News

Southern Gospel legend and long time Dolly pal, Dottie Rambo, died in a tour bus accident early Sunday morning in southwest Missouri while on her way to perform a Mother’s Day concert in North Richland Hills, Texas. Also on board the bus were several of my dear friends: Dottie’s manager Larry Ferguson, his wife Judy, their children Christian and Pierce, Dottie’s webmaster and assistant Chris Barnes, and bus driver Ronnie Meadows. Dolly quickly released a statement in response to today’s tragedy: “I know Dottie is in heaven in the arms of God right now, but our earth angel will surely be missed. Dottie was a dear friend, a fellow singer, songwriter and entertainer, and as of late my duet singing partner. Dottie, ’stand by the river’ and wait for me. I will always love you, Dolly.” Dolly went on to say “I also want to send my prayers and thoughts to her manager Larry Ferguson, the children, families and everyone involved in this terrible tragedy.” According to reports, Chris Barnes, Larry Ferguson and Ronnie Meadows have all been admitted to St. Johns Hospital in Springfield, Missouri in serious condition while Larry’s wife and children sustained moderate injuries. No funeral arrangements for Dottie have been made yet as of this writing. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Dottie’s family and our friends who were involved in this tragedy.

Dolly has added two new west coast dates to the fall leg of her 2008/2009 Backwoods Barbie Tour! She will be playing the Theater Of The Clouds in Portland, Oregon on August 7th and the WaMu Theater in Seattle, Washington on August 8th. Ticket pre-sales for Dollyite members begin tomorrow at 10 AM local time and end on Friday at 10 PM. Tickets for the Portland show can be purchased through the venue’s website while tickets for Seattle can be purchased via Ticket Master. Both shows go on sale to the public this Saturday at noon.

Dolly received a warm welcome from her New York City fans Thursday night at Radio City Music Hall. Fans lined up outside the venue early in the rain before the start of the show, eagerly awaiting their chance to see Dolly bring her magic to the city that never sleeps. Dolly appeared to have won over the audience from the first note as she opened the show in a white sequined dress performing “Two Doors Down”, “Why’d You Come In Here Lookin’ Like That” and “Jolene”. Striking a healthy balance of both new and older material, fans seemed to be equally familiar with Dolly’s new songs from Backwoods Barbie as they were with her older material. “Backwoods Barbie”, “Better Get To Livin’” and her show-stopping “Jesus & Gravity” were as equally received as “Coat Of Many Colors” and “Eagle When She Flies”.

After an intermission and costume change, Dolly charged back onto the stage singing “Baby I’m Burning” in a rhinestone-studded blue pantsuit. The show hit a lull during the middle of the second set with a medley of 50s, 60s and 70s songs that featured her band members taking the spotlight while Dolly dueted and sang backup. The energy was quickly recovered and the audience jumped to their feet once Dolly launched into a series of hits that included “Here You Come Again”, “Islands In The Stream” and “9 To 5″, the latter of which fans went wildly spastic for as they left their seats to dance in the aisles. The New York fans erupted in cheers when Dolly announced that 9 To 5: The Musical would be coming to Broadway in early 2009. Dolly then did the traditional closing of her show with “I Will Always Love You” before heading off-stage briefly before returning to perform an encore of “Jesus & Gravity” that became one of the highlight performances of the night. Read reviews of the show from The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly and The Wall Street Journal. The full set list is as follows:

• Two Doors Down
• Why’d You Come In Here Lookin’ Like That
• Jolene
• Thank God I’m A Country Girl
• Backwoods Barbie
• Eagle When She Flies
• Shattered Image
• Coat Of Many Colors
• Only Dreamin’
• Gospel Medley: Brother Love’s Travelin’ Salvation Show, I’ll Fly Away, When the Saints Go Marching In, Old Time Religion, Calm On The Water, Daddy Was an Old Time Preacher Man
• (Intermission)
• Baby, I’m Burning
• Better Get To Livin’
• The Lonesomes
• Puppy Love
• Band Medley: Great Balls of Fire, Bye Bye Love, Johnny B. Goode, I Wanna Hold Your Hand, My Girl, I’m Sorry, Respect
• White Limozeen
• Here You Come Again
• Islands In The Stream
• 9 To 5
• I Will Always Love You
• Jesus & Gravity (Encore)

Dolly’s Backwoods Barbie tour rolls on at the Borgata Casino tonight in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The first leg of her 2008/2009 Backwoods Barbie tour concludes May 11th at the Nokia Theater in Dallas, Texas. Tickets to some of Dolly’s remaining shows are still available via Ticket Master. Expect to see a ton of photos from Dolly’s tour in the coming days!