Dolly Parton to Release First Christmas Album in 30 Years
By Allyson Vannatta, Senior Writer
Christmas is coming early this year!
Country music singer, and Christian, Dolly Parton is releasing her first Christmas album in 30 years.
Titled “A Holly Dolly Christmas,” the new music will hit stands on October 2, according to PEOPLE.
The name was inspired by the Christmas tune, “A Holly Jolly Christmas” by Burl Ives.
“I thought, ‘I think I’ll call it A Holly Dolly Christmas because I love the song’” Parton told Billboard.
The 74-year-old singer’s new album will feature a mixture of old classic Christmas songs, mixed with some new ones.
The first single will be “Cuddle Up, Cozy Down Christmas” featuring Michael Bublé.
Willie Nelson, a longtime friend of Parton’s, also makes an appearance.
“One of my favorite songs ever is a traditional song that Willie Nelson wrote called ‘Pretty Paper,’” Parton said.
The song was first made famous by Roy Orbison, and later cut by Nelson. “I did it the old-timey way and asked him to come be part of it.”
Mariah Carey’s hit “All I Want For Christmas Is You” is also part of the track list.
“I thought, ‘What other songs are really hot?’ And I thought, ‘All I Want for Christmas is You,’ she said. “Jimmy Fallon, a couple of years ago, I was on his show around Christmas and he asked me to sing that and I didn’t know it and I felt so bad. So I went and learned it and I was just going to put it on my album and then I went, ‘I’ll ask Jimmy Fallon to sing it with me!’ And he said, yes. So I’m really excited about that.”
Other voices on the album include Billy Ray Cyrus and his daughter, Parton’s goddaughter, Miley Cyrus.
The singer has been a busy gal as her Netflix series DOLLY PARTON’S HEARTSTRINGS hit the streaming service at the end of last year.
One episode of the series, called THESE OLD BONES, won the Movieguide® Faith & Freedom Award for TV.
The episode garnered two more nominations as well. One for the Epiphany Prize® for Most Inspiring TV Program of 2019, and a nomination for the star of the show, Kathleen Turner, for the Grace Prize® for Most Inspiring Performance for TV.