A great point by Matty Karas in today's newsletter about music being illegal, and weapons legal: "In Tennessee, it will be illegal as of April 1 for male or female impersonators to perform in the presence of children or within 1,000 feet or schools, parks or places of worship. This would include, for example, any male Dolly Parton impersonator who 'appeals to a prurient interest,' as plenty of the Tennessee country queen’s songs do... It’s legal, on the other hand, for most people over the age of 21 to open-carry handguns without a permit almost anywhere in Tennessee".

Lil Nas X covered Dolly Parton's signature song 'Jolene' during a recent performance for BBC Radio One’s Live Lounge. Celebrating the release of his debut album 'Montero', Nas sang in a deep baritone over a sparse rock arrangement, delivering an intense, gender-flipping rendition of Parton’s 1973 hit about a woman with “flaming locks of auburn hair” who can steal men with ease.

Dolly Parton has teamed up with author James Patterson for her debut novel 'Run, Rose, Run', People reports. The 448-page book - out March 7th, 2022 - is country star's first work of literary fiction and it “combines my love of storytelling and books". Parton also announced she has "a new album to go along with the book. All new songs were written based on the characters and situations in the book".

A lovely article in the New York Times about songs named after real people like Dolly Parton’s 'Jolene', Kinks' 'Lola', Sting's 'Roxanne'... Dave McCabe's 'Valerie' was inspired by Valerie Star, a makeup artist, who dated the singer, but the song was popularised after Amy Winehouse recorded her version. Ms. Star thinks “it was a brilliant song, and I loved everything about it. It described that moment in my life and those trials and tribulations that I had gone through in the most quintessential way". Sharona Alperin was the subject of the Knack’s 1979 hit 'My Sharona' - band's singer Doug Fieger wrote it as a love letter to her and got her thanks to the song. When she decided to leave him it was because of the "my" part of the song - "when we broke up it was time to be my Sharona”.

Sweet country lady Dolla Parton saved young actor Talia Hill who walked into the path of an oncoming vehicle and the singer "grabbed me and pulled me back”, as the young actress told Inside Edition. Hill dances and sings in the new Netflix original movie 'Christmas on the Square', while Parton plays an angel sent to supernaturally pressure a hardhearted landlord into being a better person. This wasn't Parton's first good deed this year - in spring she donated $1 million to help fund the Moderna vaccine, her Imagination Library recently gave away its 150 millionth book, and she came out this year as an enthusiastic supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement, Consequence of Sound reports.

"For decades, Dolly has been our contradictory savior. Authentic yet synthetic, tough yet haunted, brilliant yet aw-shucks, with a constructed, surgical femininity that somehow circles back into genderless and asexual. Wealthy enough to buy herself some taste, she always held on to a poor person’s idea of glamour and managed to make tacky classy" - Guardian reflects on Dolly Parton's $1million donation for Covid-19 research, the last in a long line - because she understands "that money is something you do rather than something you have".

Dolly Parton donated $1 million to biotechnology company Moderna based out of Cambridge, Massachusetts to help them fund research for Covid-19 vaccine, which they recently announced as finished, Guardian reports. Parton heard about the project last spring through her friend Dr. Naji Abumrad from Vanderbilt University who treated her after a car accident. Vanderbilt’s research subsequently played a key role in developing Moderna’s vaccine.

Dolly Parton fan named Alex Parsons has set up a petition to replace Tennessee's Confederate monuments with statues of one of the state's most admired country singer-songwriters, the Charlotte Observer reports. Parsons argues Parton "has given more to this country and this state than those confederate officers could ever have hoped to take away".

Webby Awards winners were announced yesterday, among them: Cardi B for fashion & lifestyle, Lil Nas X for his video 'Panini', Dolly Parton for her mini-series 'America', Rihanna for her Fenty Beauty brand, Swizz Beats + Timbaland for the Verzuz battles on Instagram Live, Celine Dion for her innovation on social media. They were honored during an online celebration dubbed 'WFH: Webby From Home', which took place on Tuesday at WebbyAwards.com. The Webbys said this year's event is dedicated to "honoring outstanding individuals and organizations who are using the Internet in response to the incredible difficulties imposed by the coronavirus pandemic." Those Special Achievement honorees include D-Nice for his creation #ClubQuarantine, and Miley Cyrus for the creation of her Instagram Live show 'Bright Minded: Live With Miley'.

Dolly Parton released a video with her reciting a new, witty poem about boredom and tension people are facing while everybody is at home. It's minute and a half long, a nice one: "This too shall pass as all things will. If the virus don't kill us, the staying home will. The kids are bored and restless. They scream and yell and squawk. And the teens and tweens, they're just plain mean. They bite your bleeping head off. And all those loving couples that were once so sweet and cozy? Now they fight like cats and dogs like Donald and Pelosi. Lord, get us back to school and get us back to work and get us out of this God dang house before someone gets hurt! And Lord, please find a vaccination in the form of a shot or a pill. Because if the virus don't kill us, the staying home will!".

Dolly Parton has donated $1m to research into a coronavirus vaccine to the Vanderbilt Institute for Infection, Immunology and Inflammation at Vanderbilt University hospital in Nashville, Tennessee. ABC reports. Also, on Thursday (7 p.m. ET). Parton is launching Goodnight With Dolly, a bedtime story series on YouTube, beginning with a reading of 'The Little Engine That Could'. She said she hoped the series would be “a welcome distraction during a time of unrest, and inspire a love of reading and books”.

The UK's health ministry has suggested that in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus, people should wash their hands while singing 'Happy Birthday' – twice – in order to ensure the operation lasts the recommended 20 seconds. Freelance journalist Jen Monnier has some other suggestions, like Dolly Parton's 'Jolene' - easy to sing, fun, only 25 words long, and eight of them are "Jolene"!

Not because they are women, but because of the ways they changed music, NPR argues in favor of 41 women deserving to be in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Dolly Parton for changing much more than country music. PJ Harvey for changing the shake of rock'n'roll. Kate Bush for extensively combining synthesizers and rock elements.

"There's enough stuff to go on forever with my music, to do compilation albums, to do, actually, new and original stuff, and I am purposely trying to put songs down for that very purpose" - Dolly Parton said in her podcast. She explained she plans - "to have a click track and my vocals, to […]