A representative of Dolly Parton’s has decided to clear the air on the controversy surrounding a heavy metal band’s release of “Jolene” following her death.
We all knew that Dolly Parton was struggling with some health issues, and that it was serious enough to keep her from making many public appearances that she had planned. But I don’t think any of us were ready for the immensely sad news of her passing that broke last week.
Her team provided a statement on August 25, saying the country legend passed peacefully in her home state of Tennessee at the age of 80 after a brief battle with cancer. Since then, the country music world and the world at large has tried to figure out how to move forward in a world without the “Queen of Country Music.”
A heavy metal band named Bad Wolves even had to scrambled to figure out what to do with their cover of “Jolene” that they had been working on. Bad Wolves originally decided to cover the song prior to Parton’s death, and their intention was to have the country star sing on the track.
Everything had been set up for Dolly to record her parts for the heavy metal cover of her song, but due to her declining health, she was never able to fulfill her portion.
Once she passed, Bad Wolves decided that they no longer wanted to release the cover. After all, it was incomplete, since Parton herself was supposed to sing on it. However, their label, Better Noise Music, asserted that the band should still move forward with the release, and that the cover would come out on August 31.
That was evidently the last straw for Bad Wolves guitarist AJ Rebollo. He took to Instagram to announce he would be stepping away from the band because of the issues that the group had run into with their label – most notably the decision to still release “Jolene” even though Bad Wolves no longer wished to. It was an understandable decision for the band member, who clearly was upset with other prior moves by the label before this one.
However, from the perspective of Dolly Parton’s team, they’ve taken the stance that the country icon would have wanted Bad Wolves to still move forward with the release of the song. Dolly Parton’s Manager, Danny Nozell, provided this statement saying that she had heard the arrangement and given the band her full blessing, and that she would have wanted the song to be released as a tribute:
“Dolly was a champion of artists pushing musical boundaries. She listened to the Bad Wolves arrangement of ‘Jolene’ weeks ago, gave it her full blessing, and was incredibly excited to collaborate on it. Releasing this track on Monday as a tribute – with proceeds directly supporting her beloved Imagination Library – is exactly what Dolly and her team wanted.”
There you have it.
And the song did still come out earlier today, and though it might not be for everyone, it had the approval of the “Queen of Country,” and that’s all that matters right? Plus, all of the proceeds of the song going to Dolly’s Imagination Library really makes it a win-win for all parties involved.
“Jolene” by Bad Wolves
