RUN, ROSE, RUN CASTING ANNOUNCEMENT
DOLLY PARTON AND KELSEA BALLERINI TO HEADLINE PATTERSON/PARTON RUN, ROSE, RUN AUDIOBOOK CAST
New York, NY – December 17, 2021 Internationally beloved entertainer DOLLY PARTON will headline the audiobook cast of RUN, ROSE, RUN, as has just been announced by The Hollywood Reporter, joined by award-winning singer/songwriter KELSEA BALLERINI in the role of protégée to Parton’s character. Dolly Parton also co-wrote this Nashville-based thriller, teaming up with the world’s bestselling author, JAMES PATTERSON. Pairing Patterson’s brilliant character-building and dramatic skills with Dolly Parton’s unparalleled insight into the music world’s star-making machinery, RUN, ROSE, RUN will be the blockbuster novel of 2022.
Though RUN, ROSE, RUN is the first novel Dolly Parton has ever written, she is no stranger to either audiobook recording or major acting roles, so found herself on familiar territory when she stepped into a Nashville recording studio to read the part of Ruthanna Ryder, a beloved country icon attempting to retire from the business when a gifted young performer begins to captivate audiences in the bar she owns.
“I’m thrilled to share the news that Ruthanna’s fledgling counterpart in the story, a brilliant young singer/songwriter with a mysteriously dark past, is narrated by Kelsea Ballerini, who I knew from the beginning could bring the right balance of vulnerability, ferocity, and sparkling wit to the character AnnieLee,” said Dolly Parton. “I think our fans are going to love hearing us in a totally different way than they’re used to, and they’re going to love following our characters on their unpredictable journeys through the Nashville music scene and beyond. We just can’t wait to share our performances, woven into the work of the rest of the amazing cast of professional narrators, with Run, Rose, Run!”
Kelsea Ballerini had this to say of her experience on RUN, ROSE, RUN: “Working on a creation from the ever-brilliant mind of Dolly Parton has to be a dream job for anyone, especially as a young artist in country music. And as a writer myself, to be asked to join this project that is also a collaboration with James Patterson – another incredible storyteller not to mention best selling author – has been truly thrilling. It is an incredible privilege to voice the story and character of AnnieLee, a girl who has seen the worst of what people can do to each other, but who still has the pure ambition to want bigger and better things for herself. She has an unwavering belief in her innate talent and relentlessly pulls herself from the depths of hell into finding her platform to share her gifts with the world.
I so enjoyed recording the audiobook of my collection of poetry, Feel Your Way Through, earlier this year, and jumped at the offer to get back in the studio for another literary project. Vocally embodying this complex, bold, and sometimes secretive character through the unpredicted twists and turns of this Nashville-based thriller was such an honor, and I can’t wait for listeners to fall in love with her, and this story, too.”
James Patterson also celebrated the announcement, saying: “The cast for Run, Rose, Run’s audiobook edition is truly beyond compare. With Dolly Parton and Kelsea Ballerini headlining, we’re the hottest ticket in town, no question. And the rest of the cast, headed by award-winning narrator Soneela Nankani, really bring the characters to life in exactly the way Dolly and I envisioned when we were writing. Listeners will find it hard to hit pause once they get started!”
THE FULL CAST
Dolly Parton: Ruthanna Ryder
Kelsea Ballerini: AnnieLee Keyes
James Fouhey: Ethan Blake
Soneela Nankani: Narrative, and other roles, with
Kevin T Collins
Peter Ganim
Luis Moreno
Ronald Peet
Robert Petkoff
Ella Turenne
Emily Woo Zeller
RUN, ROSE, RUN is available to pre-order on CD and Digital download now, and will be published by Penguin Random House UK in the UK. Available in Print and eBook formats simultaneously.
Visit RunRoseRunBook.com for more information!
Release Date: 3/7/22
CD: 9781549164859 | 12 CDs | $50.00 US / $63.00 CAN
DL: 9781549164866 | 13 hours | $27.98 US / $34.98 CAN
HACHETTE BOOK GROUP is a leading trade publisher based in New York and a division of Hachette Livre (a Lagardère company), the third-largest trade and educational publisher in the world.
HACHETTE AUDIO is a publisher of a variety of popular genres in audio form, which matches HBG material with talented actors, composers, and producers to find its fullest expression. Their audiobooks are primarily based on material published in print and ebook by Grand Central Publishing, Little, Brown & Company, Hachette Nashville, Orbit, Hachette Books, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, and Perseus Books, and have been recognized for the highest quality of content and production with numerous GRAMMY, Audie, Listen Up! And Earphone awards. Unabridged and abridged titles are available on CD and as digital downloads.
DOLLY PARTON is the most honored and revered female country singer-songwriter of all time. Achieving 25 RIAA-certified gold, platinum, and multi-platinum awards, she has had 26 songs reach #1 on the Billboard country charts, a record for a female artist. Recently, Parton reached #1 on the Billboard Christian Airplay Chart for the first time for her duet with Grammy award-winning Zach Williams of “There Was Jesus,” for which they won a Grammy this year, making that her 11th Grammy win. She received her first Dove Award for short form video for her collaboration with for King & Country on the song “God Only Knows.” Parton is the first artist to have topped the Billboard’s Adult Contemporary, Christian AC Songs, Hot Country Songs, Christian Airplay, Country Airplay and Dance/Mix Show Airplay radio charts. Parton recently became the first country artist honored as Grammy MusiCares Person of the Year given out by NARAS. She has 44 career Top 10 country albums, a record for any artist, and 110 career-charted singles over the past 50+ years.
In 2014 the RIAA recognized her impact on recorded music with a plaque commemorating more than 100 million units sold worldwide. Her 2016 #1 album, “Pure & Simple,” which topped the Billboard Top Country Albums and Americana/Folk Albums charts and debuted at No. 1 in the U.S., Canada, U.K. and Australia, added to that massive tally. She has garnered eleven Grammy Awards and 50 nominations, including the Lifetime Achievement Award and a 2020 win with for KING & COUNTRY for their collaboration on “God Only Knows”; 10 Country Music Association Awards, including Entertainer of the Year; five Academy of Country Music Awards, also including a nod for Entertainer of the Year; four People’s Choice Awards; and three American Music Awards. In 1999, Parton was inducted as a member of the coveted Country Music Hall of Fame.
Last year, she released the Christmas album “Holly Dolly Christmas” which went #1 on the Billboard Country and Holiday charts, as well released the bestselling coffee table book “Songteller: My Life in Lyrics.” This year she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie for the film “Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square.” To date, Parton has donated over 169 million books to children around the world with her Imagination Library. Her children’s book, Coat of Many Colors, was dedicated to the Library of Congress to honor the Imagination Library’s 100 millionth book donation. In March of 2022 , Parton will release the book Run Rose Run which she co-authored with James Patterson, alongside an accompanying album of the same name with original songs inspired by the book. Parton also released her own fragrance line this year called “Dolly: Scent From Above.” From her “Coat of Many Colors” while working “9 to 5,” no dream is too big and no mountain too high for the country girl who turned the world into her stage.
KELSEA BALLERINI is recognized as one of the most influential women in country music today. She released two acclaimed albums in lockdown last year and has consistently made history since the start of her career. Following the release of her debut album, she made history as the only female country artist since Wynonna Judd to log three consecutive number one singles from a debut album. Her critically acclaimed sophomore album Unapologetically marked her second Top 5 debut on the Billboard Top 200.
Ballerini has garnered two GRAMMY® Award nominations, won two ACM Awards, two CMA Awards, and took home the iHeartRadio Music Awards honor for “Best New Artist.” The Black River recording artist has platinum and gold album certifications, a career total of 21 gold and platinum singles certifications and total streams exceeding 3 billion to date. In 2019, Ballerini received a CMA nomination for “Female Vocalist of the Year” and an American Music Award nomination for “Female Artist Country.” Additionally, Kelsea leads the 2020 CMT Award nominations with nods for “Video of the Year,” “Female Video of the Year,” and “CMT Performance of the Year.” Most recently, Kelsea received a nomination for “Female Artist of the Year” for the 2021 ACM Awards, and was welcomed as the Grand Ole Opry’s youngest current member.. In addition to touring alongside everyone from Kelly Clarkson to Keith Urban, she ascended to the status of arena headliner with her 2019 the Miss Me More Tour.
This all paved the way for Kelsea’s self-titled third full-length album, which was released on March 20, 2020. Her most personal effort yet, the album was met with critical praise including by NPR who said, “Kelsea Ballerini is definitely one of the most influential women in country right now… she’s defining the sound of the genre.” The debut single from the album, “homecoming queen?”, which the New York Times deemed “excellent,” was certified recently platinum, marking her fastest single to achieve this milestone yet. Her single, “hole in the bottle” recently reached Gold RIAA certification and earned Kelsea her sixth #1. Her latest single off of the album, “half of my hometown” featuring Kenny Chesney, hit radio April 2021 and earned Kelsea her first CMA Award wins for “Musical Event of the Year” and “Music Video of the Year” at the 2021 CMA Awards.
In the fall of 2020, Kelsea debuted her newest album ballerini, which is the follow up and second half of the story to the singer’s album, kelsea. While under quarantine, Kelsea carefully deconstructed each song and re-recorded everything with minimal accompaniment and co-producing this new album. Highlighting the eloquent songcraft, the vivid storytelling and the heartfelt delivery of the thirteen tracks, Kelsea shows yet another side of herself with this reimagined take on the entire album. The delicate sonics highlight the lyrical power of the record as she has stripped all of the songs down to the bare essentials.
In addition to her artist projects, Kelsea launched her first ever radio show with Apple Music “kelsea radio”. On “kelsea radio”, an up-close-and-personal conversation between Ballerini and her fans, she opens up about the creative processes and personal experiences that have shaped her career.
JAMES PATTERSON is the world’s bestselling author. His enduring fictional characters and series include Alex Cross, the Women’s Murder Club, Michael Bennett, Maximum Ride, Middle School, and Ali Cross, along with such acclaimed works of narrative nonfiction as Walk in My Combat Boots, E.R. Nurses, and his autobiography, James Patterson by James Patterson. Bill Clinton (The President Is Missing) and Dolly Parton (Run, Rose, Run) are among his notable literary collaborators. For his prodigious imagination and championship of literacy in America, Patterson was awarded the 2019 National Humanities Medal. The National Book Foundation presented him with the Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community, and he is also the recipient of an Edgar Award and nine Emmy Awards. He lives in Florida with his family.