Dolly Parton has given her enthusiastic seal of approval to Beyoncé’s bold reinterpretation of her classic hit, “Jolene,” per people.com. On Beyoncé’s critically acclaimed 2024 album Cowboy Carter, the beloved country song undergoes a dramatic transformation, shifting from a heartfelt plea to a fierce warning.
Parton, a huge admirer of Beyoncé’s artistry, expressed her delight in an interview, calling Cowboy Carter a “really, really good album.” She praised Beyoncé’s courage in taking her 1973 hit and making it her own. Where Parton famously sang, “I’m beggin’ of you, please don’t take my man,” Beyoncé’s version powerfully declares, “I’m warning you, don’t come for my man.”
This isn’t Parton’s only contribution to Cowboy Carter. The legendary singer makes two cameos on the album, appearing as a fictional radio DJ on the track “Dolly P” and featuring at the beginning of Beyoncé’s song “Tyrant.” Parton shared her pride in Beyoncé’s interpretation, highlighting how different artistes bring their unique spin to songs.
Back in 2020 an independent.co.uk report detailed Parton’s reaction to hearing Whitney Houston’s version of “I Will Always Love You.”
Houston covered Parton’s hit in 1992.
The song was originally released in 1974 by Parton, who wrote it as a farewell to her former duet partner and mentor of seven years, Porter Wagoner, following Parton’s decision to leave his series The Porter Wagoner Show and pursue a solo career.
Speaking about when she first heard Houston’s version, Parton told The Graham Norton Show: “They asked me if they could use it and I forgot about it until I was driving home and I heard this voice come on the radio. It kind of rang a bell, but it didn’t hit because she was kind of talking it, and all of a sudden it went into the ‘I will always love you’ bit and I had to pull over to listen to it.
“It was one of the most overwhelming feelings I have ever had to hear it done so well, so beautifully, and so big. She took it and made it so much more than what it would ever have been. It was such a joy as a songwriter. I don’t think I will have a bigger thrill, ever.”
Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” has topped the charts twice, once upon its original release and then again when she re-recorded it for her 1982 movie The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. The ballad became popular again when Whitney Houston recorded a version for the film The Bodyguard in 1992.
According to grammy.com Dolly Parton estimates that she has written close to 3,000 songs throughout her illustrious seven-decade career. While 450 of those songs have been recorded, Parton hasn’t always been the artiste to sing them: Merle Haggard, Hank Williams Jr. and Kenny Rogers have famously recorded and released tracks written by the 10-time Grammy winner.
“I love to write songs for men,” Parton says in her 2020 book, Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics. “And it’s a good thing I do because back then, there weren’t that many women in the country-music business to write songs for. Especially ones who weren’t writing their own songs, like Loretta Lynn was. I didn’t have a lot of space to write songs for women so I purposefully tried to write songs that men could record. Or songs that could go either way.”
That’s not to say women haven’t been a part of Parton’s canon. She penned songs that have been recorded by Emmylou Harris and Skeeter Davis, and even gave Whitney Houston one of the biggest songs of her career.
Parton’s songs have taken on new life thanks to artists across countless genres.
•Featured image: Dolly Parton/Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images
