Their collaboration on "God Only Knows" earned Dolly Parton & for King & Country the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song on Sunday, January 26, 2020. This marks Dolly's 10th Grammy win including her Lifetime Achievement Award and MusiCares Person of the Year Award. This is the fourth Grammy win for the Australian duo comprised of Joel and Luke Smallbone. While not present at the awards, Dolly expressed her excitement and gratitude. She said,
"I am so excited that for King and Country and I won a Grammy for 'God Only Knows!' Thank God and thank all of you!"
Joel and Luke accepted the award during the Grammy's Premiere Ceremony. They later shared this message with their fans on social media.
"We’re floored.. and dedicate these to anyone needing a new beginning, a fresh start, and a new dawn. These awards for us represent redemption for our family. If you’re wondering if your story can be used for good, it can be.." -- for King & Country
In addition to the Grammy win, “God Only Knows” also won “Song of the Year” honors at the K-LOVE awards and received a Dove Award for Pop/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year. See a full list of winners from the 62nd Grammy Awards highlights and more at Grammy.com.
This powerful music video for “God Only Knows” features Dolly as she and the Smallbone brothers struggle to find themselves before resigning to faith and belief. They shot the full-length video in Nashville, produced by Patrick Tohill and directed by Benjamin Smallbone.
[su_youtube url="https://youtu.be/UFiyEFmIXvA" height="440"]
Photo Credit: Curtis Hilbun
Following an extremely busy year, Dolly is closing 2019 on another high note. After being a special guest host at “The 53rd Annual CMA Awards,” celebrating legendary women in Country Music, this living legend is making headlines again with two 2020 Grammy Awards nominations!
"What incredible news to be nominated for two Grammy Awards! It is always such a sweet thing when your peers recognize and celebrate the music you make. To have a nomination with Linda Perry for 'Girl In The Movies,' the song we wrote together for Dumplin’ means so much. And then to share another with my new friends Joel and Luke Smallbone from for KING & COUNTRY on our duet 'God Only Knows'...well, I am one happy girl today!"
With the success of “God Only Knows,” in collaboration with KING & COUNTRY, Dolly received a nomination for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song. This award is given to the artist(s) and songwriter(s) (for new compositions) for the best contemporary Christian pop, Christian rap/hip-hop, or Christian rock single or track.
Based on the novel by Julie Murphy, Netflix film Dumplin’ released in 2018 featured Dolly Parton’s uplifting song “Girl in the Movies.” This dreamy ballad led to Dolly & Linda Perry receiving a nomination for Best Song Written For Visual Media. A Songwriter(s) award. For a song (melody & lyrics) written specifically for a motion picture, television, video games or other visual media.
To date, Dolly has earned 49 Grammy Awards nominations and has taken home eight Grammys.
Grammy Awards are set to air on January 26, 2020, on CBS.
In a USA Today/Tennessean exclusive, for KING & COUNTRY’s Joel Smallbone explained how the collaboration came to be. After watching Dolly’s Netflix movie, “Dumplin,” Joel fell in love with the film’s plot and soundtrack, leading him to reach out to Dolly.
“When I first heard ‘God Only Knows’ I thought it was one of the best songs I’d ever heard,” Dolly said. “I came from a very spiritual background, and I love anything to do with inspirational songs that lift people up. I feel that this is a good song for right now, and it’s so well written. I know that it touched me at a time when I needed to be lifted up.”
Dolly Parton has joined two-time GRAMMYⓇ award-winning duo for KING & COUNTRY for a brand-new version of the group’s award-winning single “God Only Knows,” as well as a powerful music video. Dolly’s presence on the track takes the song to new heights, with shimmering acoustic guitars complementing the song’s message of hope.
For KING & COUNTRY’s Joel Smallbone reflected,
“Hearing Dolly sing that chorus and those words was an out of body experience for us as writers and artists. As soon as we heard her vocals on the track, we immediately realized that this song was meant for her voice.”
Additionally, Dolly is featured in a powerful new music video for “God Only Knows,” as she and the Smallbone brothers struggle to find themselves before resigning to faith and belief. The full-length video was shot in Nashville, produced by Patrick Tohill and directed by Benjamin Smallbone.
“God Only Knows” recently won “Song of the Year” honors at the K-LOVE awards, received a Dove Award nomination for Pop/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year, and held the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Top Christian Songs chart for 11 weeks. Additionally, the song hit Top 30 on Mediabase and Billboard’s Hot AC charts while garnering 330 million radio impressions and over 65 million streams across all digital platforms.
