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.
Dolly’s song "Travelin’ Thru," from the 2005 motion picture "Transamerica," won the 2005 Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Song. The award is given by a group of film reviewers for Phoenix area publications.
"Travelin' Thru" is an original song written and performed by Dolly for the movie "Transamerica." The song went on to receive nominations for an Academy Award for Best Song and a Golden Globe for Best Original Song. It was also nominated by the Broadcast Film Critics Association for Best Song and won for Best Original Song at the Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards on 2005.
When Duncan Tucker, the director of the movie "Transamerica," was looking for a song for the end credits of his movie, he had only one thought, Dolly Parton.
Dolly said about her motivation for writing the movie’s song,
"Some people are blind or ignorant, and you can't be that prejudiced and hateful and go through this world and still be happy. One thing about this movie is that I think art can change minds. It's alright to be who you are."
On April 15, 2005, Dolly appeared on the "Reba’s Rules of Real Estate" episode of the WB sitcom playing the character Dolly Majors, Houston’s most successful real estate agent.
When invited to be on the show, Dolly only had one request of her friend,
"I said I want to have my high heels and tight clothes... Don't you put me in no cowboy boots. Don't take off my big hair."
The guest appearance came during a conversation between the friends,
"It's been a while since I've done any TV things... This was special for me. I've been trying to do Reba's show ever since she started. We struck up that conversation, got the show all together. They picked a good little character for me, and off we went."
The fifth annual Festival of Nations kicked off the 20th anniversary season at Dolly's Smoky Mountain theme park. Dollywood's six-week multicultural celebration featured music, dance, art and food from 10 countries. The Moscow Circus headlined this year's festival bringing the pageantry of 25 aerialists, singers, gymnasts, contortionists, clowns and folk musicians.
Other first-time Festival of Nations performers include the Russian Academic Band jazz band, a cappella children's choir Zambian Vocal Collection, Noticky, a children's ensemble and Ondras, a folk singer/dancer ensemble from the Czech Republic.
