Dolly Parton Reacts to Beyonce’s Cover of ‘Jolene’ and Her Country Switch: See What the ‘9 to 5’ Star Said
The queen of country called Beyonce’s rendition of her hit song ‘bold’
In March, country music welcomed a famous face to the genre with Beyoncé’s release of her latest album, Cowboy Carter. Amongst the originals on the tracklist, the 42-year-old superstar covered classics including “Blackbird” by the Beatles and “Jolene” by Dolly Parton.
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Beyonce’s cover of the latter, however, had a bit of a twist different from the original — and Dolly Parton recently shared her thoughts on the matter. Keep scrolling to find out what the queen of country said about Beyoncé’s riff on a classic.
What did Dolly Parton say about Beyonce’s cover of ‘Jolene’?
In the original version, first released in 1973, Parton sang, “Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene/I’m beggin’ of you, please/Don’t take my man/Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene/Please don’t take him just/Because you can.”
Beyoncé’s version takes a different approach: “Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene/I’m warnin’ you, don’t come for my man (Jolene)/Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene/Don’t take the chance because you think you can.”
While some may have thought Parton would be turned off by the lyric change, the 9 to 5 star had nothing but praise for the historic Grammy winner.
“Well, I think it was very bold of her,” Parton told E! News two months after Cowboy Carter was released. “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.”
She continued, “She wasn’t gonna go beg some other woman like I did.”
Aside from Parton lending her hit to Beyoncé, she also lent her voice in an interlude titled “Dolly P.” In it, the country singer states, “Hey Miss Honeybee, it’s Dolly P. You know that hussy with the good hair you sing about?,” she said referencing “Becky with the good hair,” a woman mentioned in Beyonce’s 2016 track, “Sorry.”
Parton continued, “Reminded me of someone I knew back when, except she has flamin’ locks of auburn hair. Bless her heart. Just a hair of a different color, but it hurts just the same.”
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“I was very proud of her album,” Parton continued . “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.”
Parton also shared, “We communicated when the album came out, when I was doing some of the little things to put on the album,” she said. “And we were sending each other flowers and little love notes and all that. So, yeah, it’s all good.”
Dolly Parton spoke about Beyonce covering her music in 2022
Ironically, Beyoncé’s cover of this track was something of a dream come true for the 78-year-old country music veteran.
Back in 2022, in an interview for The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Parton was asked about the possibility of Beyoncé covering “Jolene.”
“I don’t know if she’s even got the message, but wouldn’t that be killer?” Parton said. “I would just love to hear ‘Jolene’ done in just a big way, kind of like how Whitney [Houston] did my ‘I Will Always Love You.’ Just someone that can take my little songs and make them powerhouses.”
Whether you’re a fan of this modern rendition or not, the song certainly has the queen of country’s stamp of approval!
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