Dolly Parton is getting into rock? What?!
Was it similar to Jewel's move back then? The singer songwriter star getting into pop, or Chris Cornell the metal slash grunge God getting into pop? I don't think so. Not as dramatic and not as drastic. However, I think it's similar to Steven Tyler's move going from Aerosmith to country.
Kind of similar, around the same vein. Right? So I'm actually really curious to see what Parton has to contribute to the rock and roll world after many, many years in the country music industry. Now, as you can imagine, I'm not a huge Dolly Parton fan. I don't know most of her catalog, but I have tremendous respect for her. Back then, Elvis Presley wanted to do her song I will always love you, and Elvis's manager approached Dolly Parton and say, hey, you know, Elvis wants to do this song, but we don't want to give you song credit. We'll just pay a lump sum. And you know what Dolly Parton said?
F you get your ass out of here. I'm not doing it. So that I found is super badass. And guess what? Many, many years later, back in 1992, Whitney Houston took her song I will always love you and made history with that song with the movie the Bodyguard. Obviously, Dolly Parton gave her permission to use it, and I'm sure Dolly Parton is reaping the benefits, even to this day.
That song was absolutely immense. I think it compares with the Celine Dion songs for the Titanic movie. I think I will always love you from Whitney Houston from the Bodyguard really is the only truly song that really compares to that one. And that's what I love about Dolly. She seems to be doing things her way even before she was famous from the heart, what she wants, her whole career.
So I have tremendous respect for that. So today, I'm pumped to bring you this article out of Newsweek. Yes, Newsweek. I normally read from Rock and Guitar magazines, but this one's coming from Newsweek. So it's an interesting spin. An artist that I wouldn't probably normally cover and a magazine that I probably wouldn't read as well.
So double whammy there. Let's get right into it to see what she has to say on her new album coming out November 17. So get ready now. I had a chance to take a look at Dolly Parton's website, prepping for her new album coming out, and it looks awesome. Her marketing machine seems to be full tilt ahead.
They have all the merch, all the graphic designs, the layout. The look looks amazing. The music is at all similar to the marketing material behind it. It's going to be amazing. Okay, reading glasses on,
Let's get it.
Rocks the Queen of Country talks about her new album, genre busting career, and love of Rhinestones. By H. Allen Scott Photographed by Vijat Mohindra A funny thing happened last year when country music legend Dolly Parton was nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll hall of Fame. She said no.
While extremely flattered, she said in a Twitter statement, I don't feel that I have earned that right. Instead, Parton said the nomination had inspired her to start work on a rock and roll album of her own, something she'd long waited to do, a record she hoped, that would make her worthy of the honor in the future.
Wow. See? Badass like I was talking about.
other words, thanks but no thanks.
Rock hall respectfully rejected Parton's rejection, formally accepting her into its ranks a year ago. And the singer also kept her word. Rockstar, the Rock album Parton pledged to make drops on November 17, a 30 track extravaganza of nine original songs and 21 covers of classic rock tunes. Many perform with the original artists, including Paul McCartney, Ringo star, Elton John, Debbie Harry and Melissa Etheridge.
Wow. Looks really cool so far. Artists who sing along with Dolly include Stephen Tyler, Stevie Nix, Pink, Sting, Pat Benatar, Joan Jett, Brandy Carlisle and Lizzo. Whoa, okay, some variety there. Think this is some of my best work, Parton tells Newsweek in an exclusive interview ahead of the album's release later this month. Just want to be true to the songs and true to the art form. The album is certainly a departure from Parton's usual country fair, but departures from the norm are actually nothing new for the singer songwriter. Parton has made a career of crossing genres, breaking barriers and disrupting traditional ideas about what a country artist, particularly a female one, can be.
She pioneered the country pop crossover with hits like Nine to Five and Here you Come Again and has also ventured into bluegrass, Christian music, disco and now rock, with musical storytelling often focused on women and female empowerment. In addition to her music school career, she is an actor, a business mogul and philanthropist. And she does it all while insisting, despite industry pressure to change, on staying true to who she is and her personal vision of her career executed with steely determination encased in rhinestones, big hair, heels, humor and plenty of country charm. The process, Parn has paved the way for other country singers, especially women, from Rebecca McIntyre, Carrie Underwood to Taylor Swift and her goddaughter Miley Cyrus, really, joined Aunt Dolly for a moving performance of her signature hit Wrecking Ball on the new album. By the way, I don't know if you heard Miley Cyrus'version of Dolly's song called Jolene phenomenal. I first learned about that song when the White Stripes covered it. Jolene, go check it out if you haven't heard it. Amazing. And then I was listening to Miley Cyrus album the Other day and she covered Jolene to my surprise, and it sounds amazing.
Amazing. I love that song. I'm making hay while the sun shines because for some reason, unbeknownst to me, I'm still hot. We're all just trying to be Dolly, Underwood said in a country music television tribute to Dolly Parton in 2020. She is somebody who has set an incredible example for us and paved such a path for us.
If there was no Dolly, there would be no us but not falsely modest, her goal when she first moved to Nashville in 1964 at 18, tells Newsweek, was to be extraordinary. Help show how well she succeeded at her core, Parton is a songwriter. She's written more than 3000 songs, of which 26 have hit number one on the country charts. A record for a female artist, she sold 100 million records worldwide. This June, she was presented with three more Guinness World Records, making ten in all for the longest span of number one hits on the US Country Albums chart.
For a female singer, the most studio albums released by a female country music singer, 65, is a number. Crazy. The most top ten entries on the US Country Albums chart. For a female singer, 48?
Nuts. Also won numerous awards and accolades, including eleven Grammy Awards out of 51 nominations and twice been up for an Oscar.
I had no idea she acted, so that's news to me. It is her business dealing centered around her Dollywood theme park in her native East Tennessee and related ventures that have made Dolly Parton a wealthy woman. She's the richest female artist in country music, according to Forbes, with an estimated net worth last year of 440,000,000.
That, in turn, has facilitated her desire and ability to be a generous and prolific philanthropist through a Dollywood foundation. Among her many notable charitable works. With a $1 million donation, she was a major funder of the research that led to the creation of the Moderna COVID vaccine. What? This woman's incredible.
She's donated more than 205,000,000 books to promote children's literacy through her imagination library, and she's rained millions in 2016 for East Tennessee residents impacted by devastating wildfires. That's it. She's my new hero. This is just incredible.
is not without controversy. Her work in recent years, particularly on issues related to LGBTQ plus rights, has sometimes been used by the right as a symbol of yokeness. Yet unlike many performers with a large queer following who have been similarly tagged, Pardon still somehow manages to remain broadly popular with both sides.
Newsweek culture columnist H. Allen Scott, host of the parting shot podcast, asked Parton about this recent remarks by Rolling Stone co founder Jan Wehner,
woman in music, her long career, signature style, and other topics, including her new book, behind the Scenes, My Life in Rhinestones, from Ted Speed Press.
conversation, lightly edited for space and clarity, follows. Asks since the beginning of your career, you've been a disruptor of expectations about what it means to be a country music artist and a woman in the music industry. You're releasing your first rock album. Do you actively try to challenge people's expectation of you?
She says, I just do what my heart is telling me to do. At that time, I used to think that someday I might do a rock and roll album. I've done rock songs on different albums, and my husband's a big rock fan. Then the years went by, and I thought, I'm probably too old to do it now. Then when they put me in the Rock and Roll hall of Fame, I felt like that was my perfect chance. It's like everything fell right in my lap, and I'm not one to not make the most of any good thing that falls in my lap. This is hardly the first time you've gone out of your musical comfort zone.
You've done pop, bluegrass, even disco. I'm willing to try anything. She says. What's the worst that's going to happen if I can't do it? So what? At least I tried, man. Those are words, my friends, of true wisdom. Man, she's got to figure it out. You nervous to tackle some of these classic rock songs? I was a little apprehensive, mostly because I wanted to make sure I could do these songs justice. I wanted to be true to the songs and true to that art form. A formula to rock and roll, staying on the beat, and that means not doing what I'm used to,
is singing whenever and wherever I please and however I want to. But in rock, you've got to stay on the beat. And I thought, now this has to be good because my butt is on the line here. I said, if I'm going to do a rock and roll album.
You better do it good girl.
how do you think it turned out? Dolly responds, I think this is some of my best work, actually. I really challenged myself as a vocalist. When I was hearing myself in the headphones, I'd think, hey, I'm doing okay here. Some songs better than others. Some I thought, do I dare reach that note like on Stairway to Heaven?
Wow, she does stairway to heaven. Crazy.
I thought, if Led Zeppelin lead singer Robert Plant can do that, I can do that. So I just went for it. Man, I'd love to hear that. It was all done, I thought, hey, I'm real proud of this. And I had all of those great artists on the album with me. I had a lot of support. Anyone you wanted to sing with on the album turn you down? She says, no. A lot of people, I wanted to be on it. We couldn't work it out. As far as their timing and mine, were either on tour or they were doing an album of their own. But I was very honored and flattered by the response because I hate to ask anybody to do anything. It was an honor to have all those great people be willing to do it, even the ones that didn't get on.
It was an honor for them to say they would have. Alan from Newsweek says, so I'm a huge fan of Miley Cyrus. And obviously you are, too. Oni would have smacked her upside the head if she said no. I would have dragged her off her tour. Was definitely going to be on it no matter what. Of the most moving songs on the album is Wrecking Ball with Miley. She recently spoke about the backlash she got over that music video's explicit content the song came out in 2013, making this duet even more poignant. Why did the two of you choose that song for your rock album? I wanted to do wrecking ball because I love that song and I love Miley and I love how she did it.
I knew back then what she was going through. I mean, it could not be easy. Trying to overcome Hannah Montana, the wholesome teen turned pop star Cyrus played on the Disney sitcom of the same name. I was just trying to be Miley Cyrus. I saw that, I felt that. I knew that, and I love her. Miley is amazing in every way. She could do anything she wants. She's a great actress, great singer. She writes great. I think she's a hot rock chick for this day and time.
Yeah, I love Miley Cyrus. Especially her voice. She's definitely my favorite pop star for sure, these days. You see any parallels between you and Miley in your careers? I see it, she says. I feel it, and that's natural. I've known her her whole life. She's looked to me for certain things. I see a lot of similarities. I mean, I wish I had her legs. I wish I had a lot of things Miley's got, but she's got me, and that's enough for her.
I hope someday we get to do more things together. Whether it's a movie, an album, a TV show, I really think we're magical together. Who are some of the other women in rock who you admire and look to for inspiration on Rockstar?
I admire them all. We had pink and Brandy Carlyle on satisfaction, which I thought turned out great. Getting to sing with Stevie Nix was a thrill. And Joan Jett, I was kind of thinking of her when I wrote the song Rockstar, the title song, because I was thinking about a little girl rocker standing in her dressing room and her mom and her dad not wanting her to do it.
And I was thinking about a girl that would grow up to be a rock and roller. I love Cheryl Crowe and Emily Lou Harris, who sang with me on you're no good. I wanted to do a tribute to Linda Ronstad, and I chose that song because that was one of my favorite Linda songs.
And Linda's not able to sing anymore due to a rare brain disorder. And Pat Benadar, she was amazing. We had a lot of great, great girls. We had a lot of great guys. Jan Winter, who is one of the founders of the Rolling Stones, came under fire for some disparaging comments he made about women in music not being as smart or articulate as men.
You think women in rock are often unjustly criticized?
I heard that comment. I was surprised because I've known Jan for years and I thought, is that how you really think of us? I Don't think women have gotten their just due. That's been true through the years. Whether you're in country music or rock and roll, you're going to always get some of that bad attitude from men.
I've always been glad that I had a chance to do my thing, but I think it's great. Women are being allowed to do so much more than they used to and get played more on the radio. I think we're getting more of a chance now than we used to in all the fields of music.
But in rock, there were a few of them, and there's a few more coming along. Like Miley, looking back at your earlier career, are there any times when you face overt sexism or a double standard that stands out to you? I didn't have as much of that trouble as a lot of women did. Of course, I've seen my fair share of stuff and people hitting on me, but I never felt I had to sleep with anybody unless I wanted to, certainly not to get to the top. I only had songs not played on a radio back in my younger days, mostly because they were controversial, like a song I had called the Bargain store. I was just about a broken heart in my mind, like a broken life. It's like the bargain store is open. Come inside. People say, oh, that's too suggestive. And I thought, what? It never crossed my mind. And then I had a song called Down From Dover, which was about a pregnant girl that they wouldn't play because she was having a baby out of wedlock. I had another one called the Bridge, same thing. So they wouldn't play my record, not because I was a girl, but because I was writing songs back then that radio stations and parenthesis wouldn't play, even though the subject matter is common now. Whoa. Again, an example of badassery. What advice do you have for young female artists dealing with some of the sexiest behavior and comments they encounter? Dolly says, I don't have as much advice as I would just say going to hear remarks like that, but don't let that stop you. You've got the talent, you just keep on going. Be true to yourself. If you're that good and you believe in yourself that much, somebody else will see it and they will take you for the right reasons. That's a lesson for everybody here. I have to sacrifice and compromise to some degree to get anywhere in any business. But don't ever sacrifice your principles and your values and who you are. There was a statement I use over and over again. I guess it's Shakespeare. To thine own self be true. Whoever said that, they said a mouthful.
Dolly Parton, who knew? Actor, singer, songwriter and philosopher.
if you want to sleep with someone, fine. Just don't sleep with them for the wrong reasons.
that you're in your 70s, wow, 70s.
You coming up against any ageism? I don't think of myself in numbers of years, or every now and then I'll stop myself in my tracks and think, oh, my God, in ten years I'll be so and so years old. I better get after it. But you can't be crippled by that.
You're not going to stop the number numbers. If you're talented, your talent's going to last. If your mind is still good and your body holds up,
I'm kind of making hay while the sun shines because for some reason, unbeknownst to me, I'm still hot.
I love her attitude and self confidence. Eh, that's shining through this article. It's crazy. When I titled the album Rockstar, it was kind of a joke, tongue in cheek, like, yeah, that's me, the rock star at 77 years old. It made sense to me. I'm never going to stop. I'm never going to stop dreaming. As long as I'm healthy and I can get out there, no telling what I might do tomorrow.
You go, girl. You go, girl. Your new book, behind the scenes, my Life in Rhinestones, lays out how you created the image that has become your brand. How did you deal with people who tried to make you look more conservative?
I first came to Nashville, I had several people tell me that nobody was going to take me seriously as a songwriter and a singer because I looked too trashy. My style was cheap looking over the top, but that kind of fit my personality. I was not comfortable dressing down.
I felt too ordinary, and I didn't want to be ordinary. I wanted to be extraordinary. So I didn't listen to them. In fact, when they tell me to dress more conservatively, the hair would get bigger and the rhinestones shinier.
know they were just trying to help. It was good advice from people who cared about me, like Nashville musician Chet Atkins and record producer Fred Foster, who gave me my first contract after I moved to Nashville in 64. I thought that I could be pretty, but I'm not a natural beauty. When they tried to change me like that, I didn't like the way I looked or felt. With a flat hair and conservative clothes. I thought, I don't know her.
I lasted about a week. I couldn't do it. I just did not feel right about it. I been open about relying on some outside cosmetic help to always look like the Dolly we all know and love. You famously said, if I see something sagging, bagging or dragging, I'm going to have it nipped, tucked or sucked. Where do you find the confidence to be honest about not only aging, but also about how you maintain your body?
says. Those kinds of things are not embarrassing to me. I've done it.
do it again. I'm just open about it.
some of my best comedy. My life's pretty open. I have my inner secrets and inner space that nobody can touch. But I'm open as far as people need to know and what I'd like them to know about me.
don't think anybody can imagine you looking any way other than the Dolly we know. Do you always dress in character to go out in public? Well, of course. I don't stay dressed up like this at the house. I got my downtime. But if I'm going out, I'm going to clean up. I don't want to be like some stars who come on set with their hair and rollers and Claricel dots on their faces in flat shoes and robes. Lord, I would die before I would do that. I would be embarrassed. I understand that's their comfort zone. If I'm going to be out in public, I want to look like a star. I don't always stay all dressed up, but I usually put on a little makeup and fix my hair in case something happens in the middle of the night. When I was living in LA, I always tried to leave my makeup on and keep my hair done a little bit in case an earthquake came and I had to hit the streets.
I want to look like Dolly in case somebody sees me. I'd rather they say, did you see Dolly? She didn't have to wear all that makeup to go to the supermarket. Than God. Did you see Dolly? She looked like hell. It ever difficult to live up to the esteem people hold you in? I try not to think about it because when people put you on a pedestal, it's kind of scary. I'm no angel, but I've played one on TV. I just try to do my best. I don't want anybody worshipping me. I don't know where it comes from, but I think it's because I'm older than the Washington monument. People have grown up with me. They think of me almost like someone in the family, like I'm a favorite aunt.
I'm honored because I used to think when I was younger that if I ever made it big, I wondered how I would be remembered when I was old.
I'm old, and I can see how I've been remembered so far. I just hope I can keep it up, Newsweek says. I mean, people make pilgrimages to Dollywood. That should tell you how people worship you. I'm honored and flattered. God's been good to me. The fans have been good to me. I had a lot of wonderful help through the years, and I still do.
I'm the one who has to get out there and try to sell it to be the creative force. I been made to look good because a whole lot of people's great work. But I've tried to uphold my end of the bargain.
I got my first COVID vaccine, I said I wanted the Dolly Vax because of your $1 million donation to Vanderbilt that led to the creation of the Moderna vaccine. You said that you're addicted to the feeling of giving. How do you choose the causes you donate to?
Keep my heart and my ears wide open, to see what the greatest needs are. I think if you're in a position to help, you should.
I liked doing things with children and young people. I still invest in the research for infectious diseases in children. One of my little nieces had leukemia, and they saved her through God's will and the doctors at Vanderbilt. So now I have a Hannah Denison Butterfly garden over there, and every year, that's where I donate.
I'm going to always do something, but I don't really like to advertise what I'm doing unless it's something that is already public, like Moderna vaccine. But I'll always be trying to fill a need when I see it. There was a moment at the 2006 Oscars where you performed, traveling through a song.
You were nominated for the film Transamerica, a movie about a transgender woman connecting with her son for so many queer people, myself included. It meant so much to have Dolly paran up there singing that song. Recently, a duet you did with Miley Cyrus, Rainbow Land, was deemed too controversial to be played at a grade school concert.
Does it feel when your work is embroiled in something controversial and used as a symbol of something wrong or bad? Does it become personal? I try to see the good in everybody. I don't judge. I just accept people as they are. Like the lyrics to my song, be that, which is whatever you are, be that. Whatever you do, do that. Anything else is just an act. Whoever you are, whatever you are, be that man. I'm telling you, Dolly, a philosopher of our time,
I can't help being who we are. I don't know why people just can't accept people as they are. I try not to condemn or condone anything, and I will always just be there for people. And that's not just about gay or transgender people. It's about anybody. I've always had a gay following.
And they've always been very good and generous to me and my drag queens. When they asked me how I felt when they were having all the trouble there. In Tennessee, a state ban on public drag shows, enacted in March, was later declared unconstitutional by a federal judge, I said, Lord, just about everybody you just talked about being anti gay or trans are in my own family and my own circle of friends.
But I am not a judgmental person. I just want to be accepted myself.
always been an Odball, and if I can be accepted, I can accept anybody else.
Final question, it's a personal one for me. You've won every award under the sun except the Oscar. You've been nominated twice for Best Song. It makes me angry that you've never taken home the gold. Does it make you angry? Do you want an Oscar? Dolly says, of course. Everybody wants to win, but I never did work for the awards.
I just want to do good work. And if I get it, I'm tickled to death if I win an award. But when I don't, I'm not a sore loser. I think, well, it just wasn't my time. Newsweek says,
All I want is for you to get on stage, hold the Oscar, and make a joke about a little gold naked man, because I know you'd make a great joke about it. She says, when I get nominated, I will say, I'm so happy to have this little gold naked man.
There's the article. I hope you enjoyed that. Obviously, I certainly did. Who knew how Ollie was such a human lover? Wow. It makes me want to go back and dive into her catalog now. And I'm really looking forward to her rock and roll album now that, because I didn't know there was all these artists on it and that there are 21 covers, and one of them is stairway to heaven. That's the first song I got to listen to.
Hope you like this. Please like and subscribe. I really appreciate your loyalty. It means everything to me.
I'll see you on the next video. Thank you so much.