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Dolly Parton reacted to Beyoncé’s confirmation that “Jolene” appears on her highly-anticipated COWBOY CARTER album.
Beyoncé posted new details about COWBOY CARTER on Instagram on Wednesday (March 27), days ahead of its debut. The post showed Parton’s “Jolene” appearing on the record, and appeared to show a collaboration with Willie Nelson and a nod Linda Martell, 82, to the first Black female country artist to play the historic Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee.
Parton shared Beyoncé’s post on her Instagram story hours after its debut. Setting it to her 1974 classic, Parton told her followers to “play the original while you wait for [Beyoncé’s] ‘Jolene.’”
Parton said in an interview with Knox News — the East Tennessee-based Knoxville News Sentinel, part of the USA TODAY Network — earlier this month that she believed Beyoncé covered “Jolene” on COWBOY CARTER. She also said in an interview with Trevor Noah in 2022 — while speaking about her book, Run, Rose, Run, co-authored with James Patterson — that she thought it would be “killer” if Beyoncé would perform “Jolene.”
“I think she’s fantastic and beautiful and I love her music,” Parton said of Beyoncé in the 2022 interview. “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,’ to someone that can take my little songs and make ‘em like powerhouses. So, that would be a marvelous day in my life if she ever does do ‘Jolene.’”
Beyoncé teased “a few surprises,” and collaborations with “some brilliant artists who I deeply respect,” in a statement she shared to mark the 10-day countdown to COWBOY CARTER’s debut. She explained at that time that the country-themed album “was born out of an experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomed…and it was very clear that I wasn’t. But, because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of Country music and studied our rich musical archive. It feels good to see how music can unite so many people around the world, while also amplifying the voices of some of the people who have dedicated so much of their lives educating on our musical history.” Beyoncé said act ii COWBOY CARTER “ain’t a Country album. It's “a ‘Beyoncé’ album.”
Beyoncé, who will receive the iHeartRadio Innovator Award at the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards on Monday (April 1), announced her RENAISSANCE follow-up after Usher’s Halftime performance during Super Bowl LVIII. She released “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages” that night, and has since made history as the first Black woman to release a single that reached No. 1 on country charts. The full album will make its long-awaited debut on Friday (March 29).
Fans across the country will be able to watch and find out the all the winners of the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards live as the show will be airing live from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Monday, April 1st from 8pm-10pm ET live/PT tape-delayed on FOX. The event will also be broadcast on iHeartRadio stations nationwide and on the free iHeartRadio app. And catch all the action from the Yellow Carpet from your favorite artists this year by tuning in to the iHeartRadio Music Awards - On The Carpet Live! Presented by Otezla at 5:30pm ET/2:30PT via iHeartRadio's YouTube, Twitch and Facebook accounts.