- And you'd have a very hard time finding anyone cooler
than the two people we have on the line right now.
I can't believe they're in my show. I'm very excited.
We are obsessed with them.
Everyone is,
and one of them even wrote the song I just sang,
which is why I was actually even more terrified
to be singing Jolene (chuckles).
(audience laughing)
She sold over a hundred million albums.
He sold over 300 million books.
So together they have a new novel called "Run Roses Run."
It's out now,
but more importantly they're good people
and support good courses like literacy,
health and community.
Let's say hello to miss the Dolly Parton
and James Paterson.
(audience clapping and cheering)
- Hey!
- Oh my gosh it's so great to see both of you.
Thank you so much for taking the time to do my show.
- Well we love your show and we love you.
Thank you for having me. - Oh! thank you.
Well, I have to say again,
it was great to sing your music last week
at the Academy of Country Music Awards,
but I will say it's always, always,
always going to be terrifying to sing your song
in front of you while you're there.
Just so you know, I'm always sweating profusely.
(Kelly and audience laugh)
- Oh well I mean, I don't think you have to worry
with a voice like yours.
I was so honored and nobody can sing like you.
(audience clapping and cheering)
So I was very proud of you and so proud
of your rendition of it.
It's great.
One of the best ever, ever, ever.
(audience clapping and cheering)
- Oh, you are so kind.
And it was also,
we haven't really been able to talk about it,
but it was cool to sing 9 to 5.
We did the kind of reimagined version
of 9 to 5 for your documentary
Still Working 9 to 5 which is amazing.
Not just the song but the documentary is amazing.
So thank you for letting me be a part of that.
I got to brag to Blake Shelton
about that moment. (Kelly laughs)
(audience laughs)
- Well you did a great job on that too.
I love how you took that and just made it your own.
And I got a chance to sing background for a change.
But I'm really proud of that rendition of it.
And I think hopefully it'll do well for us.
It's great in the documentary.
(audience clapping)
- Oh my God.
It's a really cool thing.
James do you have a favorite Dolly song?
- Yeah well, first of all also the new album,
Run Rose Run,
I love Big Dreams and Faded Jeans
and Woman Up (And Take It Like A Man), right.
- I love that one. - Right Dolly?
- I love (chuckles)
- Yeah, he's always loved that one (chuckles)
- And there's My Life Would Suck Without You.
I love that one.
- Yes!
- Oh, wait a minute, it's yours Kelly.
(audience clapping and cheering)
- Yes, James Patterson knows my music (chuckles)
Oh my God, that's amazing.
Did y'all know each other?
How did you end up working together on this book?
- Dolly.
- You won't tell it? Well- - I came down to Nashville.
I went banging,
I came down to Nashville.
I went to college in Nashville at Vanderbilt.
So I loved that town anyway.
And I used to go to the Grand Ole Opry when it was in town.
And I just went banging on her door and I said,
you wanna write a book?
(Kelly chuckles)
She said, who are you?
- And,
(all laughing)
- Hardly, actually, I was very honored
that he would ask me to write a book.
When he first asked if I'd like to write a book with him.
And I thought, well, what do you need me for?
You only sold 400 million books so far.
(Kelly and audience laughing)
And he said, well, I have an idea.
Would you like to hear it?
And I said, yeah.
So he did come to Nashville.
We talked it over and the rest is gonna be history, I hope.
- I love that.
(audience clapping and cheering)
Can you, is it kind of about the Nashville dream?
Like, what is the book about?
- Well, it is about the Nashville dream
and you know, both of us Dolly and I, Dolly came
from the Hills of Tennessee and I came
from this little town up in New York state, way, way up.
And both of us, probably a million to one chance, you know,
odds against us making it.
And the same thing in this book, Run Rose Run.
The singer, AnnieLee keys, you know,
she's got a lot of talent and she comes to Nashville,
but you know, well, you know, Kelly,
I mean, it's hard to make it.
- Yeah.
- With all the talent in the world.
And that's what the story's about.
She has, her background is kind of weird, Dolly.
- Yeah, and my background is kind of weird.
(James chuckles)
No actually, it's about a young girl
that's trying, like she's running
from something and running to something.
You have to read the book to know all,
get to know all of the things about it.
But it's about her journey.
And then there's an older character
that was once a big star,
Ruthanna writer that she still writes songs,
she has her own studio, has her own band,
but she considers herself retired.
And so Ruthanna kind of becomes a mentor, you know,
to AnnieLee and they become friends.
And it's a wonderful story about bad management
and about all the things that can happen
to you in the business.
In addition to AnnieLee running from this mystery thing
that is part of the whole book.
- Yeah.
- And it's really a clever little book.
And I was so honored to get to write some with him.
I was a little intimidated
'cause I've never written a novel.
- And I relate to Ethan in the book.
- And you were what James?
- I relate to Ethan in the book.
He's a handsome, young, up and coming singer and, you know,
but she says, I can't relate to him.
I gotta relate to the older guys.
So, all right I'll relate anyway.
(Kelly and audience laughing)
- No, wait-
- Yeah, there's Ruthanna's,
anyway, Ruthanna, she has a manager
that she loves called Jack the older woman.
So he's gonna be, he's saying he can play that
'cause we are gonna be doing a movie at some point.
- I know I heard about that.
(audience clap and cheer)
I heard that you were gonna make it
into a movie and I think that's such a brilliant idea.
I wonder though, Dolly, any pieces of your life,
I mean, since James asked you to do this,
any pieces of your kind of seep
into this character or any of the characters in the book?
- Oh, of course.
I related to every single one of them, the young girl
and even Ethan that James was talking about.
'Cause I related to all the young men that I met
when they were coming to Nashville, all the people,
even like, you know, Merle Haggard, who I loved and he was,
we were getting to make it pretty much at the same time.
And then I sang a duet called Demons from the book,
one of the songs I wrote
from the album with Merle Haggard's son, Ben.
So I'm really excited about that.
So there's a lot of things I relate to.
Of course, James has this wonderful mind
for creating everything,
but it is something at least I can relate to,
and love the story.
- Yeah. And Kelly, one of the really cool things
that what makes this so different is that Dolly,
you know, did an album.
- Yeah, I was about to say that, yeah.
- The songs that you read about
in the book and it's amazing.
And the album is spectacular.
It's a wonderful, wonderful album with 12 new songs and-
- Well, she's Dolly Parton.
- There's the album, Run Rose Run.
(Kelly chuckles)
- But that's her journey.
(audience clapping) You should be able to read the book
and then you listen to the songs or vice versa,
start with the songs and then read the book.
It's a very, and I don't think any anybody's ever done it.
- I was gonna say, it's a very clever thing too
because you're not only into the novel, but you're
into the music, which creates a bigger story in your head.
You know, I always say our mind doesn't have a budget
so the best movies are like in your head almost, you know.
So you're like creating this
and you've given us a compilation album,
like for the album too,
it's a companion to the book.
So I'm excited about the movie.
I'm excited about all of it.
It's so cool.
I love like two people that we all love,
working together to create something that's so magical.
(audience clapping)
So thank you for doing that.
Everybody, James and Dolly's book
and Dolly's new album are both called Run Rose Run
and they air out.
Now you gotta check it out.
Thank y'all so much for calling
and I appreciate you taking your time.
(audience clapping and cheering)
- All right.
- Thank you, love you.