“Jolene” like you’ve never heard it before.
Of course, the song is one of the late, great Dolly Parton’s biggest hits, and today, we’re lucky enough to hear her voice on it one last time.
It’s hard to believe it’s been about a month and a half since the queen of country music passed away at 80 years old in Nashville, Tennessee following a “brief battle with cancer,” but there is no doubt she left a lasting legacy that will live on for generations.
Right after her death, one of Dolly’s nieces, Jada Star, who is the daughter of Dolly’s younger sister Freida, gave an interview to Extra TV about the passing of her aunt, saying it’s of course been a “difficult and surreal” time. But, their family has been very appreciative of all of the tributes, and she says it has helped them a lot through these hard times:
“It’s been really difficult and very surreal. I think we all share that feeling. It’s also been really bittersweet because of this beautiful opportunity we’ve had to see how much the whole world loves her. So all of these tributes have helped so much to help us all through it.”
Jada also explained that it was a “shock” that her aunt died, and she had intentionally kept all of her health issues private because she didn’t “want to worry anybody”:
“She would also tell us to start drying it up, and start trying to get back to work, and love each other real hard. She was just a trip. Pardon me, I’m sorry, I got a little choked up. You know, we kind of kept all that stuff real private. And so she never wanted to worry anybody, so I think it was just a shock on Tuesday.”
Even though they knew Dolly was sick, you’re never prepared for your family member to go, and I can only imagine how sad they have all been over losing someone so special to their family.
Jada said that if she could say one more thing to her aunt Dolly, she would thank her for everything she’s done for her and tell her how much she loved her:
“I think I would just say, thank you so much, and I love you so much, and I know you’re okay.”
They seemed to have a very close relationship, and today, Jada, along with her aunt Dolly and Welsh musician Bronwen Lewis, released a bilingual, reimagined version of “Jolene” that includes both Welsh and English lyrics.
Of course, the story beyond “Jolene” is well-known, because it’s about a real life woman who was getting a little to flirty with Dolly’s husband Carl Dean at the bank. Released in 1973, it was one of her first big hit singles, and served as the title track for her 13th studio album. She famously wrote it at the same time in 1972 that she wrote her other massive hit, “I Will Always Love You.”
Dolly has talked about how the song is based on a true story many times, and this new version was of course recorded before Parton’s death, and marks her second posthumous single that has been released. The song “Bound to Ride” was released with Dolly singing alongside the First Ladies of Bluegrass, which is part of the tribute album Where the Soul Never Dies: Celebrating 80 Years of The Stanley Brothers. Her final recording will be featured on U2’s 16th studio album Carnaval de Luz on a song called “Torn,” which will be released on November 13th.
For the new “Jolene,” Dolly recorded her parts at her studio in Nashville in early 2025, and Lewis is from Neath, and in 2024, she started posting videos of herself singing translated classics. Dolly’s niece saw it after it went viral, and the rest, as they say, is history.
According to BBC, Lewis says she never could have expected Dolly’s family to see it, much less that she would get to sing with Dolly on it:
“I never expected it would go viral and definitely didn’t expect it to attract the attention of Dolly’s family – especially her niece Jada.”
Jada had Lewis come to Nashville, and they recorded the song, and it was Jada’s idea to get Dolly involved. I mean, how cool is that? Dolly has family roots in Wales, and so it was certainly fitting for them to put this together, and it takes on an even deeper meaning knowing that she’s gone.
On the track, Parton recites that:
“Heartbreak sounds the same in every language.”
Amen to that… I don’t think there’s anything more universal than heartbreak. Long live Dolly Parton.
Check it out:
“Jolene”
