Dolly Parton is bringing the Christmas spirit to 2020. She just dropped her Christmas album A Holly Dolly Christmas last week. Parton stopped by The Bobby Bones Show virtually to talk about all things Christmas, and what she loves to see from fans.
Despite 2020's pandemic-filled year, Parton managed to record A Holly Dolly Christmas a few months ago. She shared that all of her collaborators on the album recording their parts separately to be safe. She added that they got a kick out of seeing how her team was able to pull everything together to make it sound like they were all in the same studios. Willie Nelson collaborated with Parton on the track "Pretty Paper," but he recorded his part from a studio in Austin, Texas. In order to set the mood for Christmas in the summer months during recording, Parton confessed that they decked out the studio. They turned the AC down way low, brought in some snow, and even gave each other gifts to make it seem like it was the holidays.
Parton's album wasn't the only Christmas thing she is making happen this year. She has Dolly Parton's Christmas On The Square, a Netflix movie musical dropping on November 22nd. In the movie, Parton will be starring as character Angel, who is indeed an angel, who helps another character on the show find the error of her ways. Parton says her character is gaudy and flashy. And at one point, Parton is dressed as a homeless woman. To make it even better, Parton wrote all of them music for the movie.
Christmas is Parton's favorite holiday, but she says she decorates her house for every holiday. At the moment, she's decorating for Halloween and fall, and the day after Thanksgiving Parton will decorate for Christmas. She loves the holiday season so much that she leaves up her Christmas decorations until after her birthday on January 19th. When Bobby Bones asked her what her family buys the woman that has everything, Parton said that she's actually the easiest person to buy for because she's not high class. She shared that she's a huge fan of getting costume jewelry, make-up, and bags as gifts.
While Parton doesn't frequent social media herself often, her team and her young family members keep her up to date on all the things happening on social media, particularly the ones that involve her. She has seen the "9 To 5" TikTok Challenge and said it really makes her feel good. Plus, as an added bonus it makes her look cool to her nieces and nephews. She believes that working with Miley Cyrus on Hannah Montana is what opened up her career to the younger audiences. Plus, her work with the Imagination Library. Parton even watched the viral video of the two kids hearing "Jolene" for the first time ever, and shared that she was impressed with them and it made her feel good as a songwriter and singer.
As for what Parton would tell 16-year-old Dolly Parton, she laughed and said she would tell her, "Girl, you better buckle up, you're gonna have the ride of your life!" Parton hopes to always be around for years to come. She lovingly said "The whole world is my family," and she continues to live by the saying "Old as yesterday, and new as tomorrow."