U.S. radio stations more than doubled down on Dolly Parton after her Aug. 25 death, spinning her recordings more than 13,300 times in the week through Aug. 27 — a jump of more than 2,000% from about 620 plays the week before, according to Mediabase.
Her music aired on more than 930 monitored terrestrial stations, up from about 135, as programmers abandoned regular playlists, reached deep into her catalog and, in some cases, turned entire airwaves over to her.
In Nashville, iHeartMedia’s WSIX dropped its format after the announcement and played 62 Parton songs in a row, plus more through the night and into Wednesday, iHeartCountry executive vice president Rod Phillips said. Other iHeartCountry stations increased her presence to multiple songs an hour. The company also launched a #GoodDeedsForDolly campaign.
On Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, launched in 1990, Parton had 28 lifetime entries, including two No. 1s. On the longer-running Hot Country Songs chart she accumulated 113 titles and 25 No. 1s — the most of any woman in the list’s history.
Billboard reports stations from Dallas, Knoxville and Austin to Charleston, W.Va., Birmingham and Mobile leaned heavily into her music, with the strongest response across the South and Appalachia and airplay stretching from Portland, Maine, to Anchorage, Alaska.
SiriusXM launched a dedicated Dolly Parton Tribute Channel featuring her songs, collaborators and listener memories. “After more than 35 years in radio,” Phillips said, “I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a reaction like we are experiencing with Dolly’s passing.”