50 years after she released her first album “Hello, I’m Dolly,” East Tennessee’s favorite songbird appeared on the TODAY Show to promote her latest venture – a children’s album.
Dolly Parton told TODAY’s Matt Lauer that “I Believe in You” in special because it supports the Imagination Library, Dolly’s charity that provides free books to children around the world.
“We are coming up on giving away our 100 millionth book in the next few weeks,” Dolly said, “so it just seemed to be the perfect time.”
All money from the sale of the album goes to that organization.
“I Believe in You” is Dolly’s first album made for kids. It contains 12 new songs, many of which are based on Dolly’s favorite books.
“The “Little Engine That Could” was my favorite little book and that’s the first book we give out [in the Imagination Library],” she said. “Just like the little engine that says ‘I can’, there’s a little engine in all of us that says ‘we can’ and ‘so can you’ and ‘I believe in you’. It’s things that kids need to hear.”
The album also boasts a new recording of Coat of Many Colors and a reading of the story that inspired that song.
As of Monday afternoon, the song was second on Amazon Music’s Best Sellers chart.
💖💖💖 "I Believe In You" is #2 on @amazonmusic! And, with all proceeds going to @dollyslibrary! My heart is so full! https://t.co/9WUlnASE2P pic.twitter.com/tKvmxbmyiu
— Dolly Parton (@DollyParton) October 16, 2017
Dolly and Lauer also spoke about her recent $1 million donation to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital. Parton’s niece, Hannah, was hospitalized there as child with leukemia.
“All these many years later, God does have his ways of working, so I asked if her if she’d come with me down to the hospital. She was so happy,” Dolly told TODAY. “She got to see a lot of the nurses that took care of her when she was little. She was very excited about that.”