Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire Recorded a New Version of ‘Does He Love You’

A collaboration from Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire is on the way, with Parton confirming on Watch What Happens Live this week that the two stars have “just” recorded a new version of McEntire’s hit duet with Linda Davis, “Does He Love You.” “She did a remake,” Parton told Cohen, confirming that the song will appear on an upcoming project from McEntire.

“It turned out really good. I’ve always wanted to sing with her,” Parton added. “I don’t know why we never did it until now, but we really sounded good together. I think the fans are gonna like it.” “Does He Love You” was released in 1993 as the lead single from McEntire’s album Greatest Hits Volume Two. The song went to No. 1 on the country charts and won a Grammy for Best Country Vocal Collaboration and a CMA Award for Vocal Event of the Year. Written by Billy Stritch and Sandy Knox, “Does He Love You” is sung by two women who are in love with the same man. They both know he is being unfaithful to them and are trying to figure out which one of them he truly loves.

“But does he love you (Does he love you) / Like he loves me? (Like he loves me?) / Does he think of you (Does he think of you) / When he’s holding me?” they ask in the chorus. “And does he whisper (Does he whisper) / All his fantasies? / Does he love you (Does he love you) / Like he’s been lovin’ me?”

The song was first pitched to Barbara Mandrell and Liza Minnelli but ended up with McEntire, who immediately thought of Davis, a vocalist in her road band, for the second vocal part. McEntire’s manager and husband at the time, Narvel Blackstock, told her that her record label, MCA Records, would prefer her to choose someone “more established” like Wynonna Judd or Trisha Yearwood, both of whom were on the label at the time. McEntire reached out to Judd and sent her a demo but didn’t hear back, so she recorded the song with Davis.

“Linda was singing backup harmonies with me on the road,” McEntire recalled on an episode of I Miss…90s Country Radio with Nick Hoffman on Apple Music Country. “She was on tour with me and Linda’s a wonderful singer, one of my favorite singers on earth. And the record label wanted one of the label girls to sing the song with me. And I said, ‘Well, can Linda come in and just kind of like be a placeholder?’ And they said, ‘Yeah.’ And after she did it, [producer] Tony Brown said, ‘Oh my gosh, we got our duet right here.’ Kind of sneaky, wasn’t it?”