Photo Credit: Rob Hoffman
Eight-time GRAMMY® winner Dolly Parton received honors at the 2019 MusiCares® Person of the Year tribute on Friday, Feb. 8, 2019. Neil Portnow, President/CEO of MusiCares and the Recording Academy™ first made the announcement on September 4, 2018.
Little Big Town hosted the event and those appearing included GRAMMY® winners Vince Gill, Don Henley, Kacey Musgraves, Willie Nelson, and Mavis Staples; and GRAMMY® nominee Linda Perry. Dolly also graced the stage along with Leon Bridges, Garth Brooks & Trisha Yearwood, Miley Cyrus, Lauren Daigle, Norah Jones, Shawn Mendes, Katy Perry, P!NK, Mark Ronson and Chris Stapleton. The star-studded list of performers also included Jennifer Nettles, Brandi Carlile, Margo Price, Yolanda Adams, Cam and Jon Batiste.
Proceeds from the 29th annual benefit gala will provide essential support for MusiCares, a charity founded by the Recording Academy that ensures music people have a place to turn in times of financial, medical and personal need. The tribute was held at the Los Angeles Convention Center two nights prior to the 61st Annual GRAMMY Awards®.
Parton is the first artist from the Nashville music community to be honored by MusiCares. She is being recognized as the 2019 MusiCares Person of the Year for her considerable creative accomplishments and her longtime support of a number of causes through her Dollywood Foundation, including the Imagination Library, which, since 1996, has provided more than 100 million books to children from birth to five years of age in the United States, Canada, Australia, and the U.K.
"Dolly Parton has always been and continues to be a courageous trailblazer and indomitable inspiration for creators and artists—so for us to have the opportunity to honor her at our annual MusiCares Person of the Year gala is to pay tribute to a true pillar of strength and someone who we all look up to and cherish,” said Portnow. With her legendary talent, she has forged a career that spans decades and her gifts as a performer resound on both stage and screen. Dolly also knows the power of philanthropy and she has used her stardom to contribute to a wide range of causes from natural disasters to education and literacy programs."
"I am so excited and humbled to be honored as MusiCares Person of the Year,” said Dolly. “It’s even more special knowing the gala benefits music people in need. I can’t wait to hear all of the great artists singing my music.”
Remarks Dolly’s manager Danny Nozell, CEO, CTK Management, “I couldn’t think of anyone more deserving to be the first MusiCares Person of the Year representing the Nashville music community. It’s been a privilege to witness her generous heart, first-hand, for the last 14 years.”
"With each passing year, the goal of MusiCares remains clear: to do more and serve more music people in need," said Michael McDonald, MusiCares’ Board Chair. "Over the course of our last fiscal year, we provided more than $6.4 million dollars to more than 8,500 members of the music industry—the largest number of clients served and dollars distributed in a single year in our charity's history. We are confident that our 2019 Person of the Year tribute to Dolly Parton will help us raise the funds that sustain and expand our mission."
The MusiCares Person of the Year tribute ceremony is one of the most prestigious events held during GRAMMY Week. The Person of the Year gala will begin with a reception and silent auction offering an exclusive and unparalleled selection of luxury items, VIP experiences and one-of-a-kind celebrity memorabilia for bidding guests. The reception and silent auction will be followed by a gala dinner sponsored by AEG; a live auction; a tribute concert featuring renowned musicians and other artists; and the award presentation. The celebration culminates with the 61st Annual GRAMMY Awards at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles on Sunday, Feb. 10, 2019. The telecast will be broadcast live on the CBS Television Network at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.
Established in 1989 by the Recording Academy, MusiCares offers health and human services and programs to members of the music community, including emergency financial assistance for basic living expenses such as rent, utilities, and car payments; medical expenses, including doctor, dentist and hospital bills; and treatment for HIV/AIDS, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, hepatitis C and other critical illnesses. MusiCares offers nationwide educational workshops covering a variety of subjects, including financial, legal, medical, and substance abuse issues, and programs in collaboration with health care professionals that provide services such as flu shots, hearing tests and medical/dental screenings. MusiCares provides access to addiction recovery treatment and sober living resources for members of the music community. Staffed by qualified chemical dependency and intervention specialists, MusiCares offers Safe Harbor Room® support, sponsored in part by the Bohemian Foundation, to provide a network to those in recovery while they are participating in the production of televised music shows and other major music events. MusiCares holds weekly addiction support groups for people to discuss how to best cope with the issues surrounding the recovery process.
Keep an eye to the spyglass, mateys; Dolly’s pirates will be searching for treasure in the Great Smoky Mountains, next summer!
After nearly a decade of rave reviews and financial success on the Carolina coast, Parton’s newest Pirates Voyage dinner attraction is slated to open in the spring.
“The show has been so successful in Myrtle Beach that we kept looking at Pigeon Forge and wondering why we didn’t already have a Pirates show there,” Dolly said. “We have the perfect location, in one of the hottest areas of Pigeon Forge, and the time is now for my pirates to stake claim to the Great Smoky Mountains!”
When complete, the 21,000 square foot arena, adjacent to The Island in Pigeon Forge, will be the stage for Crimson and Sapphire pirates to battle on deck, in the water and in the sky above their full-sized pirate ships in a 15-foot-deep indoor lagoon. Spectacular acrobatic competitions, live animals and an original music score by Dolly Parton and Mark Brymer creates an immersive adventure experience all while guests enjoy a spectacular five-course pirate feast.
“We’re glad we can finally share Dolly’s exciting news,” Jim Rule, World Choice Investments CEO said. “For some time, we have been working on set and costume designs, unique show elements for this theater and animal and staff training. We’re all looking forward to opening in 2019.”
Additional details about the project will be released soon. Site construction is slated to begin in early January with an opening projected for spring.
On January 4, 1969, Dolly Parton was fresh off the release of her first solo album released on RCA Records Nashville, the now-seminal “Just Because I’m A Woman,” and on that date, the singer-songwriter received the biggest accomplishment of her then-young career: being inducted as a Grand Ole Opry member. Fifty years later, Parton has achieved nearly every honor and accolade an entertainer can receive, and she is cemented as the female Country artist with the most Billboard Top 20 hits according to Guinness World Records. In conjunction with the release of her new album Dumplin’ Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Dolly Records/RCA Nashville), Parton is set to return to the hallowed stage that was such an important part of her early days in Nashville: the Grand Ole Opry. The global superstar will celebrate the 50th anniversary of her Opry membership, performing on Saturday, October 12, 2019, and capping a week-long celebration of Parton’s impact on music and the Opry, dubbed Dolly Week 2019.
“It was always my dream to be on the Opry,” recalls Parton. “I actually got to sing on the Grand Ole Opry when I was about 10 years old. I officially became a member back in 1969 and I cannot believe next year I will celebrate 50 proud years of being a member of the Grand Ole Opry! They call it the ‘Mother Church’ because the old Ryman was a church, but it’s sacred to me, wherever it goes – the church of my heart. For me, the Opry is like the song ‘New York, New York’ – if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. I am excited to be coming back home to celebrate 50 years of membership!”
And Parton has made it everywhere. As a worldwide icon, she is arguably country music’s greatest global ambassador – and she has taken the Opry and the memories from those early days in her career with her wherever she goes. Because of her impact across all forms of music, it is only fitting that the Grand Ole Opry create programming for Dolly Week 2019 that acknowledges her broad influence.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2019 AT 7 PM
Dustin Lynch, Suzy Bogguss, Stephanie Quayle, The Isaacs, Ashley Campbell, and more to be added.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2019 AT 7 PM
Sara Evans, Sam Williams, Del McCoury Band, Don Schlitz, Stephanie Urbina Jones, Smithfield, and more to be added.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2019 AT 7 PM
Opry Country Classics-- Featuring performances of #1 Dolly hits
Dierks Bentley, Emmylou Harris, Margo Price, Chris Janson, Bill Anderson, and more to be added.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2019 AT 9:30 PM
Friday Night Opry-- Dolly’s Mountain Soul: Bluegrass, Americana & Roots Music honor Dolly
Emmylou Harris, Margo Price, Chris Janson, Bill Anderson, and more to be added.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2019 (Two Shows) SOLD OUT:
Dolly Parton’s 50th Grand Ole Opry Anniversary Celebration featuring Dolly Parton and many more.
Dolly Parton, Lady Antebellum, Jeannie Seely, Toby Keith, Margo Price, Hank Williams, Jr., Candi Carpenter, and more to be added.
Tickets are on sale now for Dolly Week 2019. Both performances on Oct. 12, 2019, are Sold Out.
Read About Dolly Parton's First Grand Ole Opry Performance In 1959
The Grand Ole Opry® is presented by Humana®. Opry performances are held every Friday and Saturday of the year, with Tuesday night shows through December 11. To plan an Opry visit, call (800) SEE-OPRY or visit opry.com. The Opry presents the best in country music live every week from Nashville, Tenn. Celebrating nine decades of entertainment, the Opry can be heard at opry.com and wsmonline.com, Opry and WSM mobile apps, SiriusXM Satellite Radio, and its flagship home, 650 AM-WSM. The Grand Ole Opry is owned by Ryman Hospitality Properties (NYSE: RHP). For more information, visit opry.com.
On February 1, 2019, World Choice Investments, the operating partner of Dolly Parton’s dinner theaters, expanded its dinner theater holdings to seven with the purchase of three theaters and a restaurant. The theaters were purchased from David Fee and Jim Hedrick’s Fee Hedrick Entertainment in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Parton’s enterprise now operates spectacular shows in Branson, Missouri, and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and with the purchase, five theater attractions in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
“My theater production company just purchased Fee Hedrick Entertainment, and I am so excited to have more family entertainment to present to our guests in Pigeon Forge. In 2019, we’ll operate Comedy Barn, Hatfield & McCoy and Smoky Mountain Opry in the same way folks have come to remember them,” Dolly said. “David, Jim and their team have done a great job with these shows through the years and, for now, we don’t plan to change anything. They are fun family entertainment, and that is the business I’m in.”
The terms of the purchase are private but Fee and Fred Hardwick of World Choice Investments stressed this is a win-win for both companies.
“David Fee and his staff have been great competition for us over the years,” Fred Hardwick, Chairman of the Board of World Choice Investments, said. “He produces high quality, successful shows. As Dolly said, this is an opportunity to expand our portfolio of theaters in Pigeon Forge with quality family entertainment. We will also continue to expand our own brands like Pirates Voyage - opening this year in Pigeon Forge.” WCI had previously announced it planned to open Pirates Voyage in Pigeon Forge adjacent to The Island in time for the summer tourism season.
“All of these theaters provide a great opportunity for us to package our shows in an affordable way and to focus with Dollywood to bring people to the area,” Hardwick said. “Dolly’s enthusiastic leadership will continue to focus on bringing the best in entertainment in an affordable way for the families visiting the Smoky Mountains.”
For more information and tickets, go to DinnerShowTickets.com.
Dolly will discuss stories and the history behind these costumes at the Museum’s Clive Davis Theater as part of an exclusive Town Hall Program to be livestreamed on Billboard's Facebook Page.
Monday, Feb. 4 from 5–6 p.m. PT at GRAMMY Museum L.A. Live and exclusively livestreamed on Billboard's Facebook Page
Eight-time GRAMMY® winner, Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, and Oscar-nominated artist Dolly Parton has been widely renowned as not just a music legend, but a fashion icon. To showcase iconic costumes and pieces from her personal archive, the GRAMMY Museum® proudly presents Diamond In A Rhinestone World: The Costumes Of Dolly Parton presented by City National Bank, which will be the first exhibit Parton has had in the United States outside of her Tennessee theme park Dollywood. The exhibit will open on Feb. 4, when Parton will discuss stories and the history behind these costumes at the Museum’s Clive Davis Theater as part of an exclusive Town Hall Program. The exhibit opens to the public on Feb. 5 and will run through March 17. Additionally, Parton will be honored at the 2019 MusiCares® Person of the Year tribute on Friday, Feb. 8. The tribute will be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center two nights prior to the 61st Annual GRAMMY Awards®.
Diamond In A Rhinestone World: The Costumes Of Dolly Parton will offer a retrospective of Parton’s career and most iconic fashion moments. The exhibit will also feature Videri canvasses now at the Museum, making the GRAMMY Museum the first in the world to showcase this technology in a gallery setting.
"I probably have thousands of dresses from over the years," said Parton. "I had a hard time letting go of some of my favorites, but I’m excited for them to be included in this exhibit. I can't wait to see them on display at the GRAMMY Museum!"
This exhibit captures the spirit of Parton through some of her most cherished outfits, which include costumes from her most memorable album covers, music videos, and live performances.
"To say that it's an honor to showcase Dolly Parton's all-time greatest outfits and her first exhibit in the United States outside of Dollywood at the GRAMMY Museum is an understatement," said the Museum's Executive Director Michael Sticka. "Displaying these extraordinary costumes and pieces will take you through a career that has spanned decades of someone who is beloved as both a groundbreaking artist and a trendsetting pioneer. We are extremely grateful to Dolly for letting us feature some of the most memorable and innovative outfits in music history."
Exhibit highlights include:
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