DOLLY PARTON TO RELEASE ‘BETTER DAY’

DOLLY PARTON
TO RELEASE  ‘BETTER DAY’
ALBUM OF ALL-NEW MATERIAL
AND LAUNCH WORLD TOUR THIS SUMMER

DOLLY TO PREMIERE NEW SINGLE “TOGETHER YOU & I”
WHEN SHE PERFORMS IT LIVE  ON “THE ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW” 
THURSDAY, MAY 26
AS THE SONG SIMULTANEOUSLY ARRIVES AT RADIO

A BETTER DAY is coming.  And who better than DOLLY PARTON to start spreading the news? 

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.’”  See a DOLLY Q&A below.

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. 

DOLLY Q&A:

--Can you describe what sets apart BETTER DAY from your recent albums? 

“Well, I always think every album is better than the last one…at least I strive for that. I wrote all the songs for this one; plus, I think it may be a little more contemporary than what I usually do.”

--Since BETTER DAY will mark fourth release on Dolly Records, can you talk about the freedoms associated with making and releasing records on your own terms?  (The label’s three previous releases were 2008’s Backwoods Barbie, 2009’s Original Broadway Cast Recording of 9 to 5: The Musical and Live From London.)

“It’s always best to be your own boss since you can do what you think is right.  It’s also nice knowing what a nice person the boss really is and that you can pretty much get away with anything. (LOL!)  Seriously, though, I’m proud Dolly Records has done so well.”

--With your return to the road in 2011 in North America, Europe and Australia, what can fans expect from your performances and stage show?

“I’m very excited, first of all, to be going back on tour at all.  But I love the fans and I miss the live stage shows. With the new stage show I hope to have a lot of new things for the fans, especially all the new songs from the BETTER DAY CD and some new and different segments in the show with a lot more fun things as well.  Of course, we will always be doing the biggest and most popular songs.  We’re looking for a good time for ourselves as well as for the fans.”

Here’s the full 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
Let Love Grow

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

Date	City, State	Venue
Sun 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
Wed 03 Aug	Alpharetta, GA	Verizon Wireless Amphitheater @ Encore Park
Sat 20 Aug	Glasgow	Glasgow SECC
Sun 21 Aug	Glasgow	Glasgow SECC
Mon 22 Aug	Nottingham	Nottingham Arena
Thur 25 Aug	Copenhagen	Copenhagen Forum
Sat 27 Aug	Stockholm	Globe Arena
Sun 28 Aug	Göteborg, Sweden	Gothenburg Scandinavium
Wed 31 Aug	Liverpool	Echo Arena
Fri 2 Sept	Birmingham	LG Arena
Sat 3 Sept	Cardiff	CIA Arena
Sun 4 Sept	Cardiff	CIA Arena
Tue 6 Sept	Bournemouth	Bournemouth BIC
Wed 7 Sept	London	O2 Arena
Thur 8 Sept	London	O2 Arena
Sat 10 Sept	Newcastle	Metro Radio Arena
Sun 11 Sept	Manchester	Evening News Arena
Mon 12 Sept	Sheffield	Motorpoint Arena
Wed14 Sept	Dublin	02 Arena
Thur 15 Sept	Belfast	Odyssey Arena