Beyonce’s ACT II album, a country venture, is almost upon us, and fans couldn’t be more excited about it. While we’ve only gotten two singles for the release and not a lot of build-up, it’s not like she needs much of a promo boost to absolutely dominate and take over pop culture for some time. Also, the Houston superstar has the added bonus of RENAISSANCE, in all its forms, that has led up to this moment. As such, a lot of folks are already theorizing as to what ACT IIand beyond will hold, including the one and only Dolly Parton. During a recent interview with Knox News, she hinted that there’s a rumor and a possibility that Queen Bey will tackle a classic on this new LP.
“Well, I think she has! I think she’s recorded ‘Jolene’ and I think it’s probably gonna be on her country album, which I’m very excited about that,” Dolly Parton remarked to the publication, adding some more love for Beyoncé in the process. “I love her! She’s a beautiful girl and a great singer.” As the “Freedom” creative continues to shatter commercial records and build success with seemingly everything she touches, it’s no surprise that she would also want to pay homage to an incredibly beloved cut.
Actually, this “Jolene” rumor is one that other folks like Joe Budden have spoke on before. Specifically, he did so while offering a sincere message to the 42-year-old. “I want to apologize to Beyonce,” he remarked on his podcast. “I like that song [“TEXAS HOLD ‘EM”], I like the other song too, but I like that song a lot.
“And let me tell you something, let me be totally phony and get on the total opposite of everything I said the first time,” he continued. “If the rumors are true, if Beyoncé is covering that Dolly Parton song, if that little rumor is true… ’Cause Dolly just tweeted yesterday and that tweet ain’t out of nowhere. If Beyonce does that? Oh, my God. Get Mason Ramsey to open up!” Meanwhile, for more news on Dolly Parton and the latest Beyonce updates, stay up to date on HNHH.
“I think she’s recorded ‘Jolene,’” Parton mused. “I think it’s probably gonna be on her country album, which I’m very excited about.” So, it sounds like Dolly might on the project in spirit, at least, but she was careful to measure her enthusiasm by saying she “hopes” it’s there, a savvy move from a longstanding recording industry veteran who knows that anything can happen.
In regard to Beyoncé herself, Dolly gushed, “I love her! She’s a beautiful girl and a great singer.” She said she always wanted Beyoncé to cover “Jolene,” and said, “We’ve kind of sent messages back and forth through the years. And she and her mother were like fans, and I was always touched that they were fans, and I always thought she was great.”
Beyoncé wouldn’t be the first contemporary artist to cover “Jolene” in recent years; Miley Cyrus famously delivered a spirited take on it back when she was first reinventing herself in 2012, and in 2021, Lil Nas X performed the song for BBC’s Live Lounge show on YouTube.
Dolly Parton and Jack Harlow became a tale of two halftime shows as each performed at one of the NFL’s Thanksgiving games. Harlow kicked off the day with a low-key four-song performance in front of a small igloo during the Packers’ blowout of the Lions. Meanwhile, Parton dressed like a Cowboys cheerleader and covered Queen as Dallas decimated the Commanders. However, as soon as Parton’s Super Bowl-esque show began, people turned to roasting Harlow.
Firstly, no one quite understood the whole igloo thing for Harlow. It would make more sense at the icy Lambeau Field. However, Harlow was performing at the indoor, climate-controlled Ford Field while it was 50 degrees outside in Detroit. Furthermore, there was little to no production value as Harlow performed in front of what one Twitter used called “a set borrowed from a local middle school production of Frozen“.
As mentioned, Parton put on a feast to rival any dinner table in America. Dressed in the iconic Cowboys cheerleader uniform, Dolly Did Dallas. She opened with two of her most-beloved classics – “Jolene” and “9 To 5”. However, she then stunned the crowd by pulling out amazing covers of Queen’s “We Are The Champions” and “We Will Rock You”. We would have loved to have seen Dolly hit “Don’t Stop Me Now” but she still killed both songs.
However, both acts performed at blowout Thanksgiving matchups. The Packers were up 23-6 when Harlow took the stage in Detroit. While Detroit had something of a come back in the second half, they couldn’t do enough to erase the deficit and lost 29-22. Meanwhile, things were even more lopsided in Dallas. The Cowboys dropped 45 points on the Commanders, improving to 8-3 on the season and staying undefeated at home. Elsewhere, Steve Aoki put on a well-received performance during halftime of the late-night game on the West Coast. CMC and the Niners made easy work of the Seahawks to further secure their hold on their division.
Yesterday (November 23) was Thanksgiving, and Thanksgiving means NFL football, and NFL football means halftime shows. The sports league booked a nice roster of performers for this year’s festivities, with Jack Harlow playing the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions game, Dolly Parton performing at the Washington Commanders and Dallas Cowboys match-up, and Steve Aoki taking the contest between the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks.
It was Parton and Harlow who drew the most attention, though, but for different reasons.
Dolly Parton performs during the halftime show of the Commanders-Cowboys Thanksgiving Day game in Dallas pic.twitter.com/HFkyBBNFby
Parton gave it her all, donning a Cowboys cheerleader uniform on a massive stage as she delivered rousing renditions of her own “Jolene” and “9 To 5” and Queen’s “We Are The Champions” and “We Will Rock You.”
Harlow, meanwhile, was decidedly more scaled back with his production, running through four songs on a small igloo set.
Harlow’s performance happened earlier in the day, so after Parton’s went down later on, the internet was full of comparisons between the two showings, pretty much exclusively in favor of Parton. One X (formerly Twitter) user commented, “Beloved American icon Dolly Parton showing the world how to do a halftime show only hours after Jack Harlow borrowed the set from a local middle school’s production of Frozen for his.”
Beloved American icon Dolly Parton showing the world how to do a halftime show only hours after Jack Harlow borrowed the set from a local middle school’s production of Frozen for his. pic.twitter.com/7MYd7VtU4I
It seems like just yesterday, music lovers were breaking a sweat outdoors at their favorite outdoor festival. Now, the Thanksgiving holiday has crept up on us.
As Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” and Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” fight it out on the music charts, families are preparing for a battle of their own. What television programming will hold everyone over until the turkey is served? This year, the National Football League (NFL) is looking to cover all bases as they do head-to-head with the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. So, who’s performing for the 2024 NFL Thanksgiving games halftime shows? Continue below to find out.
Jack Harlow — Packers vs. Lions
Jack Harlow will be there to break up the tension with some lighthearted entertainment as the Green Bay Packers take on the Detroit Lions at home. The game is set to start at 12:30 pm ET. Harlow will surely perform some of his more notable hits, but fans might be in luck as his latest single, “Lovin’ On Me,” just could make the setlist.
Dolly Parton — Commanders vs. Cowboys
The next big game slated to take place on Thanksgiving Day is the Washington Commanders versus the Dallas Cowboys. The Commanders hope to steal a win from the Cowboys on their home field. The match-up will kick off at 4:30 pm ET. For the halftime entertainer, none other than country-music-queen-turned-rocker Dolly Parton will perform a medley of her discography. She may have turned down the Super Bowl Halftime Show several times, but she couldn’t resist the Cowboys’ charm.
Steve Aoki — 49ers vs. Seahawks
The last face-off of the evening will be the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks. Kick-off for the showdown in the Seahawks’ backyard is scheduled for 8:20 pm ET. To pump up the jam, Steve Aoki is billed as the halftime performance. Aoki is a wiz with music technology, not such much on the AstroTurf (see his Red Sox and Houston Astros pitch). But, he’s looking to redeem himself in the eyes of sports fans with a few on-field plays of his own.
Jack Harlow is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
The Dollynamic Ascendancy: From Cabin to Country Royalty One can’t conjure the name Dolly Parton without evoking her kaleidoscopic persona—sensational vocals, crystalline songwriting, and an aura as welcoming as southern sunshine. She emerged from a one-room cabin in Tennessee’s Smoky Mountains, the fourth of 12 children in a family fueled more by dreams than dollars. The tale usually starts with a homemade guitar and a trip to the local radio station.
But let’s not forget the innate, fervent songwriting capabilities she showcased at the young age of ten—penned tunes for local radio shows were only a prelude. This background helped carve a path that led not just to Nashville but to international stardom. Dolly’s net worth in 2023? A staggering $805 million, according to CAknowledge.
Country’s Ingenue & Crossover Queen: Trailblazing Career Highlights
UNITED STATES – AUGUST 01: American singer Dolly Parton, August 1978.(Photo by Richard E. Aaron/Redferns)
Dolly Parton’s voice, as comforting as warm apple pie yet as powerful as a freight train, catapulted her into the limelight. “Jolene” remains an anthem, circling worldwide karaoke sessions like a vulture over unsuspecting prey. Then there’s “9 to 5,” the hymn for the white-collar grinders, cementing her place as a crossover artist who could charm even the most puritanical pop-music devotees.
Her collaboration with Kenny Rogers on “Islands in the Stream” showcased her range—melting the boundaries between country, pop, and R&B like a chef perfecting a soufflé. Each song seemed to outdo the last, garnering her eight Grammy Awards, 50 nominations, and two Academy Award nominations. A discography of over 3,000 songs and a staggering 41 Top 10 country albums! Like the musical magician she is, Parton transformed ink into gold.
Crown Jewels & Ventures: An Empire Beyond Music
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – APRIL 03: Honoree Dolly Parton accepts the Tex Ritter Award onstage during the 51st Academy of Country Music Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on April 3, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Parton further extends her reign into an entrepreneurial realm. She co-owns Dollywood, a Tennessee amusement park teeming with the essence of southern splendor. The adjacent Dollywood’s Splash Country and many Dolly-themed attractions contribute to a tourist magnet that draws more than 3 million visitors annually. As a philanthropist, she founded the Imagination Library in 1995, a book gifting program that has sent over 150 million books to children across the globe. She’s not just making bank; she’s making a difference.
The Personal Life Of Dolly Parton
NASHVILLE, TN – OCTOBER 13: Recording artist Dolly Parton is interviewed in Seacrest Studio at Monroe Carell Jr. Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital to share music & her own family’s story of hope with kids and their parents on October 13, 2017 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Jason Davis/Getty Images for Pandora)
The tangle of paradoxes that makes up Dolly Parton’s persona extends deeply into her private world. She’s been united in matrimony with Carl Thomas Dean since 1966—a man whose reclusivity is so legendary it’s become a distinctive footnote in Parton’s exuberant narrative. What is it like being the invisible half of a partnership with a woman who is anything but? One can only speculate, as Parton herself is famously tight-lipped about their relationship, nurturing it like a tender lyric that the public will never hear.
The Queen of Country is also an LGBTQ+ ally, a position that might seem paradoxical given her roots in a deeply religious, Southern culture. However, this is Dolly Parton, a woman whose entire existence is a brilliant paradox. Her theme park, Dollywood, has even become an unexpected but beloved space for the LGBTQ+ community, with its unofficial but celebrated “Gay Day.”
For years, there have been rumors that Dolly Parton was a secret producer on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series that became a massive genre hit in the late ’90s and early 2000s. Well, it’s no longer a mystery. While appearing on The Tonight Show, Buffy star Sarah Michelle Gellar confirmed to Jimmy Fallon that the iconic singer played a silent role in the show’s breakout success. Not only that, but Parton was a fan of the vampire-slaying series and its star, which Gellar was not prepared for at the time.
“Little known fact, the legend Dolly Parton was a producer,” Gellar revealed on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon. “And you know, we never saw her. We’d get Christmas gifts in the beginning that would have our name and I would think, ‘She doesn’t know who I am.’ And then one day somebody asked her about it and she complimented the show and my performance. And I was like ‘Oh, I can die now. Dolly Parton knows who I am and thinks I’m good.’ Her partner was Sandy Gallin and they produced Buffy.”
Of course, producing shows like Buffy is just the kind of benevolent person that Dolly Parton loves to be. Case in point: The iconic singer helped put up money to develop a coronavirus vaccine and was heralded as a saint when it turned out she backed the Moderna vaccine that, along with Pfizer, helped turn the tide of the pandemic. Is there anything Dolly can’t do? We’d probably believe it if someone said she could levitate.
Anybody who thought the vinyl resurgence was just a fad was mistaken: The industry has experienced a legitimate revival. As a result, music fans are interested in physical media in ways they may not have if the decades-old medium hasn’t made a comeback. That doesn’t mean everybody is listening to just their parents’ old music, though. That’s part of it, sure, thanks to rereleases that present classic albums in new ways. A vital part of the renewed vinyl wave, though, is new projects being released as records, of which there are plenty.
Whatever you might be into, each month brings a new slew of new vinyl releases that has something for everybody. Some stand out above the rest, naturally, so check out some of the best vinyl releases of January below.
Bob Dylan — Fragments – Time Out Of Mind Sessions (1996-1997): The Bootleg Series Vol. 17
Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings
Over the decades, Bob Dylan has been generous with pulling back the curtain on parts of his career via his Bootleg Series releases (as evidenced by the fact that this new one is Vol. 17). This effort focuses on Dylan’s 1997 album Time Out Of Mind, and aside from all the extras, the base album has been given a new remix that promises to sound “more like how the songs came across when the musicians originally played them in the room.”
On Gloria, Sam Smith reaches a new career peak thanks to “Unholy” hitting No. 1 on the singles chart. Now the full album is out and it’s a work worth enjoying in its entirety, especially when you can get it on striking gold-colored vinyl.
Last year, Uproxx’s Steven Hyden declared that Wilco’s new album Cruel Country is the band’s “best in more than a decade.” Now they’re finally giving it a physical release, which includes the lovely blue and red vinyl pressing seen above. They’re going on tour, too.
Diamonds & Dancefloors leaked months ago (much to the upset of Ava Max), but now it’s officially out. The vinyl edition comes with alternate cover artwork with a bold red vinyl pressing that brings out the art’s highlights.
In a recent interview with Uproxx, White Reaper’s Tony Esposito explained what the band learned while making their latest album, “That we just have to persevere. That was the main thing, because there were definitely lots of times when I was like, ‘What’s the point of even doing this?’ Like, as soon as we make a decision, we’re going to get some email that’s going to blow everything up and push it back another month. And that just happened time and time again. Like I said, it was dark times there for a minute, but I’m glad that we stuck it out and finished, because it feels great now.”
In 1997, just a few years removed from their 1994 breakout album Dookie, Green Day dropped Nimrod, the parent album of one of their most recognizable songs, “Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life).” That was a bit over 25 years ago now, so the band is celebrating with reissues, the vinyl version of which features demos and a full “Live At The Electric Factory 1997” performance.
This one is still a bit of a mystery. What we do know about whatever Parton and Vinyl Me, Please have planned here is what VMP says of it: “Get ready to immerse yourself in Vinyl Me, Parton – the first of its kind, limited edition monthly record club curated with and dedicated to Dolly Parton herself. There will only be a limited amount of spots available. Join the interest list today and be one of the first notified when pre-orders open in February.”
Black Nasty — Talking To The People (Vinyl Me, Please Reissue)
Vinyl Me, Please
There was so much superlative funk that dropped in the ’70s, and among those release is the underappreciated Talking To The People by Stax Records act Black Nasty. Vinyl Me, Please is giving the LP its flowers with a new pressing featuring audio remastered from the original master tapes.
Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s 2011 self-titled debut album was beloved, so following it had to be tough. Admirably, though, the band came through with 2013’s II, a strong sophomore effort that was also well-received. Now that it turns a decade old this year, Secretly Society has given it an exclusive reissue pressed on “strawberry shortcake splash” vinyl.
Cloud Nothings — Attack On Memory (10th Anniversary Edition)
Carpark Records
Attack On Memory was the album that put Cloud Nothings on a lot of now-fans’ radars, and it turned ten years old last year. Now it’s getting a fresh reissue with a particularly enticing goodie: two bonus flexi 7-inch records that feature two previously unreleased songs from the original album sessions: “You Will Turn” and “Jambalaya.”
Dionne Warwick and Dolly Parton, two of the most beloved and enduring musicians of their era, made the brilliant decision to record a gospel duet together, and fans just might get to hear it soon.
The song, “Peace Like A River,” came to fruition after Parton wrote the it and approached Warwick about wanting to work with her.
“She sent me a song that she wanted me to record, and I said, ‘OK, that sounds like a deal,’” Warwick said during an appearance on The Tamron Hall Show today (January 3). “She’s such a sweetheart, I know her. And then she sent me another song, the one that we’re going to be doing as a duet.”
“My heart is like, ‘This is how the year is supposed to be kicked off,’” Hall said, introducing the sweet news.
“I am very excited about this, I really am. I’ve done so many duets over the years, but this one’s gonna be very special,” Warwick added.
The collaboration feels very meant-to-be. Warwick’s late cousin, Whitney Houston, covered Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” — making it a massive hit again in 1992. Even though Warwick and Parton have been friends and are regarded as the internet’s most-loved grandmas, the duo hadn’t collaborated before… until this month.
Watch Warwick discuss her upcoming collaboration with Parton above.
After teasing the featured guest stars for her Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party NBC Special while appearing on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon earlier this month, the full lineup for Miley Cyrus’ second annual NYE bash has now been officially announced.
For starters, Cyrus has ditched Pete Davidson as a co-host, and instead, her godmother Dolly Parton will be co-hosting the bash alongside her. The star-studded lineup of musical acts has been confirmed to feature pop singers Sia and Fletcher, rappers Latto and Rae Sremmurd, as well as LA rock band Liily. It will be recorded live from Miami and broadcast on NBC.
Executive produced by Cyrus and Lorne Michaels, Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party will also feature appearances from Saturday Night Live cast members Chloe Fineman and Sarah Sherman, as well as the comedy trio known as Please Don’t Destroy of comedians Ben Marshall, John Higgins, and Martin Herlihy.
This official announcement comes after a series of mysterious “New Year, New Miley” posters popped up in Los Angeles and Copenhagen last week “The lineup is very me,” Cyrus told Fallon. “It is curated in a way that makes no sense but makes total sense.”
Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party will air live on Saturday, December 31 on NBC from 10:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. ET. The special will also stream live on Peacock.
