Dolly Parton prepares for new album and tour

One of the most honored female country singers returns this summer with a much-anticipated album of all-new studio material — "Better Day" — and a world tour.

Author:: Patrick Prince
Publish date:: Mar 23, 2011

Dolly Parton, one of the most honored female country singers of all time, returns this summer with a much-anticipated album of all-new studio material — "Better Day" (Dolly Records) — and a world tour bringing her throughout America and then onto the U.K, Europe and Australia. The excitement gets underway when the iconic singer, songwriter, musician, actress and philanthropist unveils the album’s soaring first single “Together You & I” with a live performance Thursday, May 26 on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” as the song simultaneously arrives at radio. The song’s video will debut shortly thereafter.

“I wanted to do an album that would be very uplifting and positive, as well as inspirational,” says the seven-time Grammy winner who was hailed as “one of our national treasures” by Newsweek in 2008. “Times are hard all over. I think people need to feel better and I thought "Better Day" was a perfect title because it says ‘hope.’”

"Better Day" is the follow-up to her critically acclaimed and successful "Backwoods Barbie" album in 2008. Featuring 12 original Dolly compositions, the album will be released worldwide on her own Dolly Records in June or July (exact date TBA), marking the fourth release on the independent label.

The "Better Day" world tour launches July 17 in Knoxville in her home state of Tennessee and will be highlighted by two shows (July 22 and 23) at the historic Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. Next, the tour moves overseas starting August 20 and will feature a pair of shows (September 7 and 8) at the O2 Arena in London, the venue where Dolly recorded and filmed Live From London (Dolly Records), her widely praised 2009 two-disc DVD/CD set that included songs from Backwoods Barbie alongside her many classic hits.

"Backwoods Barbie" spun off three singles (“Better Get To Livin,’” “Jesus & Gravity” and “Shinola”) and was the first release on Dolly Records. Originally released in February 2008, the album entered the Top 200 Albums chart at #17 and at #2 on both the Country Album and Indie Album charts. This marked Dolly’s highest album debut ever on the Billboard pop albums chart, and first entry into the Top 20 since 1993’s Slow Dancing With The Moon. Then, in 2009, a special Collector’s Edition of Backwoods Barbie (with three new songs) entered Billboard magazine’s Country Albums chart at #9, the Independent Albums Chart at #3 and the Top 200 Albums chart at #40.

In 2008, Dolly achieved accolades for what was her most successful European tour of her 40-plus year career, where she performed 17 shows to over 170,000 fans, surpassing her then-best 2007 European tour, where she played 21 shows for over 140,000 people. Each of these treks grossed in the tens of millions of dollars and established Dolly as Europe’s favorite and most successful country artist.

BETTER DAY track listing:
In The Meantime
Just Leaving
Missing You
Together You & I
Country Is
Holding Everything
The Sacrifice
I Just Might
Better Day
Shine Like The Sun
Get Out

The initial North American and U.K./European dates are listed below, with the Australian dates to be announced shortly.

Jun 17 Jul
Knoxville, TN
University of Tennessee - Thompson Boling Arena

Tue 19 Jul
Dallas, TX
Verizon Theatre Grand Prairie

Wed 20 Jul
Albuquerque, NM
Sandia Casino

Fri 22 Jul
Los Angeles, CA
Hollywood Bowl

Sat 23 Jul
Los Angeles, CA
Hollywood Bowl

Sun 24 Jul
Concord, CA
Concord Pavilion

Wed 27 Jul
Prior Lake, MN
Mystic Lake Casino

Thu 28 Jul
Chicago, IL
Rosemont Theater

Sat 30 Jul
Wallingford, CT
Toyota Presents Oakdale Theatre

Sun 31 Jul
Vienna, VA
Wolf Trap

Tue 02 Aug
Durham NC
Durham Performing Arts Center