5 years ago... TOP STORY
TO BE DOLLY Brightening up an otherwise gloomy 2020, a very special issue of Music Week brought some seasonal cheer as the legendary Dolly Parton talked us through her first festive record in 30 years. A Holly Dolly Christmas had a sleigh-load of collaborators including Parton’s goddaughter Miley Cyrus, as well as Billy Ray Cyrus, Michael Bublé, Jimmy Fallon and Willie Nelson to name but a few. It was enough to make you forget all about the Covid lockdown. “I’m so proud of the album,” explained
’TIS THE SEASON
Parton. “One of the reasons is because of all the lunacy that’s been going on. It just seems like a really good time to lift people’s spirits, and lift my own as well.” Indeed, we went as far as to hail its 12 tracks as “tantamount to a blinding, nuclear-bright blast of sunshine amid 2020’s all-enshrouding darkness”. For a hitmaker extraordinaire like Parton, there were no half measures. “I think every songwriter wants to write songs that can become Christmas classics,” she said. “You always think that everything that you can write about Christmas has already been done, so it’s really different trying to write a good song, a commercial song, but also something that might stand the test of time.” Manager Danny Nozell, label boss Doug
Morris, agent Neil Warnock and promoter Steve Homer also lined up to sing the country icon’s praises. But the final word was reserved for the superstar herself. “You don’t just start out on top, you have to earn that, you have to live long enough to be the kind of successful artist where you can make demands,” she said. “It’s great when you become your own boss and you can call the shots. But as a business-minded person, you have a lot of things to consider. So control is one thing, but being smart and being in control? That’s the real thing.”
Also inside... With Mariah Carey’s 1994 hit All I Want For Christmas Is You finally set to hit No.1, execs discussed the growing importance of festive songs on DSPs… Stormzy became the first signing to 0207 Def Jam… SoundCloud president Michael Weissman was promoted to CEO… Arctic Monkeys manager (and future Strat winner) Ian McAndrew saluted the band’s profile on DSPs ahead of their first live album… Perfect Havoc shared their ambitions for the label following the success of Joel Corry… Britain’s Got Talent judge Amanda Holden reflected on her move into music with Top 5 LP Songs From My Heart… Ariana Grande’s Positions was a non-mover at the top of the singles chart, while Gary Barlow’s solo comeback Music Played By Humans was the No.1 album...
96 | Music Week
musicweek.com
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