WITH BIGGEST SALES FROM AN INTERNATIONAL FEMALE IN 2014
Tenn. (December 17, 2014) – As 2014 draws to a close, Dolly Parton is
far from resting on her laurels, and shows no signs of slowing down. The
songstress continues to make history, with a record-setting tour
overseas, and also raises the bar from a sales standpoint with yet
another platinum selling album in a career that has already seen
worldwide sales of over one hundred million records, and shows no sign
of slowing down anytime soon.
“I was so happy when Blue Smoke went Silver, so excited when it went Gold and now I’m over the moon to hear that we have gone Platinum,” says Parton. “Thanks to the fans and to everybody who made this happen.”
Once again, the Country Music Hall of Fame member proved her timeless
quality as a recording artist once again with the Platinum-selling
success of her CD Blue Smoke….The Best Of, a collection that
includes her most recent studio album as well as a compilation that
includes many of her most memorable hits, such as “Love Is Like A
Butterfly,” “Here You Come Again,” and her biggest hit as a solo
artist, 1980’s “9 To 5.” But, Dolly’s success with the album was not
entirely tied to those past glories. Blue Smoke….The Best Of earned
a pair of Top-30 airplay hits for Parton in the UK with ‘Try” and
“Home,” as well as her cover of Bon Jovi’s “Lay Your Hands On Me” and
the title cut, which also made the Top-40 airplay.
“Dolly’s hard work ethic has once again paid off achieving platinum sales in 2014 with Blue Smoke…The Best Of,” says Danny Nozell,
CEO CTK Management. “I am very blessed to be working for a true Icon
who lives up to her name. Dolly dominated 2014 with many milestones and
charting history. Thanks to our partner Sony Masterworks, Sony UK, and
all of Sony worldwide. We make a great team!”
Parton’s success overseas continued with a recent nomination for
International Artist of the Year at the BBC Music Awards 2014. The
nomination capped off a year in which Parton – after five decades in the
business – scored one of her biggest and most heralded performances
ever.
“Dolly Parton has been making great music for decades, and the Blue Smoke album
sits right among her best recorded work. We at Masterworks are honored
to be working with one of our industry’s biggest icons, and happily
congratulate Dolly, her label Dolly Records, as well as our partners at
Sony Music UK, on this great achievement,” says Bogdan Roscic, President of Sony Music Masterworks
The singer brought her show to Glastonbury, where an estimated
180,000 came to watch her perform – her largest audience ever. Her set
prompted The Guardian to say “Parton rewarded Glastonbury with a
performance that surely calls for a redefinition of the word
“crowd-pleaser.” The concert also aired on television, attracting the
festival’s largest ever TV audience. Parton also was in the news
constantly with appearances all over the tube in the UK, a Twitter
campaign to “Get Dolly On Grimmy” (a reference to Nick Grimshaw’s Radio
One morning show), and as well as through the story of “Dolly The Dog,” a
fluffy white Lurcher who was separated from her owners following
Parton’s Glastonbury performance last month. She volunteered to take the
dog back to America with her, but the owners came forward to reclaim
their lost pet.
The success of Blue Smoke…The Best Of gives Parton the distinction of having the biggest album from an International female so far this year.
Since moving to Nashville in the spring of 1964, Parton has created
one of the biggest success stories in entertainment history, with hits
on country and pop radio, Gold and Platinum singles and albums the world
over, membership into The Grand Ole Opry (1969), the Nashville
Songwriters Hall of Fame (1986), and the Country Music Hall Of Fame
(1999). She was won seven Grammy Awards, nine CMA Awards, including the
Entertainer of the Year prize from the organization in 1977, and seven
awards from the Academy of Country Music. She has also enjoyed success
on television, on the big screen, and as an author, with the
Best-selling autobiography My Life and Other Unfinished Business.