Dolly's early life story, her arrival in Music City and numerous career highlights all promise to be a big part of the production that has undergone extensive workshopping and woodshedding at Belmont all under the watchful eye and detailed direction of Parton. We observed show staff explain on the "pink carpet" how most plays that end up on Broadway take up to four years to develop. But, thanks to Dolly's total immersion into the process - along with the extremely capable staff and modern facilities provided by Belmont University - DOLLY: A True Original Musical is scheduled to make its New York City debut in about half that time.

Parton is no stranger to making a media splash and her 2023 studio album Rockstar generated volumes of press that documented her first official foray into the world of rock music together with the help of many of that genre's biggest names. A few of the artists who appeared on the record joined Dolly on the "pink carpet" in Nashville to celebrate her latest headline garnering achievement.

First up, we met heavy metal's bad boy Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue fame and this site's founder Rockin' Rich Lynch had the opportunity to tell the iconic bass player that he name-checked him in a song of his called "Wake Up" that was about revamping the American political process rhyming Sixx with "politics" while referencing the 1968 cult classic Wild In The Streets - an underground musical movie that depicts a rock star who becomes President of the United States.

Dolly's rock star friends Nikki Sixx and Desmond Child; Rockin' Rich Lynch's "Wake Up" name-checks Nikki.

"Have you ever seen that film," Lynch asked Sixx who added instrumentation to "Bygones" on Parton's Rockstar.

"I have not," Sixx confirmed before adding, "I'm not running for President, I'll tell you that!"

We did remind Nikki that in addition to his own ink that adorns his limbs and torso - he has lately been generating some ink of his own in the media by expressing how the current state of the world is weighing on his mind.

"I think it is on everybody's," Sixx concluded before heading to the green room to partake in the V.I.P. party at The Fisher Center's Brad Paisley Ballroom.

Fair enough, Mr. Sixx and thanks for the lyrical inspiration. If you get a chance - please check out the film Wild In The Streets - I've added a link to its trailer below and we think that you might really enjoy it! It came out in the same decade when Dolly's career was really on the rise.

We made a film recommendation to Nikki Sixx - 1968's Wild in The Streets.

Next, we headed over to speak with another rock hero of ours - the great songwriter Desmond Child. Among his many well-known songs is Joan Jett's "I Hate Myself for Loving You" that Dolly covered on Rockstar. We got to ask Desmond about the songwriting process while pointing out that success on the baseball diamond is similar to songwriting in that even if you fail seven out of ten times - you still are batting .300 - which makes you a player of legendary status in the Great American Pastime.

We asked Child if he ever needed to temper his client's expectations since not every song is going to be a hit along the lines of "You Give Love a Bad Name".

"Why not," a bemused Child chided while cracking a wry smile explaining how he approaches every track as best he can, with what he's got on the table, with the story and melody and everything to just try and "tell a great story".

While not quite matching the batting average of a baseball legend like Rod Carew - Child was more than willing to present his impressive statistics.

"Well, I've written almost 3500 songs, 1200 got cut, 80 made it into the Top 40 - so it takes that many bad songs to write 80 good ones," Desmond pondered.

Dolly's friends from the world of Country and Christian music - Mason Ramsey, Bill Anderson, Michael W. Smith and Joel Smallbone - were also in attendance.

Either way, Desmond Child was a big winner on this night telling another interviewer that Dolly had invited him to attend opening night as she wanted to personally deliver the gold record that he earned for participating in the Rockstar project.

Finally, it was on to the star of the show herself - Dolly Parton. After congratulating Dolly on this current ambitious project that tells her story and journey from the mountains of Eastern Tennessee to international superstardom, Rockin' Rich asked her if there would be a sequel to Rockstar.

"I'm not planning on it. There's lots of other things I want to do," Parton relayed while leaving the door slightly ajar on the thought. "But, you never know what's going to happen".

At almost 80 years of age Dolly Parton is still on a roll and she remains extremely busy with Dollywood, her burgeoning food line and dotting the i's and crossing the t's on the telling of her extensive life story. Still, we won't bet against her rocking out at least one more time in a big way at some point in the future.

Plus, there's no doubt that fans of "The Iron Butterfly" will be going wild in the streets of the Big Apple when DOLLY: A True Original Musical does it all over again in Manhattan come 2026.

The Fisher Center is in the running to be Music City's most elegant venue.

Related Links: For more information on DOLLY PARTON and the other organizations mentioned please visit the following links - Dolly Parton | DOLLY: A True Original Musica | The Fisher Center | Well, Hello Dolly - Beloved Global Icon Set to Unveil a New Musical in Nashville Before Great White Way Debut in 2026 | Nikki Sixx | Desmond Child | Rockin' Rich Lynch