Dolly Parton knows youâre having a tough year, and she wants to help.
The legendary country singer announced this week that sheâs releasing her first Christmas album in 30 years. âA Holly Dolly Christmasâ will be released on October 2, and will feature several original songs alongside holiday classics.
âI figured since everybody probably wouldnât get to celebrate Christmas as usual this year, I wanted to be creative instead of sitting around at the house this summer,â Parton, 74, said in a statement. âSo I put on my mask, gloves and practiced social distancing, as well as all of the wonderful musicians and singers, and we proceeded to put together what I think is some of the best work that Iâve ever done.â
She wrote five songs by herself for the new album, and co-wrote another. The first single âCuddle Up, Cozy Down Christmasâ is a duet with Canadian singer Michael BublĂ©. Some of the other famous voices youâll hear on the record include Willie Nelson, Jimmy Fallon and Partonâs goddaughter, Miley Cyrus.
The last time Parton released a Christmas album was âHome for Christmasâ in 1990. That album was all classic Christmas songs, no originals.
Partonâs rendition of the terrifically mournful but still upbeat song âHard Candy Christmasâ is famous, but that song isnât actually one of her own â it was written earlier, for the musical âThe Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.â Parton sang it when she starred in the 1982 movie adaptation.
Parton is doing her part to try to help 2020 be less terrible. In April, she donated USD $1 million to efforts to research a COVID-19 vaccine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, in part inspired by one of the hospitalâs surgeons, her âlongtime friend Dr. Naji Abumrad.â The music legendâs somewhat unlikely friendship with the Lebanese-born surgeon was explored in âDolly Partonâs America,â last yearâs fascinating podcast about her cultural legacy hosted by the doctorâs son, radio host Jad Abumrad.
And in another act of pandemic kindness, for ten weeks, Parton helped virtually put kids to bed by reading childrenâs books on her social media channels. The project was part of her Imagination Library initiative, which donates books to young kids in Canada, the U.S., the U.K., Ireland, and Australia.
And just in case you were worried about her politics, given that she rarely expressed political opinions and refused to denounce Trump? She expressed support for Black Lives Matter in an interview with Billboard.
âOf course Black lives matter,â she told the outlet. âDo we think our little white asses are the only ones that matter? No!â