatts, Keith Urban and Hunter Hayes with 28 percent of stores reporting. At the second update, posted just after 6 p.m., Dolly had climbed to No. 7 pop, No. 2 country, with 12,977 copies sold and 52 percent of stores reporting. As was reported here Sunday night, industry experts expect the album to debut around No. 6 pop and No. 2 country with about 40,000 copies sold in its first week to be Dolly's highest debut in her five-decade career. She returns to her Blue Smoke World Tour on Thursday and Friday in Tulsa, followed by engagements Sunday in Cherokee, N.C., next Tuesday in Richmond, Ky., next Wednesday in Knoxville, Tenn., and next Friday and Saturday at the Oklahoma/Texas border just north of Dallas. All of the U.S. shows are sold out except Friday's second night in Tulsa, and then she heads off to Europe for that leg of the tour. The CD received positive reviews on Monday from American Songwriter here, Taste Of Country here, The Bristol Herald Courier here and So So Gay here. Interviews came from The Tennessean via WBIR here, The Tennessean here and Hellenic News of America here.


    May 19:
    'Blue Smoke' Expected To Debut In Pop Top 10
    Dolly's promotional whirlwind appears to have done magic, with industry insiders expecting Blue Smoke to be her highest-debuting album ever and her first solo project to land in the pop top 10 next week. The actual top 10 chart won't be released until Wednesday, and the final estimates on sales won't be available until Tuesday (with some preliminary numbers available on Monday), but projections over the weekend are that it will sell around 40,000 copies in its first week to land around No. 6 pop and No. 2 country, behind Rascal Flatts' Rewind with about 60,000 copies for No. 5 pop and No. 1 country. Read more from Billboard here and HitFlix here. If the predictions hold true, the CD would beat 2008's Backwoods Barbie at No. 11 pop for her career-highest pop debut, beat 1980's 9 To 5 And Odd Jobs, which climbed to No. 11 pop in March 1981, as her highest-charting solo title and tie her first Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris project Trio, which made it to No. 6 pop in May 1987, her only other time in the top 10, as her highest-charting pop album ever. It would tie Barbie as her second-highest-charting country album (her six country No. 1 titles are tied as her highest-charting country albums). For comparison, her most recent releases and their stats are:

  • 2011's Better Day sold 11,000 copies in its first week to debut at No. 51 pop and No. 11 country, and it has sold 52,000 copies in the U.S. since release.
  • 2009's Dolly: Live From London CD/DVD set, sold just 2,785 in its first week for a No. 195 pop and No. 36 country debut and sold only about 20,000 total copies, making it one of the worst-selling releases of her entire career until it was re-issued as a Cracker Barrel exclusive with bonus tracks in 2012 and sold about 60,000 more copies for a total of approximately 80,000.
  • 2008's Backwoods Barbie (which it was noted above debuted at No. 17 pop and made it to No. 2 country) sold 27,000 units in its first week and had sold about 140,000 total before being re-issued as a Cracker Barrel exclusive with bonus tracks in 2009 and selling another 75,000 or so copies for a total of around 215,000 since release.

    'Blue Smoke' Makes British Country Chart On Imports
    As a testament to how anticipated the CD is overseas, even though it won't be released in the U.K. until June 4, Dolly's Blue Smoke debuts this week at No. 4 on the British country albums chart, apparently solely on purchases of imports from the U.S. release. Not enough import copies were sold for it to make the top 100 pop albums in the U.K. Elsewhere, the album inches down one to No. 15 in its 15th week on the Australian top 40 country albums tally, while The Very Best Of Dolly Parton, Volume 1 gains four to No. 14 country in its 330th week in the top 40 Down Under and The Essential Dolly Parton dips six to No. 34 for a 76th week on the same list. In the U.K., Emmylou Harris's Original Album Series, Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Ronstadt) holds steady at No. 3 in its 36th week on the British country compilations chart, while her Original Album Series, Volume 1, released in 2011, loses one to No. 14 in its 35th week back on the same tally with two Dolly covers, one track with Dolly harmony and one track with Trio harmony, and Ronstadt's own Original Album Series (also from 2011 and featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) rises one to No. 17.

    Latest 'Blue Smoke' Interviews, Reviews, Controversy
    Dolly's publicity tour for Blue Smoke still had a few stops left to make over the weekend. Interviews appeared on CMT's Hot 20 Countdown (viewable here or in the media player below), Headline News' Weekend Express here, Gulf News here, The Guardian here, NewsOK here, The Nottingham Post here, Associated Press here and CMT here. Cybergrass posted a track-by-track preview audio special with interview questions about some of the individual songs here. Today posted a Q&A series here, and GAC posted her Headline Country appearance to YouTube here. Reviews appeared in Digital Journal here, ABC News here and Canada's The Record here. In other news, the CD's Wal-Mart release caused a bit of controversy over the weekend as they began arriving. Back in April, Dolly's official Facebook and Twitter accounts posted: "Preorder #BlueSmoke from Walmart and get 4 bonus tracks + signed booklet!" It did not state that the signed booklets were apparently a limited offer, and Wal-Mart's web order page likewise did not appear to have any such disclosure. However, some people reported that when their copies arrived over the past several days, they were missing the signed booklet. In addition, one observer that had promoted the deal was upset here that the signatures on multiple copies appeared identical, thereby suggesting the booklets were robo-signed. (Granted, the promotion didn't say "hand signed" or "autographed" but instead just said "signed," which a robo-signed copy would technically fulfill.)

    Get More:

    Dolly Puts Hollywood Home On The Market
    Dolly in 2007 purchased a small 1,000-square-foot West Hollywood home for $1.2 million and, according to reports, has now placed it on the market for $1.4 million. Real estate site Trulia broke the news here with multiple photos of the home's inside. Coverage appeared on several websites thereafter, including Britain's The Daily Mail, which called the property "bizarre" here.

    'Towleroad' Looks At Dolly's Gay Icon Status
    LGBT news aggregate Towleroad has been offering a series on gay icons and this week chose Dolly. Read her entry here.

    More Dollywood Pics Posted
    Thanks to the Schmidli family for sending in some photos from Dolly's most recent appearance at Dollywood. They've been added to that section of the site here!


    May 16:
    Dolly Wraps Up 'Blue Smoke' Promotional Appearances


    Entertainment Tonight on Thursday posted a little behind-the-scenes video diary from Dolly on her whirlwind of appearances in New York to promote the release of Blue Smoke. Watch it here or in the media player above. Her Wendy Williams interview aired on Thursday. Check out a clip here. In related news, all songs from the album were posted to Dolly's official VEVO account on YouTube here, Yahoo Travel interviewed her about Dollywood's new DreamMore Resort here, The Associated Press spoke with her about goddaughter Miley Cyrus here, a clip from her for an interview in Guideposts magazine was posted here, Cosmopolitan analyzed why she's so popular with millennials here, Los Angeles' ABC 7 spoke with her here and Andy Cohen took the "What Dolly Song Are You" quiz here.

    Ronstadt Dips On Billboard Charts
    Linda Ronstadt's Duets, featuing her 1977 top 10 country hit with Dolly, "I Never Will Marry," loses 29 spots on the May 24 Billboard pop albums chart in its fifth week to No. 155, while it loses 19 to No. 130 current albums and nine to No. 21 Internet sales.


    May 15:
    Dolly Appears Everywhere On TV And In Print
    Dolly's Blue Smoke hit stores on Tuesday, and Dolly hit the airwaves. On Wednesday she taped The Wendy Williams Show to air on Thursday as well as a SiriusXM satellite radio "town hall" hosted by Kathie Lee Gifford that premiered Wednesday night (and repeats on several channels throughout the remainder of the month). Hear an excerpt here. A highlight from Tuesday's The Tonight Show appearance was host Jimmy Fallon trying on one of her wigs (watch it on YouTube here or in the media player below). She also performed "Jolene" on the program off air, which is available for online viewing here. Today posted a clip here (and The Daily Mail provided a recap of her appearance on the show here), and CMT chose her "10 prime hits" here. Interviews came from The Los Angeles Times here, Access Hollywood here, Canada's The Globe And Mail here, Nashville's WSMV here, Billboard here and ABC News here and here. Positive reviews were published by The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel here, Paste magazine here, AV Club here and The Boston Globe here.

    'Billboard' Expects High Dolly Debut
    Billboard noted Dolly's album is one of five new releases this week "aiming for high debuts" on the pop albums chart that will be out next week, alongside the week's likely No. 1, either Michael Jackson's Xscape or The Black Keys' Turn Blue, along with Rascal Flatts' Rewind and Tori Amos' Unrepentant Geraldines. Read the article here. As of Wednesday night, the CD was Amazon.com's No. 1 selling country title and No. 5 selling pop title and iTunes' No. 4 country title and No. 15 pop title.

    Final Homecoming Gallery Added To Site
    Another gallery from the Pigeon Forge Dolly Parade for her "homecoming" weekend has been posted to that section of the site here!

    Last Chance To Enter Dolly London Contest
    Thursday is your final day to enter St. Mark Catholic Church's contest to go to Europe and meet Dolly. She's playing a sold out benefit concert for the Richmond, Ky., church on May 27 and that night they'll draw a winner to receive two round-trip first-class airline tickets from Lexington, Ky., to London, five days/four nights at the five-star JW Marriott Grosvenor House Hotel, two VIP tickets to see Dolly in concert at the O2 Arena June 27 and a meet-and-greet with her prior to the show plus an extra $500 if they are in the audience for the announcement. Each penny donated provides one entry in the contest (the minimum gift is 50 cents). Enter here!

    Hard Rock Gatlinburg Relocates To Pigeon Forge
    Gatlinburg's Hard Rock Café has moved a few miles down the road to Pigeon Forge and will open next week, Knoxville TV station WBIR reported here, and the station's pictures showed the venue has added a new Dolly item: the dress she wore to sing "House Of The Rising Sun" on her 1976-77 television program.

    Reba Tells Kids How Much She Loves Dolly
    Reba shared her love for Dolly several times in a Q&A with local students in Nashville this week, The Tennessean reported here.


    May 13:
    'Colbert,' 'The View' Appearances Cancelled
    Don't forget to tune in on Tuesday for a slew of Dolly television appearances which continue throughout the week. I'm told, unfortunately, that the previously-announced stops by Tuesday's The Colbert Report and Wednesday's The View have been cancelled. The other appearances are apparently still scheduled. (Tuesday's Access Hollywood, Wake Up With Al, Today, The Talk and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon along with Wednesday's Imus In The Morning and Thursday's The Wendy Williams Show.) In addition, online print coverage continued as well, with interviews from US Magazine here and Digital Journal here, The New York Post posted a selection of Dolly quotes and song lyrics as "the wit and wisdom of Dolly" here, and reviews for Blue Smoke came from The Boston Herald here (good), Oxford University's student newspaper Cherwell here (bad) and The Associated Press here (very good, calling it her best album in over a dozen years).

    More Dolly Pics Posted Tonight
    Yet more pictures from Dolly's most recent return to Tennessee have been posted to that area of the site here, this time focusing on her annual Dolly Parade for Homecoming. And, yes, we still have a few more to get up!


    May 12:
    'Blue Smoke' Release Week Is Here!
    The big release week is here for Dolly's Blue Smoke CD (and the Porter & Dolly boxed set Just Between You And Me: Complete Recordings 1967-76), with all of the media appearances that are flooding the airwaves. Another online print interview came out over the weekend, this time in Salon magazine here, and Dolly's Facebook page posted a coupon for $2 off the album from Best Buy here. It was also revealed that her Access Hollywood is slated to air in most markets on Tuesday. The program is syndicated so check local listings for times and stations. The complete list of scheduled broadcasts, known as of press time, is below:

  • May 13, syndicated (check local listings for date and time), Access Hollywood
  • May 13, 6 a.m., The Weather Channel, Wake Up With Al
  • May 13 ,7 a.m., NBC, Today
  • May 13, 2 p.m., CBS, The Talk
  • May 13, 11:30 p.m., NBC, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
  • May 13, 11:30 p.m., Comedy Central, The Colbert Report
  • May 14, 6 a.m., FOX Business, Imus In The Morning
  • May 14, 11 a.m., ABC, The View
  • May 15, syndicated (check local listings for times and stations), The Wendy Williams Show
  • May 17, 11 a.m., CMT, Hot 20 Countdown (re-runs 11 a.m. May 18)
  • May 18, 7 a.m., HLN, Weekend Express
  • May 20, 6 a.m., HLN, Morning Express With Robin Meade
  • May 20, syndicated (check local listings for station and time), The Better Show

    New Dollywood Gallery Posted
    Another Dollymania gallery from her most recent Dollywood appearance has been posted to that area of the website here, this one from her My People pop-in. Still more to come!

    Overseas Charts Updated
    Dolly's Blue Smoke gains three places to No. 14 in its 14th week on the Australian top 40 country albums tally, while The Very Best Of Dolly Parton, Volume 1 inches up one to No. 18 country in its 329th week in the top 40 Down Under and The Essential Dolly Parton slips eight to No. 28 for a 75th week on the same list. In Ireland, Dolly's A Life In Music Ultimate Collection falls back out of the top 100 pop albums chart, down from No. 99. In the U.K., Emmylou Harris's Original Album Series, Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Ronstadt) holds steady at No. 3 in its 35th week on the British country compilations chart, while her Original Album Series, Volume 1, released in 2011, slides four to No. 13 in its 34th week back on the same tally with two Dolly covers, one track with Dolly harmony and one track with Trio harmony, and Ronstadt's own Original Album Series (also from 2011 and featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) re-enters the top 20 at No. 18.

    Bloomin' Barbeque Festival Coming To Sevierville
    The Mountain Press over the weekend plugged the upcoming Bloomin' Barbeque and Bluegrass Festival in Dolly's hometown of Sevierville, Tenn., featuring its Mountain Soul Vocal Competition on Dolly-written songs. Read the story here.


    May 10:
    More TV Spots In Next Couple Of Weeks Revealed
    Several additional Dolly appearances to promote Blue Smoke were announced on Friday. She appeared on Thursday's Headline Country on GAC, which repeats at 8:30 a.m. Saturday. An interview aired NPR Morning Edition on Friday. Take a listen here. She'll be on America's News HQ on FOX News on Saturday, CMT's Hot 20 Countdown on May 17 and 18, HLN's Weekend Express May 18 and HLN's Morning Express May 20. It was also revealed that the syndicated The Better Show appearance that had already been announced will air May 20. She will have a SiriusXM satellite radio "Town Hall" premiering at 7 p.m. Wednesday on Entertainment Weekly Radio (channel 105) with repeats on Willie's Roadhouse May 17, 18, 20 and 22, Prime Country May 31 and June 1, 3 and 5 and OutQ May 17 and 18. In addition, interviews will appear over the next couple of weeks on OMG! Insider, Access Hollywood, Entertainment Tonight Extra, ABC News Now, AP TV and other programs, although air dates for those shows were not revealed. Print interviews have come out in Rolling Stone and Entertainment Weekly along with cover stories from Unite Nashville and Nashville Life in addition to those already reported here. Lastly, NBC announced that her Today concert will consist of three songs: "9 To 5" and two tracks from the new CD. Her complete appearance schedule is on the left-hand side of the page under TV Listings.

    Another Dollywood Gallery Posted
    The next Dollymania galleries from last weekend at Dollywood has been posted to that area of the website here, this one covering her two park tours. More to come!

    'Billboard' Plugs Porter & Dolly Collection
    Billboard magazine on Friday profiled Tuesday's release of the Porter Wagoner duet boxed set Just Between You And Me: Complete Recordings 1967-76 with a piece here. The story also notes that the publication will have an interview with her on Monday in its "The 615" column focusing on her other Tuesday release, Blue Smoke.

    Dolly Tats Covered In Story
    Jezebel discussed Dolly's tattoos in a story here on Friday.

    Animated Dolly Makes 2ManyDJs Video
    Someone has come out with a very creative video for the 2002 mashup "Soulwax Part 2" from 2manyDJs that takes the album covers from the various songs included in the remix and animates them. Dolly and her "9 To 5" start around the 34-minute mark of the hour-long video (following Destiny's Child's "Independent Women Part 2"). After having her image from the album cover "dance" around to the song, she shows back up during the next song to ride a bomb (a la Dr. Strangelove). Watch it in the media player below.


    May 9:
    Dollywood DreamMore Photos Posted
    The first Dollymania galleries from the blessing ceremony at Dollywood's DreamMore Resort construction location have been posted to that area of the website here. More to come!

    Dolly To Be On 'Wendy Williams Show' Next Week
    Another Dolly television appearance was announced on Thursday. She will appear on next Thursday's broadcast of the syndicated Wendy Williams Show as she promotes the release of Blue Smoke. Check out their website here for local stations and times. In print, she's this week's cover girl for Cover magazine (with a brief based on that story appearing online at Artist Direct here) and Country Weekly along with an inside piece in Vogue. In other news, check out an interview with The Belfast Telegraph here.

    Dolly's 'Jolene' Analyzed
    The Awl had a great piece this week about Dolly's classic "Jolene" and the various covers of it. Read more here.

    Ronstadt Continues On The Charts
    Linda Ronstadt's Duets, with her 1977 top 10 country hit with Dolly, "I Never Will Marry," dips 37 places on the May 17 Billboard pop albums chart in its fourth week to No. 126, while it slides 29 to No. 111 current albums and six to No. 12 Internet sales.


    May 8:
    More 'Blue Smoke' Appearances Announced
    Two new appearances have been revealed for Dolly's promotions to plug next week's Blue Smoke CD release. Los Angeles-based The Talk will be filming next week in New York, and Dolly stops by on Tuesday for a taping of the CBS program. She also has been booked for the syndicated program The Better Show, although the air date has yet to be revealed. These appearances are in addition to previously-announced stops by The Weather Channel's Wake Up With Al, NBC's Today and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, all on Tuesday, and FOX Business's Imus In The Morning and ABC's The View on Wednesday. In related news, Dolly is promoting the European leg of her Blue Smoke World Tour with an interview in The Western Daily Press coming out on Friday. A preview is posted here. Charity Buzz is offering a Dolly meet-and-greet at one of her European shows in June or July here. Bids will be accepted through May 21 to benefit the British charity Gabrielle's Angel Foundation for Cancer Research. A new interview with the CBC was posted here Wednesday, and The Houston Press chose "Blue Smoke" as one of the 20 best songs its staff heard last month here. Finally, Dolly created a Buzzfeed survey to help fans find out which song of hers best represents their personality. Take the test here!

    Dolly Songs Take Stage At All For The Hall
    Although she wasn't there in person, Dolly 's influence was certainly felt this week at Keith Urban's annual All for the Hall fundraising concert for the Country Music Hall of Fame. Dolly provided a video-taped message for the crowd, Kacey Musgraves performed her "Here You Come Again," and Carrie Underwood belted out "I Will Always Love You," viewable here or in the media player below.

    Fans' Collection Profiled On TV
    "The Dolly Collection" exhibit from Harrell Gabehart and Patric Parkey's collection on display at Parton's Wedding Chapel and Antiques garnered a story from Knoxville's Local 8 News. Check it out here.

    Dollywood Partners Make 'Forbes' Magazine
    Forbes magazine on Wednesday profiled Dolly's partners in Dollywood, the Herschends, including a quote from Dolly herself. Read it here.


    May 7:
    Dollywood Makes History Channel This Week
    The Tennessean on Tuesday offered its coverage of Dolly's resort blessing ceremony here. The History Channel has announced Dolly appears on this week's episode of American Pickers, which focuses on the team having two weeks to find vintage firefighting equipment for Dollywood's FireChaser Express coaster. It premieres at 9 p.m. Eastern Wednesday. The park also has posted two new commercials to YouTube, although Dolly doesn't appear in either. They're available here and here. Finally, your webmaster didn't have time to post any full galleries tonight, so there's one shot at right from Dolly's parade prep on Friday. Gov. Bill Haslam arrived before Dolly on the parade route (he walked the parade just in front of Dolly's FireChaser Express float), and when Dolly got out of her van he hugged her, as seen in the photo, and called her "the prettiest fire marshal I've ever seen." More images to come from the weekend! Image is copyright ©  2014 T. Duane Gordon/www.dollymania.net.

    Dolly Gives Lengthy LGBT Subject Interview
    Dolly gave a very insightful interview about her relationship with LGBT fans to Pride Source magazine, which is available here. Although the interview covered several related questions, one that stood out is when asked why she decided three decades ago to publicly support gay equality, she replied: "Why wouldn't I stand up for everybody, for all people? In the country field, we're brought up in spiritual homes, we're taught to 'judge not lest you be judged,' and it's always been a mystery to me how people jump all over things just to criticize, condemn and judge other people when that is so un-Christian - and they claim to be good Christians! We're supposed to love one another. We're supposed to accept and love one another. Whether we do or not, that's a different story. But that's what we're supposed to do."

    New 'Jolene' Duet On 'USA Today'
    USA Today is offering an exclusive preview of newcomer Mary Sarah's album, Bridges, which features Dolly on a new cover of her classic "Jolene." The CD comes out next Tuesday, the same day as Dolly's Blue Smoke. Read the story here (which has the entire album embedded in streaming audio) or listen directly to the duet with Dolly here.

    'Blue Smoke' Review Posted
    A review of Dolly's Blue Smoke makes East Bay Express in which the reviewer said it is "sure to be another success." Read it here.

    Cyrus, Chenoweth Cover Dolly In Concert
    Dolly goddaughter Miley Cyrus is back on tour after her hospitalization for an allergic reaction, and she tells People here that the European leg of the tour will include her performance of a Dolly classic. (She's been doing "Jolene" in her U.S. shows.) In other cover performances, Dolly devotee Kristen Chenoweth did a show called The Evolution Of A Soprano at Carnegie Hall which included her version of "Little Sparrow," according to Playbill here.

    British Artist Recalls Love For Dolly
    British performer Vera Lynn has an essay in The Guardian about her love for Dolly. Read it here.


    May 6:
    Video Report From Dollywood Appearances Posted

    Your Dollymania.net coverage from Dolly's recent appearances at Dollywood continues tonight with the posting of a brief video report from the park's DreamMore Resort blessing ceremony and Dolly's annual Pigeon Forge parade. Check it out here or in the media player above. In other news, the official press release for the resort blessing ceremony has been released and is available here.

    Wal-Mart Promotional Video Found


    Wal-Mart has a new promotional video of Dolly for her upcoming Blue Smoke CD, which the store will carry with exclusive bonus tracks. Watch it via YouTube here or in the media player above.

    'Song By Song' DVDs Coming Overseas
    British media company Delta Media is releasing a DVD of Dolly's Song By Song series from the Ovation network, it has been announced. Read more here.


    May 5:
    Dolly Audio From Weekend Appearances Available
    Your official Dollymania.net coverage of Dolly's annual Dollywood Homecoming resumes tonight with the posting of the weekend's audio files here from both the complete blessing ceremony for her DreamMore Resort hotel on Friday and her appearance at the end of Saturday's My People show. In other coverage, The Mountain Press covered the blessing here and the parade here and The Knoxville News-Sentinel has a story on the resort (for subscribers only) here. Still to come are several photo galleries and a video report.

    U.S., Irish, Aussie, UK Charts Updated
    Dolly's Blue Smoke holds steady at No. 17 in its 13th week on the Australian top 40 country albums tally, while The Very Best Of Dolly Parton, Volume 1 dips three to No. 19 country in its 328th week in the top 40 Down Under and The Essential Dolly Parton rises eight to No. 20 for a 74th week on the same list. In Ireland, Dolly's A Life In Music Ultimate Collection re-enters the top 100 pop albums chart at No. 99. In the U.S., Linda Ronstadt's Duets CD, featuring her 1977 top 10 country hit with Dolly, "I Never Will Marry," loses 17 spots in its third week to No. 89 pop and 14 places to No. 82 current albums but inches up one to No. 6 Internet sales. In the U.K., Emmylou Harris's Original Album Series, Volume 2 (featuring one track with Dolly harmony and two tracks with Trio harmony by Dolly and Ronstadt) falls two to No. 3 in its 34th week on the British country compilations chart, while her Original Album Series, Volume 1, released in 2011, drops four to No. 9 in its 33rd week back on the same tally with two Dolly covers, one track with Dolly harmony and one track with Trio harmony, and Ronstadt's own Original Album Series (also from 2011 and featuring one Dolly cover and one track with Dolly harmony) off the top 20, down from No. 19.

    New Dolly Calendar Coming Next Month
    A new official 2015 Dolly calendar is coming June 1. Amazon.com is taking orders for the calendar here from Browntrout Publishers. The listing notes that the cover art is subject to change but currently it is her Blue Smoke cover. Get it here!

    'Live From London EP' Coming, Too
    No details are yet available, but Amazon is also showing a May 20 release for an import CD called Live From London EP, which appears to be another repackaging of her 2009 CD/DVD Live From London, so it might be something similar to the live CD coming out with the QVC version of her new CD. Get your copy here.


    May 3:
    Dolly Attends DreamMore Resort Blessing, Annual Parade
    Dolly was back home on Friday for a blessing ceremony for Dollywood's DreamMore Resort that is under construction. She welcomed a small group of the press to the event, which featured blessings by the park's chaplain and by a Cherokee elder. She also unveiled the first items that will be placed in her Dream Box, which will be exhibited at the hotel: a copy of her Dream More book, a piece of the porch from her Tennessee Mountain Home, a song she had written for the future that won't be released until 2045 (the 30th anniversary of the hotel's opening and the start of Dollywood's 60th season) and a locked box for which she wore the key on her outfit and inside of which only she and her uncle Bill Owens know what it contains. Several new artist renderings of the project were also unveiled. Later in the day, she took a park tour and then topped a replica of the FireChaser Express roller coaster for her float in the annual Pigeon Forge Dolly Parade. Look for complete coverage here over coming days! Additional coverage is available from Knoxville's Local 8 Now on the parade here and the resort here as well as WBIR here and Nashville's WSMV here. Image is copyright ©  2014 T. Duane Gordon/www.dollymania.net. Click on it for a larger version.

    Porter & Dolly Set Gets Promotional Video


    Bear Family Records has released a promotional video for the upcoming six-CD, 160-song Porter & Dolly boxed set Just Between You And Me: Complete Recordings 1967-76, coming out May 13. Watch it on YouTube here or in the media player above.

    Latest 'Blue Smoke' Developments
    The final installment of Dolly's Yahoo chats on each track from Blue Smoke was posted this week here. In addition, it was revealed that the British release of the CD, which comes June 9 to coincide with her tour there, will be paired with a new "Best Of" compilation featuring songs from not only her RCA period but Sugar Hill and Dolly Records periods as well, plus one track from her most recent film:

  • I Will Always Love You
  • 9 to 5
  • Jolene
  • Together You and I
  • Islands in the Stream - Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers
  • Here You Come Again
  • Coat of Many Colors
  • Little Sparrow
  • Love Is Like a Butterfly
  • My Tennessee Mountain Home
  • In the Ghetto
  • Silver Threads and Golden Needles - Dolly Parton with Tammy Wynette & Loretta Lynn
  • Sacred Memories
  • Applejack
  • Two Doors Down
  • Baby I'm Burnin'
  • Better Get To Livin'
  • The Sacrifice
  • From Here To The Moon and Back - Kris Kristofferson, Jeremy Jordan
  • Better Day

    More Dolly Interviews Available
    Dolly's interview rounds continued this week with a chat on Cincinnati's FOX 19, viewable here. (I'm told that afterward, a local theatre company doing her 9 To 5: The Musical promoted the opening of its show by having its "Doralee" perform "Backwoods Barbie," and Dolly's satellite feed remained open to see it; afterward, she had an e-mail sent to the cast saying how much she enjoyed the song's performance and wishing them well on their run of her show.) She spoke with Georgia's Marietta Daily Journal here, Smashing Interviews magazine here, Access Atlanta here and My Fox Atlanta here.

    Dolly Art Exhibit Heading To London, Berlin
    A successful Dolly-centered art show that premiered earlier this year in Helsinki, Finland, featuring eight Finnish designers will move to England and Germany this summer, organizers have announced. The "Dolly pARTon" exhibit will hit London's South Place Hotel in June and Berlin's 25 Hours Hotel in July. Learn more here.


    May 1:
    'Colbert,' 'Tonight Show,' 'The View,' More Appearances Coming
    Dolly's media blitz to promote her upcoming CD Blue Smoke will focus on New York-based media, it was announced on Wednesday. Appearances were revealed for May 13 on NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Weather Channel's Wake Up With Al and Comedy Central's The Colbert Report. Those stops join her previously-announced concert appearance on NBC's Today that morning. On May 14, she will chat with Imus In The Morning on Fox Business and ABC's The View. Additional appearances will be announced over the next week, her publicist says. In related news, she was interviewed for Good Day Atlanta on the local FOX affiliate there, scheduled to air on Thursday morning. Check out a preview clip here, and she spoke with The London Evening Standard here about wanting to record with Bruce Springsteen.