Here is what flyers at Reagan Airport tell us about their concerns getting on a boeing jet. Is that something you would think about may be more then you used to . Yes. I specifically booked these flights. Why . To avoid boeing. Obviously it is something that is a problem to some degree but there still trust in the system. This week the head of the faa says boeing has a long road ahead to get where it needs to be from a safety standpoint but as you saw there, john, and you see in the numbers, its not deterring people from getting on planes, they are flying this Memorial Day Weekend. John . John they sure are and driving too. Thank you, grady. Have a good memorial day. Center . Two stores down they are having a ball two doors down sandra now im truly feeling we are just hours away from the unofficial kickoff to summer Memorial Day Weekend 2024. I do not know how we got to this weekend so fast, john, but its here. Hello and welcome everyone i am sandra smith in new york. John this year has been screaming five. Im john roberts in washington this is America Reports a lot of big news happening in the world right now but we also know as Grady Trimble said we know families are thinking about the upcoming Holiday Weekend in time to honor the sacrifices of our troops. Sandra absolutely and when families turn to all things summer with camp schedules, barbecues, and finding time to squeeze in a little fun and vacation time. May be even go to a theme park like the one owned by The One And Only legend. We love dolly parton exclamationpoint she is just so talented. She is having. Dolly for president. American phenomenal talent. No one doesnt like dolly. Sandra dolly parton is a music icon whose career spans decades with accolades in movies and philanthropy from the hills of East Tennessee to hollywood and beyond. And joining us right now is The One And Only dolly parton. Dolly, thank you for joining us today its great to see you. Well, its good to see you, happy memorial day to everybody great i think i paid all those people to sail those nice things about me. To go down to dollywood. Sandra always a great sense of humor. Always so fun. Thats what dollywood is about. Tell us about the experience that someone will have when they attend your theme park with all these new attractions . Whats it like . We have everything you could ever imagine. And hoping to enjoy at a park anywhere in this whole wide world. We are the number one park around these parts for sure. But there is food, there is fun, there are shows and music, of course this week we are opening my new museum. Its a motown media experience. A lot of it is digital but its really uptodate version of a museum and people are really enjoying that now. We have opened a couple new shows as well. My niece heidi has a new show all about music and showing all of my family but we are really enjoying this whole experience. The Dolly Experience they are calling the new museum so thats what a big part of this weekend is all about. John im sure a lot of folks will be there. I mentioned this a moment ago 32 years ago i did my very first interview with you and you set up a time you have to go to dollywood and my family and i finally did here is a photograph of us. We had just gotten off the wild eagle. If we look a low freaked because that ride is pretty intense. I think i still left half my brain on a lightning rod. I wanted to ask you about this because we spent some time in pigeon forge as well will. When you grew up there that was a tiny little town, but it has turned into the myrtle beach of the Smoky Mountains. It really is amazing. Of course you are right i did grow up around these parts come in pigeon forge was kind of a wild place with fun things but now all over this whole county Everybody Loves everything up here so dollywood of course is the number one place to be, i would say that because i believe it, but there are all kinds of wonderful things in this whole area for tourists to enjoy. That was too a long time weve grown a lot since then so you have to come back and bring your kids and see what all we really have done since you were here. That many years ago. Sandra you know, dolly, you are so many things to so many different people. You are obviously a super music legend, you are a movie star, you are a business woman, and i have always followed your next move because you are always thinking ahead. And i am wowed by the Impact Dollywood has on the community there. You are the biggest employer there. Your Economic Impact is almost 2 billion. You employ a lot of people, i mean, you offer 100 of tuition fees, books, seasonal parttime, fulltime employees, you are a savvy businesswoman. I mean, we love that about you. So what is your next move . What is Dolly Planning next . Well, of course, to answer a little bit of what you were just saying i have a lot of wonderful people that i work around and with that make me look awfully good. A lot of people do a whole lot of work and i get to claim credit for so much of it but right now i can claim credit for putting my own Life Story On Broadway as a musical. Thats what im doing its called hello, im dolly, its an original musical. Of course we will play the big hits in it, tell the story about those, ive written a lot of regional music as well so that will hopefully come out at the end of 2025 so i am kneedeep in that writing the songs for that so that will be my next biggie i think. John i wanted to talk to about a recent album called rock star we will take the cover and put it up take a look at this picture of dolly on the cover of rock star we never mentioned a womans age but dolly, you look amazing. Thank you. John what i thought was really remarkable about this is on this album 17 songs you did collaborations with Paul Mccartney, ringo starr, kid rock, stevie nicks, pink, brandi carlisle, steve perry, debbie liz oh, john fogerty, pat benatar, peter frampton, joan jett, ron halbert from judas priest, duran duran, Lynyrd Skynyrd from three bird and the list goes on. You did this album after you were inducted to the Rock Roll Hall Of Fame in 2022. At that time you said i have not earned this honor so this album was done in answer to that. Thats incredible. You know i probably never wouldve done that album had i not been put in the Rock Roll Hall Of Fame but you know me, i like to earn my living, earn my keep so to speak. I am very proud of the album. I thought it was wonderful all those great people are willing to work with me on it. Its kind of fun but when you look at people like Paul Mccartney and mick jagger and all those people some of them in their 80s now and i was 77 when the album came out. I am nowhere close to stopping. I thought it was funny i named it rock star because i thought it was funny. Sandra you know, dolly, i mentioned so many obviously also know you as an actress. One of the first movies that comes to soma to peoples minds is 95. We grabbed a little clip. You know they will find the poison when the day do the the body. We need to get rid of the poison will get rid of the body. No. There are extenuating circumstances it was an accident. And accident . She was taken about doing it last night. We were all thinking about doing it last night. But you didnt do it on purpose. Maybe unconsciously i did. Its no use. Im going to go to the pen. Sandra 1980 i believe that was. When you watch that and hear that what is it mean to you . That time in your life in that movie . It brings back a lot of memories. That was the first movie i was ever in. That truly has made an impact all over this world especially with, you know, womens rights in the workplace and all of that. Working with lily and jane is great. Im still good friends with both of them. We help each other with our charities and things now and then, but to think that was that many years ago is just amazing but i still love that movie. Every time i go traveling around i go to a motel room and there are either still magnolias or 9 to 5 on the tv so somethings live forever and i believe thats one of them. John dolly you set a moment ago you like to stay busy and earn your keep we have another album coming out this is called Smoky Mountain dna, family, faith, and fables it will have some of your Family Members, you were 1 of 12 kids. And your family perry we dont hear much about this but they are very talented folks. Not just Brothers And Sisters, a lot of my Brothers And Sisters i have trico sisters performing in the show but i have a lot of nieces and nephews, a lot of cousins. This whole thing we are putting out is really a history back through my mutual Coal Heritage all the way back through the 1700s to the u. K. All the people how we got to the Smoky Mountains and all the people that we were influenced by in our own family. So we have a lot of songs in this album and we are doing a documentary, a docuseries on the history and our family. So that is something im excited about having out there. Sandra really, really neat record to have so many of your Family Members included. John was asking you about the collaboration on rock star so many names we know and love, is there anyone dolly parton sits down at night and you think well, i havent worked with this person or i havent collaborated with this person . I know a lot of people ask about taylor swift these days because she is out on the stage a lot. Boy is she ever come i really admire her. How she handled herself, who could outdo taylor swift . She is the hottest thing ever. I think its great because she is the kind of artist that you could take the kids, take your parents, take your kids, everyone knows they will be really entertained, but i dont know taylor normally have the time to sit and write but i think we would enjoy it, i really admire her as an artist come as a singer. And especially of the song songwriter. John looking back on that album i dont know how you arranged the logistics of getting together with more than 20 people, that was inaudible. I want to ask you about another project this is imagination library. So far you have distributed some 200 million books all around the world. At the same time here in america kids have their noses stuck in their smartphones or on their ipads and they are playing video games and they are not reading. Is that concerning . Well, they have ipads and smartphones and all of that but i think there is always going to be a place for books. These are for the little, little children that have not really become technically savvy at. So i think there is nothing like a real book. To get little kids in their hands to kind of teach them to love the word and love the pictures. To know what it is like to read so im very proud of the imagination library. When we give them from the time they are born we give them a book once a month with their name on it to get someone to read it with them or inspiring them to read it. They will grow into whatever they grow into but we like to feel like we are giving them a good start. Sandra we also mentioned you have a cookbook good lookin cookin i mention youre so many things to somata people in the world it makes me wonder what your message is these days with so much uncertainty out there in the country and in the world people lean on you for your optimism. You often have a very bright lock and a very positive message. What would that be today for y you . I think it will get too caught up in all the bad things going on in this world and their failings to look around to see there is still a whole lot of good. Some of the good people can do is try to find all the good and all the things that they can do to help lift people up instead of tearing them down. Of course there are some things you cant do anything about, but love people through it and find the most peace you can within your own little area and to do as much good as you can. Sometimes that can reach all around but i would say dont get too consumed on all of that. Have some kind of faithbased. I have found out for me by keeping my face and having something to believe in greater than myself and greater than all of the craziness going on around me that is how i get through it. I try to let that light shine through me to other people. I just think we have to pay more attention to the good. John dolly, going back to our visit at dollywood at the beginning of this april, we went and saw the From The Heart musical on the theater they are a musical documentary and timeline about your life when you were growing up and you really wanted to be on the radio and you got on the radio at the age of ten. But now when you look back at it over the course of your life and of the amazing success that you have enjoyed and the way you have touched some new people, do you ever pinch yourself and say oh, my gosh, how did i get here . Well, i have been going so fast i think ive met myself coming back. Thats kind of what we are experiencing here with the Dolly Experience. When i was walking through the whole experience yesterday just seeing the museum and all the things they have done here, it was like a mind warp and a time warp. Going back like how in the world did i ever do all that . But ive lived a long time and ive been at it since i was very, very young. I have had a lot of help getting to where i am at but then it was a very emotional journey for me. Yesterday when i had seen it all put together and how the people will view it but i got very emotional seeing all the things about my family, my parents being gone, that they were so present they are and i was seeing them up close and personal. And seeing kenny rogers one of my dearest friends ever and singing together there are so up close and personal, it really was emotional. But getting back to what your original question was i dont know how i did it, i just believed it was meant to be and when a is meant to be you will have a lot of help along the way that you might not even know or understand how it is happening, but thats what i say going back to my favorite t faithbased iny spiritual life. Sandra as we head into this Memorial Day Weekend what is your message to the troops as this is a day we remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice giving our all and service to this country . I think we all should remember memorial day for what it really is and that is to thank all of our troops that have given launch for our freedoms and i see all the stuff going on now in this crazy world and i think well, you know, it would be so easy to lose it all. Today, this weekend, memorial day i mean, i would just really like to thank all of our troops that are still out there trying to make some sense of this world, trying to protect us. So i just want to say thank you again and thank you for having me on the show today. Just so i can say that if nothing else. John dollywood dolly, [laughs] i saw that Roller Coaster in my head. I havent unscramble it yet. Its been a real pleasure having you on. We were hoping we could make this happen and finally did. God bless you and your family and those close to you and we hope you have more success in the future. Sandra its an honor thank you for joining us. Well thank you for having me and you come on down to dollywood. As we used to say its homespun fun. And a digital to now. Sandra you are amazing thank you, dolly thank you for joining us. John hope to see you again soon. Hope to see you. Sandra day, week, year made so amazing to have her on the program, john. John again we spent time in nashville because my older daughter moved down there and she is everywhere we went to the Country Music hall of fame and she is all over the Country Music hall of fame. All over the Country Music museum then we went to dollywood and of course that is her namesake as well. To have a chance its been 32 years since i sat down with her to revisit that was a lot of a lot of fun. Sandra incredible at so many things and i really revere her as a businesswoman. She is so savvy. When she decides to do something, she goes full on. She does it right and she is so good to all of her employees there. So charitable and she is an incredible allaround artist, woman, and businesswoman. John shows you what you can do when you have a mindset everything is possible. Sandra absolutely. John now this. And i will always love you speak of this program is brought to you by ever north health services. Wonder made possible. At evernorth, were helping to unlock barriers. Using our 35 plus years of pharmacy benefits Management Experience to save businesses billions while boosting medication adherence. Helping Plan Sponsors and their members be at their best. Thats wonder made possible. Evernorth health services. Dupixent can help people with asthma breathe better in as little as 2 weeks. So this is better. Even this. Dupixent is an addon treatment for specific types of moderatetosevere asthma thats not for sudden breathing problems. Dupixent can cause allergic reactions that can be severe. Tell your doctor right away if you have rash, chest pain, worsening shortness of breath, tingling or numbness in your limbs. Tell your doctor about new or worsening joint aches and pain or a parasitic infection. Dont change or stop asthma medicines including steroids, without talking to your doctor. Ask your specialist about dupixent. I wanna hold you forever hey little bear bear. Im gonna love you forever cmon, bear. You dont. You dont have to worry. Be by your side. Ill be there. With my arms wrapped around. I got the cabin for three days. Its gonna be sweet what . Im 12 hours short. Have a fun weekend. Unnecessary action hero unnecessary. 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