Dolly Parton Releases Six Albums to Digital Streaming as Surprise for Fans

Dolly Parton is the gift that keeps on giving during this season of quarantine, surprising fans on April 10 when she announced that six of her albums that had previously not been present on streaming services were now available for fans to enjoy. “Surprise! 93 of your favorite classics are finally available again online! I hope these songs bring some light into your life during these hard times,” she wrote. “Listen now wherever you stream music!”

The albums include Better Day, For God and Country, Halos and Horns, Little Sparrow, Live and Well and Those Were the Days, all of which were released between 2001 and 2011. Live and Well was recorded during Parton’s 2002 Halos & Horns Tour, which was her first tour in years, while the other five projects are studio albums. The albums include almost 100 songs from Parton’s incredibly large catalogue, including a cover of Collective Soul’s “Shine,” for which Parton won the Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance in 2002.

Parton has continually been offering inspiration and reassurance to fans amid the coronavirus pandemic, including a recent poem she delivered from her home studio. After joking about her accountant, assets and putting a mask on a turtle, Parton told fans, “Does this sound like your house? Well, I wrote a poem about it.”

“This too shall pass / As all things will / If the virus don’t kill us / The staying home will,” she recited. “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 dadgum house / Before someone gets hurt,” she continued. “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.”

In a separate video, the country icon issued a thank-you to those fighting the virus on the front lines. “Hello, this is Dolly Parton,” she began. “I want to shout out to all the first responders, all the servicemen and women and all the health care professionals all around the world for sacrificing your time and even your lives to help the folks in need at this time. I know it’s easy for us to sit home and watch you on television and feel sorry for you because of what you’re going through, but we are at war and you’re on the front lines. We just want you to know we are praying for you and we appreciate you more than you can imagine.”