NASHVILLE, Tenn. (December 19, 2024) –The Grand Ole Opry will once again celebrate Opry member Dolly Parton, who was just named the “Greatest Country Artist of All Time” by Billboard Magazine, for the 3rd annual Opry Goes Dolly on January 18 at the Grand Ole Opry House.
Opry Goes Dolly will celebrate country music’s greatest global ambassador and an artist who takes the Opry with her wherever she goes. The special Saturday night Opry Goes Dolly is a one-of-a-kind Opry show that falls just a day before her actual birthday. While Parton will not appear in-person, the Opry Goes Dolly show will honor her with tributes throughout our FIRST Opry 100 show at the legendary Grand Ole Opry House – a perfect way to continue the Opry 100 celebration and pay tribute to a true icon.
Opry Goes Dolly will feature special guest artists performing their favorite Dolly hits, Dolly-themed events, photo-ops and more. Among those scheduled for the Opry Goes Dolly show are Dolly fans Bill Anderson, Rhonda Vincent, Ashley Cooke, and Chapel Hart as well as the first Opry debut of 2025, six-time Grammy nominee Shaboozey.
As part of the Opry Goes Dolly events, fans attending the Opry show can purchase a ticket to join a special Dolly-oke fundraiser in Studio A, headlined by the beloved Chapel Hart on Saturday night following the Opry show. All proceeds from the event will support the Opry Trust Fund, which offers financial assistance to those in the country music industry during times of crisis or emergency. All January 18 ticket purchasers will receive add-on details in the coming days.
Beginning today, $5 from every ticket sold to the January 18 show will be donated to Parton’s Imagination Library, a book gifting program that mails free, high-quality books to children from birth to age five, no matter their family’s income.
Among other plans in celebration of Dolly’s birthday:
- Birthday treats baked using Duncan Hines Dolly Parton’s mixes given to Jan. 18 Opry House tour guests (while supplies last)
- A larger-than-life birthday card for fans to sign at the Opry House on Jan. 18
- Dolly impersonator on Opry Plaza for photos during Jan. 18 Opry Goes Dolly show
- Signature Dolly drinks at all Opry House bars during Jan. 18 Opry Goes Dolly show
The Opry Shop will feature Dolly music and merchandise in celebration of her birthday as long as supplies last.
Tickets for “Opry Goes Dolly” are on sale now at (615) 871-OPRY and opry.com.
About Dolly Parton:
Dolly Parton is the most honored and revered multi-hyphenate of all time and was recently inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Her recent album Rockstar made history by scoring the biggest album debut sales week of her seven-decade career and earning her six #1s on the Billboard charts - Top Rock Albums, Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Country Albums, Top Album Sales, Top Current Album Sales, and Independent Albums. The landmark album also claimed the #3 spot on the Billboard 200 chart, her highest position ever. Achieving 27 RIAA-certified gold, platinum, and multi-platinum awards, she has had 26 songs reach #1 on the Billboard country charts, a record for a female artist. Parton is the first artist to have topped Billboard's Adult Contemporary, Christian AC Songs, Hot Country Songs, Bluegrass, Christian Airplay, Rock Digital Songs, Country Airplay, and Dance/Mix Show Airplay radio charts. Parton became the first country artist honored as Grammy MusiCares Person of the Year given out by NARAS. She has 49 career Top 10 country albums, a record for any artist, and 120 career-charted singles over the past 50+ years. In October 17, 2023, she released her second New York Times Best Seller coffee table book in a trilogy called Behind The Seams: My Life in Rhinestones. The first of the series was the bestselling coffee table book Songteller: My Life in Lyrics. In September 2024, Parton with her sister Rachel George Parton co-authored the cookbook Good Lookin’ Cookin’ which premiered at #1 on New York Times Best Seller list and remained #1 for 3 weeks.
In 2014, the RIAA recognized her impact on recorded music with a plaque commemorating more than 100 million units sold worldwide. She has amassed 11 Grammy Awards and 52 nominations, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, 10 Country Music Association Awards, including Entertainer of the Year; five Academy of Country Music Awards, also including a nod for Entertainer of the Year; four People's Choice Awards; and three American Music Awards. In 1999, Parton was inducted as a member of the coveted Country Music Hall of Fame.
Parton has the largest fan base of all measured music artists in the YouGov database at #1 with 198 million. She has the #1 Q Score of all performers, solo and group. She is one of only 25 celebrities in the E-poll database to have an E-score of 100 and has maintained that perfect rating for eight years. She recently won Best Brand Award, Celebrity, Influencer and Fashion at the 2023 Licensing International Excellence Awards.
To date, Parton has donated over 255 million books to children around the world with her Imagination Library. Her children's book, Coat of Many Colors, was dedicated to the Library of Congress to honor the Imagination Library's 100 millionth book donation. In March 2022, Parton released the book Run Rose Run which she co-authored with James Patterson which sat at # 1 on the New York Times Best Sellers List for five weeks, a record for this decade. She also released an accompanying album of the same name with original songs inspired by the book which reached #1 on three charts simultaneously – Country, Americana/Folk, and Bluegrass Albums. From her “Coat of Many Colors” while working “9 to 5,” no dream is too big and no mountain too high for the country girl who turned the world into her stage.
About Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library
Since launching in 1995, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has become the preeminent early childhood book-gifting program in the world. The flagship program of The Dollywood Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, has gifted over 250 million free books in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and The Republic of Ireland. This is achieved through funding shared by The Dollywood Foundation and Local Community and State Partners. The Imagination Library mails more than 3 million high-quality, age-appropriate books directly to children’s homes each month. Each child enrolled in the program receives one book per month from birth to age five - at no cost to families. Dolly envisioned creating a lifelong love of reading and inspiring children to Dream More, Learn More, Care More and Be More.
The program’s impact has been widely researched, and results demonstrate its positive impact on early childhood development and literacy skills. Penguin Random House is the exclusive publisher of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. For more information, please visit imaginationlibrary.com.
About the Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry is the home of country music where artists and fans gather, in person and virtually, to celebrate and be part of country’s past, present and future. Founded in Nashville in 1925 and today the longest-running live broadcast show in the world, the Opry strengthens its roots by constantly evolving. The Opry’s members are country’s most emblematic artists, and the show regularly showcases country music’s top new talent. The Opry welcomes legions of fans to visit the Opry House in Nashville, Tennessee – Music City, USA – to experience one of the 3-5 live shows it hosts per week; take a backstage tour; listen to live broadcasts on opry.com and wsmonline.com, SiriusXM Willie’s Roadhouse, or its flagship home WSM Radio; and watch Opry Live on Saturday nights and Opry content all week long on Circle Country. The Grand Ole Opry is owned by Ryman Hospitality Properties (NYSE: RHP) and part of a strategic investment with Atairos and NBCUniversal.
