HALLMARK CHANNEL PRESENTS 'DOLLY CELEBRATES 25 YEARS OF DOLLYWOOD,' WORLD PREMIERE ORIGINAL SPECIAL, JULY 3

DOLLY PARTON, MILEY CYRUS, KENNY ROGERS, BILLY RAY CYRUS JOIN MUSICAL SPECIAL CELEBRATING SILVER ANNIVERSARY OF FAMED THEME PARK

Special's Theme is "Celebrate the Dreamer in You!"; Park Has Played Host to More Than 62 Million People Since Opening

Hallmark Channel will honor a musical icon, Dolly Parton, and celebrate the silver anniversary of one of the country's most popular theme parks when it televises the Hallmark Channel Original Special, "Dolly Celebrates 25 Years of Dollywood," Friday, July 3 (8 p.m./ET/PT, 7 p.m. CT). The one-hour special, presented exclusively on Hallmark Channel, features the 45-time Grammy(R) nominee (seven wins) and Country Music Hall of Fame inductee in a musical tribute taped at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, accompanied by some of the brightest stars in country music.

For the Hallmark Channel Original Special, Parton's guests will include Miley Cyrus ("The Last Song," "Hannah Montana"), Billy Ray Cyrus ("Christmas in Canaan," Back to Tennessee), and multiple Grammy Award winner Kenny Rogers (the Parton/Rogers hit Islands in the Stream remains the #1 duet of all-time). The special also includes tributes for Dolly and Dollywood from friends -- Faith Hill, Brad Paisley, Kenny Chesney, and others.

Dolly Parton's former business advisors told her not to invest in an aging tourist attraction that had surely seen its glory days. But, in 1986, the irrepressible Parton did so anyway, partly out of reverence for her beloved Sevier County roots and a desire to enhance the local economy, but also because Dolly loves to share her Appalachian memories of the Great Smoky Mountains, her people and their heritage. Today, 25 years later, Dollywood has fulfilled Parton's dreams, while also fulfilling the dreams of more than 62 million park-goers. Now the country music legend wants to share Dollywood's Silver Anniversary with the world.

Known as one of the most popular vacation destinations in America, Dollywood is also the recipient of more awards for live entertainment than any other theme park in the world. Dollywood is the predominant recipient of the industry's Golden Ticket Award for Best Shows and Best Christmas Event. The largest employer in Sevier County, the park features 10 distinctly themed areas, spans 150 acres, and plays hosts to four of the South's largest festivals each year. Dollywood boasts thrilling roller coasters, including Thunderhead, twice voted the world's best wooden coaster. Wagon making, blacksmithing and woodcarving are always on display courtesy of the dozens of master craftsmen. On March 29, Adventure Mountain, the $6 million challenge course (the nation's largest) opened in the park's Wildnerness Pass area.

Referring to the theme of Dollywood's 25th anniversary ("Celebrate the Dreamer in You," an anthem Parton wrote to commemorate the milestone) and of the TV special honoring it, Parton says, "I've always been a writer. My songs are the door to every dream I've ever had and every success I've ever achieved."

Dolly Parton is widely regarded as a national treasure. Her career has spanned more than 50 years, across diverse musical genres, television, even the silver screen. Achieving 25 RIAA certified gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards, and with 25 songs reaching No. 1, Parton is the most honored country performer of all-time. Among Parton's abundant successes, Dollywood can easily be considered one of her greatest and most unique. Some of Parton's remarkable milestones are listed below:

· More than 100 million records sold

· Co-Owner of Dollywood, American theme-park and largest employer of Pigeon Forge, TN

· # 1 female country artist of all time as ranked by Billboard for albums chart and singles chart performance

· #4 'Greatest Woman In Country Music' as ranked by CMT

· Seven Grammy(R) Awards (with 45 nominations), 25 # 1 country singles (55 top 10 country hits), Eight Top 40 hits, 26 gold and platinum record awards

· 11 Country Music Association Awards

· Nine Academy of Country Music Awards

· 77 records on the country album charts (1967-2010), 43 pop (1968-2009)

· 42 top 10 country albums (more than any other artist)

· 113 chart singles (79 country only 1967-2008, 29 country and pop-and/or-adult contemporary 1971-2006, 2 pop only 1965-1997, 3 adult contemporary only 1988-2005)

· Composer of more than 3,000 songs recorded by dozens of artists

· Two-time Academy Award(R) nominee (Best Song, 1980, 2005)

· Emmy(R) Award nominee (Best Supporting Actress, Variety or Music Program, 1978)

· Five Golden Globe nominations (Best Actress, 1981, 1983; Best Song, 1981, 2005; Best New Film Star, 1981)

· Tony nominee (Best Score, 2009)

· County Music Hall of Fame, National Academy of Popular Music/Songwriters Hall of Fame, Grand Ole Opry

· Kennedy Center Honors, National Medal Of Arts and U.S. Library Of Congress Living Legend Award recipient

· Composer of more than 3,000 songs recorded by dozens of artists

· Imagination Library literacy program distributes more than 6.5 million free books per year to children across the U.S., Canada and U.K.

"Dolly Celebrates 25 Years of Dollywood" is a Taillight Production. Tom Forrest is Executive Producer for Taillight and Paul T. Couch is Executive Producer for Dollywood.

Hallmark Channel, owned and operated by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., is a 24-hour basic cable network that provides a diverse slate of high-quality entertainment programming available in high definition (HD) and standard definition (SD) to a national audience of 90 million subscribers. The top tier program service is distributed through more than 5,450 cable systems and communities as well as direct-to-home satellite services across the country. Hallmark Channel consistently ranks among the highest-rated cable networks and is the nation's leading network in providing quality family programming. Hallmark Channel's sibling network is Hallmark Movie Channel, also available in HD and SD, which focuses on the greatest family movies of all time.