Dolly Parton is often called an American treasure, but her popularity extends far beyond the shores of the United States. The country powerhouse is a fixture on at least one genre-specific chart in the United Kingdom, where her fan base remains dedicated and strong to this day.
Parton manages a relatively uncommon feat on the Official Country Compilations chart as she trades one winner for another, replacing herself at No. 1 as a fan favorite returns.
Live From London finds its way back to the Official Country Compilations chart, the ranking of the bestselling compilations in the U.K. that are specific to musicians typically associated with country music. The decade-plus-old project reappears out of nowhere and immediately becomes the top-selling country compilation in the nation.
Live From London debuted on the Official Country Compilations chart in December 2009. One frame after it arrived, the title broke into the top 10. Just a little over a month into its life on the roster, Live From London rose to No. 1, adding to Parton’s growing list of champions.
As it returns, Live From London reaches 99 weeks on the Official Country Compilations chart. Just over half of those frames — 50 exactly — have been inside the top 10, and the live set has now spent 14 frames running the show.
As Parton’s Live From London breaks back in at No. 1, the singer-songwriter pushes another one of her most popular sets down a rung. The Very Best Of, which ruled last frame, is forced to settle for second place this time around.
Parton fills three spaces on the Official Country Compilations chart this frame, and all of her titles appear inside the upper half of the 20-spot roster. Diamonds & Rhinestones: The Greatest Hits Collection is steady at No. 6 this week.
Among her three current winners, The Very Best Of is easily Parton’s longest-running success. The project is now up to 381 weeks on the Official Country Compilations ranking, and that sum is sure to increase significantly in the coming months and years, as it only barely steps away from the throne this frame.
Only one other project by Parton — The Complete Trio Collection, which also credits her collaborators Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris — has spent more time on the tally. That box set of the two collaborative full-lengths the three women worked on together has spent 53 weeks at No. 1 and a total of 424 stays somewhere on the ranking.
Throughout her career, Parton has sent 18 titles to the Official Country Compilations chart. She started in February 1994 with Greatest Hits, and later that year added to her sum with the ever-so-slightly-slightly different The Greatest Hits and then Heartsongs: Live From Home. 11 of her compilations have spent at least one turn at No. 1, and none of her efforts that have landed on the roster have missed the top 10 entirely.