Dolly Parton's “Jolene,” with its pleas of “please don't take my husband,” has endured for the past half century. Hundreds of artists have offered their own renditions of the song – the most recent being musical powerhouse Beyoncé, who included a steelier, bolder rendition of the song, with reworked lyrics, on her new album. Act II: Cowboy Carter.
Parton previously recounted how she came up with the song's eponymous name, saying NPR, “One night, I was on stage and there was this beautiful little girl — she was probably 8 at the time,” Parton said. “And she had this beautiful red hair, this beautiful skin, these beautiful green eyes, and she was looking up at me, holding, you know, an autograph. I said, “Well, you're the prettiest little thing I've ever seen. So, what's your name?' And he said, “Jolin.” And I said, “Jolin. Jolene. Jolene. Jolin.' I said, “It's beautiful. This sounds like a song. I'll write a song about it.”
While the title came from a fan, the song's lyrics came from Parton's own frustration, fueled by a redheaded banker who had shown interest in Parton's husband.
“She has a terrible crush on my husband,” Parton said. “And he just loved going to the bank because he got so much attention. It was kind of like a running joke between us — when I'd say, “Damn, you spend a lot of time at the bank. I don't believe we have that kind of money.' So it's really an innocent song all around, but it sounds like a horrible thing.”
“Jolene,” which prolific singer-songwriter Parton wrote solo, debuted on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart in 1973 and topped the chart in February 1974. The song became one of his most iconic songs Parton and “Jolene” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2014. Last month, the album Jolenefeaturing Parton's iconic song, marked its 50th anniversary.
From faithful country-tinged takes, full-on rock anthems, and complete reimaginings of the song, we look at 10 of the top covers of Parton's “Jolene.”
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Lil Nas X
In 2021, “Old Town Road” hitmaker Lil Nas X included a cover of the song during his implementation on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge.
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Chiquis and Becky G
These two Latin music stars teamed up perform a cumbia-flavored Spanish-language version of “Jolene” in 2020.
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Sherrié Austin
Country singer-songwriter Austin released a cover of “Jolene” in 2001 as part of her album. Following a Feeling. The song peaked at No. 55 Advertising signHot Country Songs Chart. Austin is known for her Top 30 Country Songs hit “Never Been Kissed” and her 2003 Top 20 hit “Streets of Heaven.”
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Olivia Newton-John
Olivia Newton-John recorded a version of “Jolene” which was included as the final single from her album Come over, in selected countries. The song was released in Australia in 1978 and reached No. 29. In 2022, the song was included on Olivia Newton-John's reissue Greatest Hits; Newton-John recorded a studio duet with Parton, which was later released as part of Newton-John's posthumous album The Just the Two of Us: The Duets Collection.
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Kelly Clarkson
Extremely talented, genre-spanning singer Kelly Clarkson delivered a pitch-perfect, smoky voice implementation of “Jolene” during a “Kellyoke” segment during The Kelly Clarkson Show in 2022. Clarkson's rendition is largely faithful to the original, but Clarkson imbues it with moments of airy falsetto and a piercing, aching final flutter of notes.
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Alison Krauss
Bluegrass icon Krauss performed “Jolene” in front of an audience that included Parton herself in 2006, when Parton was honored as a recipient during the Kennedy Center Pricesalong with other honorees including Smokey Robinson and Andrew Lloyd Webber.
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Mindy Smith
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Miley Cyrus
Miley Cyrus, Parton's godmother, has performed the Parton classic several times over the years, including a rock performance in 2012 as part of her The Backyard Sessions. implementationand 2019 with a full-on punk-rock tilt as part of it projection at the Glastonbury festival.
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The White Stripes
The White Stripes have one of the best-known covers of Parton's “Jolene.” The band have released both the “Live Under Blackpool Lights” version, which was released as a live single in 2004, and a studio version of “Jolene” as the B-side to their 2000 single “Hello Operator”.
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Beyoncé
On her new album Act II: Cowboy Carter, Queen Bey isn't just paying homage to Parton by doing a simple cover of “Jolene.” She invites Parton to introduce the song with a spoken-word moment, then reverses the pleading lyrics of the original “Jolene,” instead offering a dire, protective warning to any woman who would dare try to break up the family she has. decades were poured into the building. This vision of a unified family is only reinforced throughout the song, as a male chorus approaches the end, singing, “I'm stand by her, she will stand by me Jolene.”
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/lists/dolly-parton-jolene-best-cover-songs/
