Dolly Parton Releases Album on Own Label

More than a decade after Nashville spurned her for a crop of up-and-comers, Dolly Parton is releasing a new album on her own label--and having the last laugh, as Backwoods Barbie hit Billboard's No. 2 on Billboard in its second week. That's thanks to new technologies that are creating end-run opportunities around major labels. “Now the majors are what they used to think I was: history,” the 62-year-old singer told the AP.

The album's first single, a country-pop tune that Parton compares musically to Keith Urban, stalled at No. 48, while her second single, “Jesus & Gravity,” is just beginning to get airtime. A back problem has delayed Parton's planned 13-city tour; but the country icon will also mentor contestants on "American Idol." (More country music stories.)