We’re 17 days away from Beyoncé’s country album dropping and everyone, including Dolly Parton, has some thoughts about what they’d like to hear on it. In an interview with the Knoxville News Sentinel on Monday, Parton said she thinks Renaissance Act II will include a cover of her classic “Jolene.”
“I think she’s recorded ‘Jolene’ and I think it’s probably gonna be on her country album, which I’m very excited about,” Parton said. “I love her! She’s a beautiful girl and a great singer.” She also told the Sentinel that she and Beyoncé have been in touch over the years.
This isn’t the first time Parton has shown excitement about Beyoncé possibly covering “Jolene.” In 2022, she told Trevor Noah that it would be a “marvelous day” in her life if Beyoncé sang the song. At the time, she said she wanted the song to be covered “in just a big way, kind of like how Whitney [Houston] did my ‘I Will Always Love You,’ just someone that can take my little songs and make them like powerhouses.”
In February, after Beyoncé became the first Black woman to have a No. 1 song on Billboard’s country chart with “Texas Hold ’Em” — one of the first two singles from the upcoming album — Parton congratulated her on Instagram, writing, “I’m a big fan of Beyoncé and very excited that she’s done a country album. So congratulations on your Billboard Hot Country number one single. Can’t wait to hear the full album!” Beyoncé announced Act II, the follow-up album to Renaissance, during the Super Bowl.
Parton also told the Knoxville News Sentinel that, “A lot of people don’t realize Beyoncé is a country girl. She’s from Texas. I think we belong wherever we can do good, and her song is No. 1 across every chart in the whole world, I think. So, I mean, who can argue with that?” The queen has spoken, and we agree.