Dolly Parton Reacts to Beyoncé Changing ‘Jolene’ Lyrics

Dolly Parton has nothing but praise for Beyoncé’s “bold” new take on her beloved classic “Jolene.” The country superstar shared her feelings about the cover on Beyoncé’s new album, Cowboy Carter, which puts a whole new spin on Parton’s original lyrics. 

“Well, I think it was very bold of her,” the singer told E! News in a recent interview. “When they said she was gonna 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.”

“She wasn’t gonna go beg some other woman like I did,” the Grammy winner continued. “‘Don’t steal my man.’ ‘S-t, get out here, b-h. You ain’t stealin’ mine.’” 

Parton “was very proud” of Cowboy Carter, having previously shown her support for the country album on social media and offering up her vocals for the song “Tyrant” as well as the “Jolene” lead-in track “Dolly P.” “I was very proud of her album,” the 78-year-old shared. “I thought she did a great job in country music, and I thought it was great. And I was just happy she did ‘Jolene.’ I, of course, would have loved to have heard how she would have done it in its original way. But of course, you know, it’s Beyoncé. Yeah, her life is different than mine.”

The “9 to 5” singer continued of her working relationship with Queen Bey, “We communicated when the album came out, when I was doing some of the little things to put on the album. And we were sending each other flowers and little love notes and all that. So, yeah, it’s all good.”

Parton even said she would love to perform “Jolene” with Beyoncé at the 2025 Grammys if Cowboy Carter is nominated. “Why of course I would – if I’m available, if I’m not caught up in something I cannot get out of, yeah, that’d be wonderful,” she answered. “I mean, who wouldn’t wanna sing ‘Jolene’ with Beyoncé?”

When Cowboy Carter was released in March, Parton took to Instagram to share her take on the cover of her iconic 1973 song, writing simply, “Wow, I just heard Jolene. Beyoncé is giving that girl some trouble and she deserves it! Love, Dolly P.”