Dolly Parton reaches No. 1 for the second time in her decades-long career

Dolly Parton doesn’t wait long before releasing a new album. Many musicians who have been around as long as she has prefer to slow down as they get older. Some even stop writing or recording new songs altogether. That’s not Parton’s way, and she’s back with a new project — one that will take her back to the top of the Billboard charts.

The country legend’s latest studio effort, Dolly Parton & Family: Smoky Mountain DNA: Family, Faith & Fables, has risen to the top of the bluegrass album chart. The set ranks #1 on Billboard’s ranking of most consumed full-lengths and EPs in that style. This ranking is related to countries but counted separately.

Dolly Parton & Family returns the legendary musician to the top of the bluegrass album chart for the second time in her career. She reached No. 1 for the first time in 2022 with “Run, Rose, Run.” This title was accompanied by a novel of the same name, which made it a huge success, albeit only in the bluegrass rankings.

The superstar has landed five projects on the bluegrass album charts throughout his career. She earned two more top 10s with Halos & Horns (2nd place) and The Acoustic Collection: 1999 – 2002 (6th place).

Only Little Sparrow missed out on the top spot in the bluegrass album tally. Parton’s set rose to No. 12 in the July 2002 rankings.

Somewhat surprisingly, Dolly Parton & Family failed to appear on any other Billboard charts this week. Parton is a big enough star that she is often guaranteed to have new collections on several lists, including the Billboard 200. Just last year, she ranked third in the same rankings, one of her biggest wins ever. After a few months, she was dropped from the roster completely.

Dolly Parton & Family, as the name suggests, is actually a collaborative album. The singer-songwriter recruited some of her own family members to lend their voices to this long-running project. Her recordings of loved ones who had passed away were a very special endeavor in the studio – even if it did not become one of her most commercially viable works.