Christmas came early on Wednesday (Aug. 12), when Dolly Parton announced that her fans will be enjoying A Holly Dolly Christmas with her first holiday album in 30 years.
The collection, out Oct. 2, features a number of collaborations, including Willie Nelson, Michael Bublé, Billy Ray Cyrus, goddaughter Miley Cyrus and, surprisingly, The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon on “All I Want for Christmas Is You.”
“I thought, ‘Now, what other songs are really hot?’” Parton said of her Fallon duet during Billboard’s “5 Minute Interview.” “And I thought, ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You,’ the Mariah [Carey] song, and Jimmy Fallon, a couple years ago I was on his show around Christmas, and he asked me to sing that and I didn’t know it. I felt so bad, so I went and learned it. I was just going to put it on my album and then I thought, ‘Ask Jimmy Fallon if he’ll sing on it with me!’”
On deciding who she should work with, Parton put all her energy into finding genuine people who aren’t just in it for the “deal” or the fame. “I want to be where I feel at home, I want to be where I can express myself creatively and be appreciated for that,” she explained.
Continuing her wave of positivity, Parton noted that one of her favorite life philosophies is the old saying, “variety is the spice of life.”
“There’s a lot of truth in that,” the superstar proclaimed. “Who would want everybody to be the same? What a boring world that would be. I find life amusing. I get a kick out of everything and everybody. I love the difference in people. There’s nothing I love more than a character, the more bizarre they are, the more I get a kick out of it. It’s not my place to judge it, it’s my place to enjoy it and accept it.”
Parton wrapped up her five-minute Q&A with some thoughts on Taylor Swift, who started her career in the country world. “I really, really admire and respect her, and I have since she started. I think she’s done it her own way, just as I’ve done my own thing my own way,” she explained. “I really think she’s just been incredible in the way she’s known how to market herself, how to keep herself straight in her lane so to speak, but still be able to come and go, but not go outside of her realm of respect and responsibility and her principles and values. I think that is a good thing. She is very, very gifted.”
Watch Parton’s full interview above.
