Nearly 60 years into her career, Dolly Parton has scored her highest charting album ever.
Her rock and roll album Rockstar debuted at #3 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart this week, which is an all-genre chart that encompasses albums from pop, rap, hip hop and more.
Barely squeezing in front of Mrs. Dolly, who was competing very closely for a #1 debut, was Taylor Swift with 1989 (Taylor’s Version) that moved 138,000 units this week and came in at #2, and Drake with For All the Dogs, who moved 145,000 units this week and finished at the top spot.
Dolly moved 128,000 units in the first week of Rockstar being out, and 118,500 of the sales were pure album sales, meaning she’s selling actual copies of music (which includes people actually purchasing the album and/or singles on places like iTunes) and not just digital downloads via streaming services.
And in 2023 where streaming reigning supreme, that is completely astonishing and a massive accomplishment in and of itself for the country legend:
Dolly also rolled out an incredible marketing campaign for this new album, which is being sold in stores like Cracker Barrel and even Dollar General, so to say she worked her ass off to make it a success would be an understatment.
In addition, she’s been doing rounds of press all over the world, and of course, my favorite appearance she did was her halftime performance at the Dallas Cowboys game on Thanksgiving, where she trotted out in a Cowboys Cheerleading uniform and reminded everybody exactly why she’s the Queen of Country Music.
I’m still not over it and I don’t think I ever will be…
Of course, the star-studded 30-song tracklist that featured rock legends like The Beatles’ surviving members, Steve Perry, Elton John and more helped quite a bit too, and the fact that Dolly is still accomplishing goals like this at 77-years young is unreal.
It’s pretty hard to believe that this is the first time she’s had an album chart at #3 all-genre, but it just goes to show the lasting star power, timeless talent and evergreen appeal that she’s earned throughout her illustrious career.
Once again, Dolly has proved that she’s a rockstar in every sense of the term (which even feels like an understatement), so here’s to the greatest to ever do it, and one of the greatest gifts to this world and music, Mrs. Dolly Parton.
And if you haven’t checked out the album yet, what the hell are you waiting for? I’ll leave some of my favorites below:
“Night Moves (feat. Chris Stapleton)”
“Purple Rain”
“Every Breath You Take (feat. Sting)”
Rockstar tracklist:
1. Rock Star (special guest Richie Sambora)
2. World on Fire
3. Every Breath You Take (feat. Sting)
4. Open Arms (feat. Steve Perry)
5. Magic Man (feat. Ann Wilson with special guest Howard Leese)
6. Long As I Can See The Light (feat. John Fogerty)
7. Either Or (feat. Kid Rock)
8. I Want You Back (feat. Steven Tyler with special guest Warren Haynes)
9. What Has Rock And Roll Ever Done For You (feat. Stevie Nicks with special guest Waddy Wachtel)
10. Purple Rain
11. Baby, I Love Your Way (feat. Peter Frampton)
12. I Hate Myself For Loving You (feat. Joan Jett & The Blackhearts)
13. Night Moves (feat. Chris Stapleton)
14. Wrecking Ball (feat. Miley Cyrus)
15. (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction (feat. P!nk & Brandi Carlile)
16. Keep On Loving You (feat. Kevin Cronin)
17. Heart Of Glass (feat. Debbie Harry)
18. Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me (feat. Elton John)
19. Tried To Rock And Roll Me (feat. Melissa Etheridge)
20. Stairway To Heaven (feat. Lizzo & Sasha Flute)
21. We Are The Champions
22. Bygones (feat. Rob Halford with special guests Nikki Sixx & John 5)
23. My Blue Tears (feat. Simon Le Bon)
24. What’s Up? (feat. Linda Perry)
25. You’re No Good (feat. Emmylou Harris & Sheryl Crow)
26. Heartbreaker (feat. Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo)
27. Bittersweet (feat. Michael McDonald)
28. I Dreamed About Elvis (feat. Ronnie McDowell with special guest The Jordanaires)
29. Let It Be (feat. Paul McCartney & Ringo Starr with special guests Peter Frampton & Mick Fleetwood)
30. Free Bird (feat. Ronnie Van Zant with special guests Gary Rossington, Artimus Pyle and The Artimus Pyle Band)
