Dolly Parton Reacts to 'America's Got Talent' Contestants' Golden Buzzer-Worthy 'Jolene' Performance

By Anna Rumer

Dolly Parton has given her stamp of approval to Chapel Hart's new take on her 1974 hit song "Jolene." After the trio of musicians from Mississippi went viral on a recent episode of America's Got Talent with their song, "You Can Have Him, Jolene," Parton made sure they knew she had seen their rendition – and loved it. 

While premiering their creative new spin on the classic on America's Got Talent, the ladies of Chapel Hart explained that "You Can Have Him, Jolene" was inspired by and a tribute to Parton. "We were so inspired by the song 'Jolene,' and we just love the storyline. And we figured, though, from 1973 to 2022, we could not still be fighting over the same man," singer Danica Hart told the judges. "So we decided to tell her, 'You can just have him, Jolene.'"

Parton took to Twitter Wednesday to weigh in, cheekily referencing her husband, Carl Dean, to whom she long has attributed the inspiration behind "Jolene." Parton tweeted in response to the Chapel Hart viral video, "What a fun new take on my song!" adding with a wink, "Carl's birthday is today so I think I'll hang on to him, and I'm not notifying Jolene that today is his birthday."

Parton wasn't the only one who loved "You Can Have Him, Jolene." Despite each of the America's Got Talent judges – Simon Cowell, Heidi Klum, Sofia Vergara and Howie Mandel – having already given out their Golden Buzzer throughout the audition rounds, they decided to give out an incredible honor to Chapel Hart by awarding them a collective Golden Buzzer.

"I mean, that was fantastic!" Simon Cowell told the trio after their performance. "I love you. And I loved the choreography going on around you. I mean, it was just brilliant." Clearly emotional at the positive response to their performance, Danica told the judges that it hadn't been an easy road trying to get a record deal in Nashville. 

"We've been trying to break into Nashville for the last couple years, but it's been kind of hard, when, I think, country music doesn't always look like us," she said. Cowell responded, "You know what you've gotta do sometimes? You've just got to break down that door. And you may have just broken down the door with that performance, trust me."

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