Dolly Parton is sharing the details of her upcoming Christmas album, A Holly Dolly Christmas. The record, which will be released on October 2, includes collaborations with Miley Cyrus, Jimmy Fallon, Michael Bublé, Willie Nelson and Billy Ray Cyrus. The Tennessee native originally planned to release the record earlier, but got delayed by working on the soundtrack for the movie, Dumplin‘, starring Jennifer Aniston.
“I thought, ‘I think I’ll call it A Holly Dolly Christmas because I love the song ‘A Holly Jolly Christmas’ with Burl Ives,” Dolly told Billboard. “He used to be on all of my Christmas specials all through the years. I think of him as Mr. Christmas. I thought, ‘Why don’t I call it something cute and clever, like that or Deck the Halls with Boughs of Dolly, something corny like that.’”
A Holly Dolly Christmas includes a mix of both originals and classic holiday tunes, including a version of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” which she recorded with the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon host.
“I thought, ‘What other songs are really hot?’ And I thought, ‘All I Want for Christmas is You,” the Country Music Hall of Fame member explained. “Jimmy Fallon, a couple of years ago, I was on his show around Christmas and he asked me to sing that and I didn’t know it and I felt so bad. So I went and learned it and I was just going to put it on my album and then I went, ‘I’ll ask Jimmy Fallon to sing it with me!’ And he said yes. So I’m really excited about that.”
Kent Wells produced A Holly Dolly Christmas, which had to be finished after the start of the coronavirus pandemic, forcing the pair to get creative.
“We were working in our little circle with our masks and with our gloves and we had our engineer and we just had the very few people that we had to have when we were in there when I was singing,” the 74-year-old said, adding that most people had recorded their parts separately. “They had done some of the tracks before the pandemic, but then we went in and started doing our vocals.
“We’ve been very smart, very careful, because we’re trying to protect ourselves and I’m an older person,” she added. “I’m not out to get it if I don’t [have] to, I’m hoping I can outrun all that. We’ve been all very, very smart, but it didn’t slow us up.”
See a track listing for A Holly Dolly Christmas below.
A Holly Dolly Christmas Track List:
Holly Jolly Christmas – Dolly Parton
Christmas Is (feat. Miley Cyrus) – Dolly Parton
Cuddle Up, Cozy Down Christmas – Dolly Parton, Michael Bublé
Christmas On The Square – Dolly Parton
Circle Of Love – Dolly Parton
All I Want For Christmas Is You – Dolly Parton, Jimmy Fallon
Comin’ Home For Christmas – Dolly Parton
Christmas Where We Are (feat. Billy Ray Cyrus) – Dolly Parton
Pretty Paper – Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus – Dolly Parton
You Are My Christmas (feat. Randy Parton) – Dolly Parton
Mary, Did You Know? – Dolly Parton