Dolly Parton is arguably the most beloved American woman alive. How many people are alive today because Dolly told them to get the Covid vaccine in early 2021? Of course, she's a country music fan, but her reach goes far beyond Nashville, from the disco pop of the blue-collar worker's masterpiece “9 to 5” to the soft-rock bliss of the Kenny Rogers duet classic “Islands in the Stream.” And the cross love has been reflected back. one of the most popular cover songs of all time is Whitney Houston's version of “I Will Always Love You,” and over the decades, everyone from the White Stripes to Marianne Faithfull to Japanese Breakfast has done one of her songs.
Parton's 49th album, Rock star, is her first foray into rock & roll. She got the idea to do a rock covers LP after being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022. To make it happen, Dolly and her longtime bandleader and producer Kent Wells assembled an amazing collection of all-star duet partners. This has got to be the most stacked guest list in the history of guest lists, a karaoke night where the party bus is packed with a decent chunk of the most famous people in music. Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Peter Frampton and Mick Fleetwood feature on “Let It Be”. Elton John with her for “Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me.” Miley Cryus' godson comes through for “Wrecking Ball.” Dolly releases an 11-minute version of “Free Bird” featuring members of Lynyrd Skynyrd, including the late Gary Rossington and even Ronnie Van Zant. (Ronnie died in 1977, but his widow allowed his voice to appear on the album.)
When she can't hook up the collaboration of her heart's desire, there's always another A-lister there to pick up the slack. Dolly wanted Jimmy Page and Robert Plant for “Stairway to Heaven,” but when that didn't work, she enlisted Lizzo to play a little hobbit-bop flute. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards had a scheduling conflict, so Pink and Brandi Carlyle pick up the tab to get through “(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction.”
As the titles above suggest, Parton only goes for the biggest, most sophisticated and most extravagant options. When you do “Every Breath You Take” with Sting and it seems a little too subtle and understated compared to everything else, you're not messing around. Dolly's warmth, wit and common touch bring down to earth almost everything she does endearingly, and at 77, she's able to hold her own and work well with any heavy hitter that comes through – whether she's feeling the pinch her heart with Steve Perry on Journey's “Open Arms” or looking for a summit with Chris Stapleton on Bob Seger's “Night Moves.”
The best moments are gestures of sisterhood, especially those with fellow travelers from the 1970s. Heart's Ann Wilson joins Dolly on “Magic Man,” a great song for Parton as she conjures up her own Coat of many colors gem “Traveling Man,” a similar tale of foreboding romantic hunger. Parton reminisces about her disco days, hitting the dance floor with Blondie's Debbie Harry for an enjoyable slide through 'Heart of Glass'. One of the most touching moments comes when Dolly, Emmylou Harris and Sheryl Crow honor their friend Linda Ronstadt, who has retired from music for health reasons, with a version of her classic 'You're No Good'.
There are also some original songs (including “I Dreamed About Elvis,” in which she sings about meeting the King of Rock & Roll, played by country veteran Ronnie McDowell, in a dream), but even when prompted by rockers like Judas Priest's Rob Halford or Stevie Nicks, the new material struggles for attention amid all the classic-rock fireworks. It might also have been nice if more songs from her own story had been culled, such as her version of 'My Blue Tears', here rendered as a pipe and drum ballad with Duran Duran's Simon Le Bon. How about 'Love Is Like a Butterfly' with Michael Stipe? Or “Here You Come Again” with Megan Moroney?
A new song that people are talking about (but not in a good way) is a tune called “Either Or,” featuring Kid Rock. It's an unfortunate choice, given the kid's recent antics with Trump. But hey, bad judgment is as much a part of rock as guitar solos, bad hair and power ballads. Plus, Dolly could do an entire album of Meat Loaf songs with Steve Bannon and we'd always love her. With Rock starhas put her own glam stamp on the rock and roll museum.
