Dolly Parton has shared her verdict on Beyoncé’s version of her signature hit Jolene.
In the lead-up to Beyoncé’s new country album Cowboy Carter, Dolly had made no secret of the fact she hoped the Formation singer would one day cover Jolene, and heaped praise on the reimagined recording when it was released earlier this year.
Speaking to E! News during a recent interview, the country music icon admitted she initially thought Beyoncé’s Jolene would be a “regular” cover, so it came as a surprise when the singer reinvented the song with new lyrics.
“I think it was very bold of her,” she explained. “When they said she was going to 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.”
“But she wasn’t gonna go beg some other woman like I did!” she joked.
“I was very proud of her album, I thought she did a great job in country music, and I thought it was great. I was just happy she did Jolene. I, of course, would have loved to have heard how she’d have done it in its original way – but it’s Beyoncé! Her life is different than mine!”
Asked if she’d be up for performing Jolene with Beyoncé at next year’s Grammys, Dolly made it clear that she would, saying: “Who wouldn’t want to sing Jolene with Beyoncé??”
Beyoncé’s cover of Jolene is introduced by an audio message from its original singer, in which she says: “Hey Miss Honey Bee. It’s Dolly P. You know that hussy with the good hair you sing about? Reminded me of someone I knew back when. Except she has flaming locks of auburn hair, bless her heart. Just a hair of a different colour, but it hurts just the same.”
Dolly wrote on Instagram back in March: “Wow, I just heard Jolene. Beyoncé is giving that girl some trouble and she deserves it! Love, Dolly P.”