Dolly Parton Discusses Family, Pending Projects and Potential '9 to 5' Remake During CMA Fest 2024

As always, Dolly Parton is hard at work; and from what the icon discussed during her Fan Fair X panel at CMA Fest, fans can expect some big things in their future.

On the CMA Close Up Stage Thursday (June 6), the artist unpacked all of her pending projects and there were plenty. She touched on the Songteller Hotel, an upcoming Music City locale that will be part stay, part Dolly museum and situated on 3rd and Commerce.

"We're working real hard on that," she said of the project that will materialize in "a couple of years," adding, "I've always wanted a hotel in Nashville and a museum here."

She then went on the discuss her recently confirmed Broadway musical, Hello, I'm Dolly, a production about her life and career that is plotted for the stage in 2026.

She described how the story will map her life from the very beginning, following her from childhood to her road to stardom and beyond. "I'm kind of calling it a Grand Ole Opera," she told the packed crowd.

During the event, she also touched on family and their involvement in her forthcoming album, Smoky Mountain DNA – Family, Faith & Fables, arriving in November. With the help of many of Parton's immediate and extended relatives, the record – and its subsequent four-part docuseries – is set to explore the artist's heritage through music.

"I was always so busy trying to build a career to get us to where we are now, and so I'm really hoping that people are going to see how much talent there is," she explained of the endeavor, likening her family's musical connection to that of the legendary Carter family.

But the familial ties weren't cut there, Parton also went on to talk about the upcoming cookbook, Good Lookin' Cookin': A Year of Meals - A Lifetime of Family, Friends, and Food, that she collaborated on with her baby sister, Rachel, all last year.

"It was so great for us to get to do something great together," she explained of the project arriving in September, joking, "We only had a couple food fights. I think I rubbed mash potatoes in her hair and I think she dumped some spaghetti down my shirt. I think some of it's still there."

It turns out Good Lookin' Cookin' isn't her only book arriving this year. Her Billy the Kid children's book series is also getting a sequel in the form of Billy the Kid Comes Home for Christmas, which drops Oct. 1.

"Billy was actually gonna be here," she said of the real-life Billy the Kid, her manager's French bulldog. "He was going to be taking pictures and the little things got bit in his yard by a spider or or a bug or a snake or something. His head all swelled up ... He looked like me after plastic surgery."

But maybe the most exciting news of the day came when the star hinted at a remake of her classic 1980 film, 9 to 5. A brain child of actress Jennifer Aniston, Parton imagined the remake would feature younger actors who would get in contact with the film's original lead characters Doralee Rhodes, Violet Newstead and Judy Bernly, portrayed by Parton, Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda respectively.

Parton didn't go into great detail about the 20th Century Studios project, but she did say, "I'm certainly hoping they'll use my song."

Jelly Roll and Ashley McBryde have been unveiled as the hosts for the CMA Fest TV Special, which will air on Tuesday, June 25 at 8/7c on ABC, and will stream on Hulu the next day. For more information on how to watch the CMA Fest TV Special, head here.

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