The reason Dolly Parton 'loves' Beyoncé's Jolene cover so much

2 June 2025, 17:13

The ‘9 to 5’ singer is delighted with the ‘Halo’ singer’s "different take" on one of her most popular songs.

Dolly Parton has opened up about her love for Beyoncé’s cover of ‘Jolene’.

Queen Bey covered the Queen of Country’s 1973 hit on her 2024 country album, Cowboy Carter.

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Responses to the 43-year-old's cover were mixed, as Beyoncé chose to change up the song into more of a warning than a plea to the fictional Jolene about taking the singer’s ‘man’.

But it’s clear the ‘TEXAS HOLD ‘EM’ singer’s new version of the hit song – complete with several lyric changes – was appreciated by Dolly herself.

Beyoncé - JOLENE (Official Lyric Video)

“I was just honoured that she, of course, did a completely different take on ‘Jolene’ than my version of it,” Dolly told People in a recent interview.

“Hers was more life, ‘Well, you’re not getting him, you’re not taking him, you’re going to go through me to get him,’” the 79-year-old acknowledged.

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“Mine was more like, ‘Please don’t take him!’ So I loved her interpretation. As a writer, you like to hear how different people interpret your songs, and how they put their own spin and do their own take on it.”

Dolly Parton - Jolene (Official Lyric Video)

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In her recent interview, Dolly also heaped praise on Beyoncé as an artist in general, saying: “I’m a huge fan of hers – I mean, who’s not?... I think she’s a magnificent artist” and called Cowboy Carter a “really, really good album”.

“I was very proud of [Beyoncé’s ‘JOLENE’], and I hope her tour does great, and I’m sure it will. People seem to be loving it,” the 'Coat of Many Colours' artist continued.

Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter Tour is about to hit the UK, before heading to France and then back to the US, where she has already played 13 shows this April through May.