Dolly Parton reacts to Beyoncé's 'Jolene' cover on 'Cowboy Carter'
Dolly Parton is giving Beyoncé's "Jolene" cover her seal of approval.
The country music legend took to Instagram on Friday, the day Beyoncé's "Cowboy Carter" album dropped, to weigh in on the singer's cover of her iconic 1973 song.
"Wow, I just heard Jolene," she shared in a statement. "Beyoncé is giving that girl some trouble and she deserves it! Love, Dolly P."
Parton -- who previously praised Beyoncé when her "Cowboy Carter" track "Texas Hold 'Em" debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart -- signed the statement as "Dolly P," a playful reference to the interlude on "Cowboy Carter" of the same name in which Parton introduces Beyoncé's "Jolene" cover.
"Hey, Miss Honeybee, it's Dolly P. You know that hussy with the good hair you sing about?" Parton says in the interlude, referencing Beyoncé's song "Sorry" off her 2016 album "Lemonade," in which she sings, "He only want me when I'm not there/ He better call Becky with the good hair."
"Reminded me of someone I knew back when," Parton continues. "Except she has flaming locks of auburn hair. Bless her heart. Just a hair of a different color, but it hurts just the same."
There are a lot of similarities between the two versions, but Beyoncé adds her own flare to her cover -- and it's evident from the very beginning.
Parton's version begins, "Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene/ I'm beggin' of you, please don't take my man/ Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene/ Please don't take him just because you can."
Beyoncé's version, meanwhile, begins, "Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene/ I'm warning you, don't come for my man/ Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene/ Don't take the chance because you think you can."
The tone is different as well. While Parton's version is pleading with Jolene not to take her man, Beyoncé's version reminds Jolene "you don't want no heat with me."
The rest of Beyoncé's "Jolene" cover continues this trend, taking Parton's iconic tune and fully reinventing and modernizing the song to fit her own story through to the very end.
Ahead of the release of her highly anticipated album, Beyoncé shared a post on Instagram that revealed the tracklist for "Cowboy Carter." Among the names and titles listed in the artwork was "Dolly P" and "Jolene."
Parton even teased her involvement on "Cowboy Carter," sharing an Instagram post in which she said, "Just call me Dolly P."
The new album also includes collaborations with Miley Cyrus, Post Malone and Beyoncé's daughter, Rumi Carter. She even covers The Beatles' "Blackbird" -- titled "Blackbiird" -- with four Black female country artists, including Brittney Spencer, Reyna Roberts, Tanner Adell and Tiera Kennedy. Willie Nelson is also featured on two interludes and Linda Martell appears on "Spaghettii."
"Cowboy Carter" is what Beyoncé described last week in an Instagram post as "act ii" and "a continuation of RENAISSANCE," her album released in July 2022.
The album has been over five years in the making and she said it was "born out of an experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomed."
The singer said that the experience fueled her to learn about the history of country music.
"It feels good to see how music can unite so many people around the world, while also amplifying the voices of some of the people who have dedicated so much of their lives educating on our musical history," she said.
"The criticisms I faced when I first entered this genre forced me to propel past the limitations that were put on me," she added. "act ii is a result of challenging myself, and taking my time to bend and blend genres together to create this body of work."
