DOLLY PARTON WRAPS MOST SUCCESSFUL EUROPEAN TOUR EVER

JESSICA SIMPSON RECORDS NEW DOLLY SONG

       The legendary country music icon recently returned from the most successful European tour of her 40-plus year career, where she performed 17 shows to over 170,000 fans, surpassing her then-best 2007 European tour, where she played 21 shows for over 140,000 people.  Each of these treks grossed in the tens of millions of dollars and established DOLLY as Europe’s favorite and most successful country artist. 
      
       The singer/songwriter/actress/entrepreneur–hailed as “one of our national treasures” in a rave review of her BACKWOODS BARBIE album by Newsweek (2/3/08)–was in Europe for a leg of stadium and arena dates running from 6/13-7/6 in Sweden, Ireland, Scotland and England all with no support act; the trek culminated with two shows at London’s 02 arena.  Her sold-out shows in Glasgow (12,000) and two in London (17,000 each) were filmed by director Fran Strine (Nickelback’s “Rock Star” video) for a future DVD release.
      
    Next up for DOLLY: a new single and a new leg of U.S. tour dates.  This week, she’ll issue “Shinola,” the third single from BACKWOODS BARBIE, the first release on her own new Dolly Records label and her first mainstream country album in 17 years.  “’Shinola’ brims with her down-home sass…” wrote Randy Lewis in the Los Angeles Times (3/7/08), while Joel Selvin noted in the San Francisco Chronicle: “’Shinola’ is a raucous, ticked-off rocker.”

     The CD (released February 26) entered the Top 200 Albums chart at #17 and at #2 on both the Country Album and Indie Album charts and has already featured two singles, “Better Get To Livin’” and “Jesus & Gravity.”  On the touring front, DOLLY will head back out on the road August 1 for 12 shows, which will be followed by a U.S./Canada tour beginning in October.

       This week, DOLLY will go into the studio to record vocals for a new song that she wrote for Jessica Simpson’s upcoming CD.  DOLLY says, “Well, Jessica Simpson has recorded a song I wrote for her titled ‘Do You Know.’  I believe that will be the name of her new CD as well.  Not only did she record it, she sang the living daylights out of it.  Boy, can she sing.  I’m excited and honored that she recorded my song, but equally as excited that I am going to sing on it with her as well.  Guess you could say it’s the ‘blonde leading the blonde.’”

    In other news, the “9 to 5” musical–for which DOLLY wrote all the music and lyrics including the “Backwoods Barbie” song–premieres at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles September 20 (previews begin September 3) and hits Broadway April 23, 2009 at the Marquis Theatre.

    Here are recent critical soundbites about the album (on Dolly Records, which is being distributed overseas through Universal Music Group) and tour.

"…there is no doubting the country diva's continued abilities as a musician. She plays half-a-dozen instruments in the course of the show, including guitar, banjo and piano, each of which has been painted white and studded with rhinestones."