Dolly contributed vocal harmony to the 2005 Brad Paisley song 'When I Get Where I'm Going,' written by George Teren and Rivers Rutherford.
The touching music video features individuals with photographs of their loved ones. It won Video of the Year at the Academy of Country Music (ACM) awards and the song won Vocal Event of the Year.
Dolly wrote a letter to the songwriters,
“I want to thank you and congratulate you for one of the greatest songs that I have ever heard and certainly one of the best songs that I've had the good fortune to sing on in my whole career. I hear nothing but great comments on it. I just lost a dear friend, and they played it at his funeral. It was his favorite song ever. But all of my living friends love it, too... I truly am as proud to have been a part of that [song] as anything I've ever done in my whole life.”
Paisley also chose the collaboration with Dolly, based on the recent loss of his aunt to cancer,
“Her voice is angelic and that takes it to a more spiritual realm instantly... and my aunt loved her and thought she was great."
The song was the second single released from Paisley’s "Time Well Wasted" album. "When I Get Where I'm Going" topped the Billboard Hot Country singles chart and landed at No. 39 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The two artists had previously recorded each other’s songs but only met on a few occasions. "Islands in the Stream" marked their first duet recording. However, Rogers originally intended to perform the song as a solo.
Dolly happened to be in the same studio when Kenny and his team were struggling to make the song work. They approached her about turning the song into a duet. Rogers said,
“Once she came in [the studio], that song was never the same. She lit it up and we became good friends from that point on.”
Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb (the Bee Gees) wrote the song originally for Marvin Gaye. It was based on the novel by Ernest Hemingway of the same name and was originally intended to be an R&B song. Barry and Maurice Gibb also performed as background singers and musicians on the Dolly and Kenny recording.
The song reached No. 1 on the pop, country and adult contemporary charts. It first appeared on Rogers’ "Eyes that See in the Dark" album, released on RCA records in August 1983. Dolly and Kenny received a GRAMMY nomination for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group.
