Dolly appeared on the Oct. 25 "Halloween Special" episode of the one-season CBS television show "Bette" starring Bette Midler and featuring Dolly as a character very similar to herself. In this episode, Bette grows jealous of Dolly as they film a Halloween special. Dolly and Bette sing several songs together during the show including a version of Dolly’s classic "Islands in the Stream."
Dolly was recognized as being part of the 'Vocal Event of the Year' (the category name was changed to 'Musical Event of the Year' in 2005) at the Country Music Association's (CMA) annual awards show for her song "I will Always Love You," released as a duet with Vince Gill on her album "Something Special."
The song, "I Will Always Love You," has had a long history of success for Dolly and for the artists who have covered it (most famously Whitney Houston). It was originally written by Dolly as a thank you to Porter Wagoner, her long time singing and television partner because she had decided to leave the partnership. Dolly said,
"It's saying, 'Just because I'm going don't mean I won't love you. I appreciate you and I hope you do great and I appreciate everything you've done, but I'm out of here…’ And I took it in the next morning. I said, 'Sit down, Porter. I've written this song, and I want you to hear it.' So I did sing it. And he was crying. He said, 'That's the prettiest song I ever heard. And you can go, providing I get to produce that record.' And he did, and the rest is history."
The Dolly and Vince collaboration of "I Will Always Love You" was also honored with a GRAMMY nomination and a TNN/Music City News nomination for Vocal Performance of the Year and ultimately reached number 15 on the country charts.
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.
Dolly’s second performance on the hit musical variety show 'Hee Haw' came in 1972. She performed her 1971 hit song 'Coat of Many Colors' and joined Porter Wagoner on the duet 'The Right Combination.'
