- Dolly Parton just released an all-new version of her 1977 song, “Light of a Clear Blue Morning.”
- Proceeds from the song benefit a cause close to the singer’s heart.
- Dolly celebrates her 80th birthday on January 19.
It’s a good week for Dolly Parton fans! The “Jolene” singer dropped a brand new version of her hit “Light of a Clear Blue Morning” on Friday, January 16. The best part? Four other iconic female vocalists are on the track, including two of country music’s biggest acts.
As if Dolly’s 1977 original isn’t stunning enough, the country star, who celebrates her 80th birthday this month, asked Lainey Wilson, Reba McEntire, Miley Cyrus, and Queen Latifah to join her on the new track. “So excited for y’all to hear this 🤩,” Lainey commented on Instagram.
Per usual, Dolly’s fans can’t help but swoon over the news. “The girl group of our dreams,” one Instagrammer commented. “This is what I mean when I say Dolly has the power to save the world,” someone else remarked. “Holy moly, what a blessing,” another fan applauded in the comments. “MY WORD,” someone else exclaimed.
“Light of a Clear Blue Morning” is an iconic song illustrating navigating hardship and making it through to the other side. Ever the philanthropist, Dolly chose to create this new rendition with the less fortunate in mind. “Proceeds from this recording and music video will benefit pediatric cancer research at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt in Nashville, TN,” she shared in her Instagram announcement.
This isn’t the first time Dolly has donated to pediatric causes at Vanderbilt. In 2017, she donated $1 million following her niece’s successful treatment for leukemia there, and in 2022, she donated another $1 million to help fund infectious pediatric disease research. Meanwhile, in 2020, she donated $1 million to help fund COVID-19 research and the Moderna vaccine.
All this to say, may the world be graced with more generous humans like the one and only Dolly Parton.
Rebecca Norris is a full-time freelance writer living in the Washington, D.C. metro area. Over the past 10+ years, she’s heavily covered a range of lifestyle topics, including travel, home, beauty, style, wellness, and celebrity news. She is a graduate of George Mason University, where she earned a B.A. in Media: Production, Consumption, and Critique, along with a minor in Electronic Journalism. When she's not writing, she can be found strolling with her Jack-Chi, Cash, sipping iced matcha lattes, indulging in delicious cuisine, perusing farmer’s markets and antique sales, collecting colored glass, getting lost within the pages of a book, and exploring new bucket-list cities.
