Dolly Parton’s New Holiday Album Will Feature Duets With Major Country Stars

Photo credit: Terry Wyatt - Getty Images
Photo credit: Terry Wyatt - Getty Images

From House Beautiful

  • Country star Dolly Parton will drop her first holiday album since 1990 this year.

  • A Holly Dolly Christmas will release on October 2.

  • The track list features a medley of originals and classics, including cameos from some of the singer’s beloved industry friends, like Billy Ray Cyrus and Willie Nelson.


Maybe there is still hope for 2020.

As the holidays approach and a global pandemic still lingers, you may not be feeling particularly cheery. But if anyone can shed a glimmer of light on the situation, it’s definitely Dolly Parton. According to Billboard, her first holiday album since 1990, A Holly Dolly Christmas, will release on October 2, and a corresponding Netflix original film, Christmas on the Square will follow.

The projects were actually supposed to come out last year, but were pushed back by Parton’s work on the Dumplin’ movie soundtrack, per Billboard. The delay kind of feels like destiny, given that she had no clue how much the world would change in just a year. And can we talk about how great the album name is?

“I thought, ‘I think I’ll call it A Holly Dolly Christmas because I love the song ‘A Holly Jolly Christmas’ with Burl Ives. He used to be on all of my Christmas specials all through the years. I think of him as Mr. Christmas,” Parton told Billboard. “I thought, ‘Why don’t do I call it something cute and clever, like that or Deck the Halls with Boughs of Dolly, something corny like that.’”

Like most holiday albums, the record will feature a medley of originals and classics, and will include cameos from some of the singer’s beloved industry friends: Miley Cyrus (her goddaughter), Billy Ray Cyrus, Michael Bublé, Willie Nelson, and Jimmy Fallon. The track with Nelson was also written by him—”Pretty Paper”— and it’s one of Parton’s favorites. “I did it the old-timey way and asked him to come be part of it,” she said.

Because production wasn’t completely finished before the onset of COVID-19, they did have to finish recording social distancing-style. “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,” Parton explained. “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. 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.”

As for Christmas on The Square, which is named after an original song on the album, there’s little information available on its exact release date. See the record’s full track list below (and pre-order it here!).

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

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