Dolly Parton Gives the Final Word on Beyonce’s Divisive ‘Jolene’ Cover: ‘It Was Very Bold of Her’
Dolly Parton has given what should be the final word on Beyoncé’s cover of her song “Jolene.”
"Well, I think it was very bold of her," Parton, 78, told E! News in an interview published on Friday, May 31. "When they said she was gonna do ‘Jolene,’ I expected it to be my regular one, but it wasn't. But I love what she did to it. And as a songwriter, you love the fact that people do your songs no matter how they do them."
The country music legend noted that Beyoncé, 42, was never going to interpret the lyrics of the classic 1973 track in the same way. "She wasn't gonna go beg some other woman like I did,” Parton joked. “‘Don't steal my man.' ‘S–t, get outta here, bitch. You ain't stealin' my man.’"
"I was very proud of her album," Parton said of Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter, which debuted in March. "I thought she did a great job in country music and I thought it was great. And I was just happy she did ‘Jolene.’ I, of course, would have loved to have heard how she would have done it in its original way. But of course, you know, it's Beyoncé. Yeah, her life is different than mine."
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Parton, who is featured in two intros on Cowboy Carter said that she and Beyoncé “communicated when the album came out” while she was “doing some of the little things to put on the album.”
She added, “And we were sending each other flowers and little love notes and all that. So, yeah, it's all good."
Parton also said that she would be willing to perform the song with the Beyoncé at the 2025 Grammys.
"Why of course I would — if I'm available, if I'm not caught up in something I cannot get out of, yeah, that'd be wonderful," she quipped. "I mean, who wouldn't wanna sing ‘Jolene’ with Beyoncé?"
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When Beyoncé released her take on “Jolene” in March, she faced backlash due to her bold decision to revise one of the most popular country songs of all time.
On her Instagram Story, rapper Azealia Banks noted that the rewritten lyrics were “forced,” while Rolling Stone called the track “cheeky and humorous” but noted that “it doesn’t add much” to the original song.
Parton, however, was a supporter of the new version from the beginning. When Beyoncé released a tracklist revealing all 27 song titles, Parton took to X to spread the love.
“Listen to my original ‘Jolene’ while you wait for @Beyonce’s COWBOY CARTER,” Parton wrote in March alongside a photo of the tracklist and artwork for the original “Jolene” single.
