The voice is unmistakable. As is the playful peal of laughter that follows. “Hey there, is that Rob ‘Halford’ Hughes? Good mornin’!” It’s 10am in Nashville, and the incontestable legend that is Dolly Parton is on the phone to Classic Rock.
She’s evidently in good spirits. And so she should be. At 77, country music’s resident superstar is on the verge of a somewhat unlikely crossover: a fullybooted, leather-suited, guitar-squealing rock album. And while there’s a persuasive argument that Dolly Parton has, in essence, always been a rock star, now we have tangible proof.
Nor is the aforementioned Rob Halford reference just a random piece of alliteration. The Judas Priest frontman is one of a number of guests – an entire shedload, in fact – who appear on Parton’s Rockstar. It’s an album with an embarrassment of riches: Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Fogerty, Stevie Nicks, Steven Tyler, Debbie Harry, Peter Frampton, Joan Jett, Elton John, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Richie Sambora… And that only covers about half of it.
Like most things Parton has put her shoulder to over the years, Rockstar doesn’t deal in short measures. It comprises a mammoth 30 tracks, of which roughly two thirds are covers. These are songs swiped straight from rock’s high table, from Satisfaction to Stairway To Heaven, Let It Be to Purple Rain, Free Bird to We Are The Champions.
“My husband Carl is a big rock fan,” Parton explains. “I’ve heard so many of the great rock songs over the years, because that’s the only thing he ever plays. We’ve been together for fifty-nine years now, so you can imagine how embedded that is. But of course, I had some personal favourites as well. I also had to pick songs that I thought I could sing well, that I thought I could do justice to. Or at least to try to be as impressive as I could, because I wanted the rock field to be proud of me. I wanted them to say: ‘That’s pretty good! I didn’t know she had it in her!’”
Interviewing her is a slightly surreal experience. There are those fabulously identifiable Southern tones and inflections in her voice, of course. And a sense that, for her, this is an art she mastered many moons ago. But she weighs my questions with due thought and attention, often with a healthy degree of self-deprecation. She also chuckles a lot.
During the course of the next hour, Classic Rock discovers that her decision to record the album was shaped by both outside events and her own sense of guilt. There’s plenty more too. Not least the fact that Rockstar has a number of precedents in her back catalogue. She talks about her early years, her single-minded ambition, her regrets over Elvis, being nervous about playing Glastonbury, future plans, her picky husband, and what she really thought of that White Stripes cover of her classic Jolene.
Ultimately, Rockstar represents the latest challenge in an extraordinary career.
“I’ve made my living doing country music and being a country girl, but making this album just felt natural,” she says. “So I think it was meant to be and I’m glad I’ve done it. I’m proud of how it’s turned out. And now I’m gonna have it as part of my legacy.”
In February 2022, Parton found herself nominated for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. The announcement – which also proposed the likes of MC5, New York Dolls, Judas Priest, Rage Against The Machine and Pat Benatar – came as something of a shock. In response, she sent a letter to the foundation, asking to be removed from the ballot. “Even though I am extremely flattered and grateful to be nominated for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, I don’t feel that I have earned that right,” Parton wrote. “I really do not want votes to be split because of me, so I must respectfully bow out.”
The Hall was having none of it, however. They explained that ballots had already been sent out to voters, justifying her nomination by adding that, from its inception, “rock’n’roll has had deep roots in rhythm & blues and country music. It is not defined by any one genre, rather a sound that moves youth culture. Dolly Parton’s music impacted a generation of young fans and influenced countless artists that followed”.
Parton duly decided to accept the offer if she was selected. In early
