Aug. 4: Dolly To Open NightFlight Aug. 14 At Dollywood Dollywood announced last week that Dolly is scheduled to make an appearance Aug. 14 at the park's Celebrity Theater to dedicate its largest addition in history, the massive NightFlight Exhibition ride. It is not yet known whether passholders will be able to attend, but recent media events have distributed random tickets to Diamond passholders and allowed Diamond passholders without tickets to wait in a standby line to fill no-show seats, but that has traditionally not been announced until about a week in advance. It is also not yet known whether Dolly will appear in a park tour, but it is traditional if weather permits that she tour the park in her little open-car parade tour when she is on park for a media appearance. In related news, silver, gold, and diamond passholders who bought in the renewal presale through Oct. 12 were promised preview access to the new ride before it opens to the general public, and they will be able to reserve spots starting at 10 a.m. Friday using their online My Dollywood accounts for Aug. 15-18 test period rides prior to public access starting Aug. 19. Starting Aug. 19, the ride will be added to the Premium Timesaver for one ride per Timesaver. This will mark just her second appearance at Dollywood this year and third public appearance anywhere since announcing health issues in late September that initially resulted in postponement and then later cancellation of a Vegas residency.
Dolly To Receive ACM Poet's Award The Academy of Country Music last week announced Dolly will receive this year's Poet's Award at the ACM Honors ceremony Aug. 19 at Nashville's Pinnacle. She is scheduled to accept the award via video message during a special tribute to her as part of the ceremony. The honor is "in recognition of her extraordinary, decades-long impact as one of Country Music's most gifted and influential songwriters," the ACM noted in a press release. "A 13-time ACM Award recipient, Parton's relationship with the Academy spans generations. She has also hosted the ACM Awards three times, further cementing her place as one of the genre's most beloved and enduring figures. At the heart of Parton's legacy is her pen. Her work has been nominated multiple times in the ACM Song of the Year category, including for 'You're the Only One,' '9 to 5' and 'When I Get Where I'm Going,' underscoring the lasting power of her songwriting within Country Music. From 'Jolene' and 'Coat of Many Colors' to 'I Will Always Love You,' Parton has written with honesty, heart and unmatched storytelling power, creating songs that have shaped the culture of Country Music and continue to resonate far beyond genre lines."
'Here I Am' Gets U.S. DVD Release Through PBS A new PBS-released DVD of the British documentary Dolly Parton: Here I Am is coming to retailers Sept. 15 after local stations provide the DVD as a thank you gift for donors who contribute in the fall pledge drive which includes the film as one of the featured programs this month on most PBS stations. Reserve your copy here.
'Broken Angles' Nominated For Dove Award Dolly over the weekend received her eighth career nomination from the Dove Awards for Christian music, of which she has previously won three awards. She and The Grascals are up for Bluegrass Recorded Song of the Year for "Broken Angels." The are competing against Chosen Road's "A God Thing," "Above The Clouds" by Eighteen Mile, "Camel Train" by Becky Buller featuring Ricky Skaggs, Sharon White, and Cheryl White, and "I Am The One" by Jeff Tolbert and Primitive Road. Winners will be announced at the 57th GMA Dove Awards Show Oct. 6 at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena. Dolly previously won this category in 2024 with Zach Williams for "Looking For You" and 2022 with Larry Cordle, Carl Jackson, Jerry Salley, Bradley Walker for "In The Sweet By and By" and was nominated in this category in 2015 as the songwriter of Volume Five and Rhonda Vincent's cover of "Daddy Was An Old Time Preacher Man." She also won 2020's Short Form Video of the Year for "God Only Knows" with For KING & Country and was nominated for Pop Recorded Song of the Year in 2021 for "There Was Jesus" with Zach Williams and Country Recorded Song of the Year in 2004 for "Stand By The River" with Dottie Rambo and in 2006 for "When I Get Where I'm Going" with Brad Paisley.
Dolly Mural In Nashville Defaced A popular mural of Dolly at The Five Spot Nashville was recently vandalized. Security footage caught a person who threw black paint on Dolly's face. The business posted the news to Instagram here saying: "9:52am on a Monday. Help us find this jerk. Thanks to our neighbor @hipzippernashville for the camera footage. Nobody fucks with Dolly, Or any art by @kimradfordartist." Check out a news story from The Tennessean courtesy AOL here.
Dolly Archives Reps Head To Denver Life of Many Colors Museum Executive Director Rebecca Seaver and Dolly Parton Archive Chief Historian and Archivist Christian Ferguson will visit the Denver Art Museum Jan. 12 for an in-depth talk on their work with Dolly and her archive and their curation of the coffee table book Behind The Seams: My Life In Rhinestones. Learn more and get tickets here.
Dolly's Niece In New 'Honky Tonk Angels' Trio Dolly's niece, Tammy Wynette's daughter, and another young female country artist have re-created Dolly, Tammy, and Loretta Lynn's Honky Tonk Angels version of "Silver Threads and Golden Needles," complete with inviting multiple male country artists to be filmed trying to enter their dressing room backstage and ply them with gifts. Check out the video by Heidi Parton, Georgette Jones, and Lee Newton on YouTube here and download the track from Amazon here.
