LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥� Last year, was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 鈥� against her wishes.
Now, almost exactly a year later, she's releasing her first rock 鈥榥鈥� roll album, appropriately titled 鈥淩ockstar," on Friday.
In 2022, Parton announcing that she didn't feel she had 鈥渆arned鈥� the right to be nominated, but the Hall .
鈥淚 just didn鈥檛 think that I had done enough in the rock world to be considered, to be put in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame when there were so many great rock artists that are not even in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame,鈥� Parton told The Associated Press in a phone interview.
鈥淭hey were going to put me in anyway, so I just accepted it gracefully. But I thought, 鈥榃ell, I鈥檓 going to have to earn my keep,鈥欌�� she says. Parton once thought she'd record a 鈥淟inda Ronstadt-type rock album,鈥� but had felt she was getting too old. This presented a fresh opportunity.
鈥淚 jumped on that like a duck on a Junebug,鈥� she laughs.
She started covering some of her favorite rock 鈥榥鈥� roll classics. Some tracks feature the original artists: 鈥淓very Breath You Take鈥� with Sting, 鈥淏aby, I Love Your Way鈥� with Peter Frampton, 鈥淗eart of Glass鈥� with Debbie Harry, 鈥淗eartbreaker鈥� with Pat Benatar. Some are creative collaborations: "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" with Pink and Brandi Carlile, 鈥淣ight Moves鈥� with Chris Stapleton, "Stairway to Heaven" with Lizzo on flute.
She wanted Mick Jagger and Lionel Richie, but the timing didn't work. She did, however, manage to reunite the Beatles. Sort of. Long before the Parton asked Paul McCartney if he would sing on a cover of 鈥淟et It Be.鈥�
鈥淗e said, 鈥榊eah, I鈥檇 be happy to play on it, too, if you want me to,鈥� and I thought, 鈥極h my god, I鈥檝e died and gone to heaven,'" she says. Then Ringo Starr replaced the drums they'd recorded on the track.
Earlier this year, Starr told the AP he's 鈥� to which Parton reacts, 鈥淚'll join them if they want me to!鈥�
鈥淚'd definitely do some country singing for some of the rockers going country,鈥� she says.
鈥淩ockstar鈥� also features nine original songs. Some have been unearthed 鈥� the lovelorn My Blue Tears,鈥� for example, was written when Parton was with 鈥淭he Porter Wagoner Show" in the late 1960s and early '70s, and the cheeky 鈥淚 Dreamed About Elvis" was written over two decades ago. It features the '50s vocal quartet Jordanaires, recorded right before they broke up in 2013, and Ronnie McDowell, who plays the Elvis character in the song.
"I had him come in and do the Elvis voice on it, just to kind of sum up that whole story about Elvis," she says. She's referring to the now-infamous event in which said he wanted to record her hit, 鈥淚 Will Always Love You.鈥� She turned him down 鈥� because Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, wanted half of the song鈥檚 publishing rights.
Those sweet songs contrast with the album's lead single. 鈥淲orld on Fire" is theatrical arena rock to the highest degree 鈥� big drums and bigger power chords 鈥� sonically ascendent and thematically frustrated.
鈥淚鈥檓 very sensitive,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 care about people, human suffering and all of that.鈥�
鈥淲orld On Fire,鈥� she says, was written after she thought the album was completed. But after watching so many natural disasters last year, she says, 鈥淚 thought, 'Well, I鈥檝e got to write this song and I鈥檝e got to call another session, because I think the song needs to be heard. I need to say this. People need to hear it, people that are feeling that way but don鈥檛 know how to express it. And I just feel like sometimes it is my place to do that."
With lyrics like "Greedy politicians, present and past / They wouldn鈥檛 know the truth if it bit 鈥檈m in the ass," many assumed Parton was getting political 鈥� having spent the entirety of her career impartial.
鈥淚'm not political. I hate politics,鈥� she says. 鈥淭his is not about politics. This is about saving the world as opposed to destroying it."
For now, Parton says 鈥淩ockstar鈥� is her first and last rock album. She's currently adapting her life story into a Broadway musical and wants to explore other genres.
鈥淚'd like to do an R&B album,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd blues. I'd love to do a blues album. So, who knows? There's all kinds of things out there to do.鈥�
Maria Sherman, The Associated Press
