DOLLY PARTON CELEBRATES 80TH BIRTHDAY WEEK WITH 60 YEARS OF HIT RECORDS

Global superstar Dolly Parton celebrates her birthday week with another hit record. Parton, whose span of Billboard chart hits now covers 60 years, sees the new version of her classic hit “Light Of A Clear Blue Morning” (featuring Lainey Wilson, Miley Cyrus, Queen Latifah & Reba McEntire) debut at #41 on the Billboard Country Airplay, earning Hot Shot Debut honors for the highest debut song of the week. The song is also this week’s Most Increased In Airplay (+1,810 spins) generating 2.5 million listener impressions.

“This is the best gift I could receive! I want to thank the fans, all the radio programmers, and all the streaming partners,” exclaims an excited Parton. “When I first started thinking about something special to do for my 80th birthday, I thought, ‘Lord, please give me a song – or something – to make the birthday special…to be a gift from me to other people for my birthday.’ When we were working on songs for my new museum in Nashville, ‘Light Of A Clear Blue Morning’ came on, and I went, ‘Oh! That’s it!’”

Parton & Friends also blast onto the Billboard Country Digital Song Sales chart at #1. The music video for the single has been viewed more than 5 million times on YouTube and Facebook. The song also is receiving global embrace, with adds and features highlighted across numerous BBC Radio platforms in the UK. “Light Of A Clear Blue Morning” debuts Top 10 on the UK’s Official Charts Digital Single Sales tally.

Parton’s first appearance on Billboard’s charts came as a songwriter 60 years ago. “Put It Off Until Tomorrow”, cowritten with her Uncle Bill Owens, was recorded by Decca Records artist Bill Phillips and released in January 1966. First cracking the Billboard Hot Country Songs in April 1966, the song eventually peaked at #6 on the chart. Parton is featured as an uncredited special guest vocalist on the single, which also brought the singer-songwriter the first of many BMI Awards as a Song of the Year in 1966.

Country radio embraced this single in a big way, with the track becoming one of the week’s Most Added songs. With broad support from iHeartMedia, Audacy Radio, and Townsquare Media, official playlisted adds came from KKGO/Los Angeles, KKBQ/Houston, WPGB/Pittsburgh, KAWO/Boise, WCOL/Columbus, KSD/St. Louis, WCOS/Columbia, WEZL/Charleston, WKSJ/Mobile, WQIK/Jacksonville, WSSL/Greenville, KXKS/Shreveport, WUSJ/Jackson, and Music Choice.

In keeping with the spirit of giving that has defined her career, net proceeds from the new version of “Light Of A Clear Blue Morning” and its accompanying music video will benefit the pediatric cancer research program at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tennessee, a longtime partner and cause close to Parton’s heart. This single is released on Parton’s own Butterfly Records, with distribution via Virgin Music Group.

About Dolly Parton:
Dolly Parton is the most honored and revered multi-hyphenate of all time and in 2022 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Recently, Dolly debuted Dolly: A True Original Musical in Nashville as a thank you to her home state and community that has uplifted her for decades. The musical will make its official Broadway debut in 2026. Her recent album Rockstar made history by scoring the biggest album debut sales week of her seven-decade career and earning her six #1s on the Billboard charts – Top Rock Albums, Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Country Albums, Top Album Sales, Top Current Album Sales, and Independent Albums. The landmark album also claimed the #3 spot on the Billboard 200 chart, her highest position ever. Achieving 28 RIAA-certified gold, platinum, and multi-platinum awards, she has had 26 songs reach #1 on the Billboard country charts, a record for a female artist. Parton is the first artist to have topped Billboard’s Adult Contemporary, Christian AC Songs, Hot Country Songs, Christian Airplay, Rock Digital Songs, Country Airplay, and Dance/Mix Show Airplay radio charts. Parton became the first country artist honored as Grammy MusiCares Person of the Year given out by NARAS. She has 49 career Top 10 country albums, a record for any artist, and 120 career-charted singles over the past 50+ years. On October 17, 2023, she released her second New York Times Best Seller coffee table book in a trilogy called Behind The Seams: My Life in Rhinestones. The first of the series was the bestselling coffee table book Songteller: My Life in Lyrics. Her third book Star of the Show My Life on Stage comes out on November 11, 2025, looking at her decades long performing on the road.

In 2014, the RIAA recognized her impact on recorded music with a plaque commemorating more than 100 million units sold worldwide. She has amassed 11 Grammy Awards and 52 nominations, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, 10 Country Music Association Awards, including Entertainer of the Year; five Academy of Country Music Awards, also including a nod for Entertainer of the Year; four People’s Choice Awards; and three American Music Awards. In 1999, Parton was inducted as a member of the coveted Country Music Hall of Fame.

Parton has the largest fan base of all measured music artists in the YouGov database at #1 with 198 million. She has the #1 Q Score of all performers, solo and group. She is one of only 25 celebrities in the E-poll database to have an E-score of 100 and has maintained that perfect rating for 8 years. She recently won Best Brand Award, Celebrity, Influencer and Fashion at the 2023 Licensing International Excellence Awards.

To date, Parton has donated over 302 million books to children around the world with her Imagination Library. Her children’s book, Coat of Many Colors, was dedicated to the Library of Congress to honor the Imagination Library’s 100 millionth book donation. In March 2022, Parton released the book Run Rose Run which she co-authored with James Patterson which sat at # 1 on the New York Times Best Sellers List for five weeks, a record for this decade. She also released an accompanying album of the same name with original songs inspired by the book which reached #1 on three charts simultaneously – Country, Americana/Folk and Bluegrass Albums. From her “Coat of Many Colors” while working “9 to 5,” no dream is too big and no mountain too high for the country girl who turned the world into her stage.