It seems few would deny Dolly Parton‘s a metaphorical rock star — but she could soon be one for real.
The Country Music Hall of Famer is now one of 17 nominees for potential induction this year into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. That puts Dolly in the same category as fellow contenders Lionel Richie, Dionne Warwick, Carly Simon, Pat Benatar, Eurythmics, and Duran Duran, among others.
Of course, the superstar from East Tennessee is certainly not without cred in the pop and rock world. She made it to #3 with “Here You Come Again” as far back as 1977, following that with lesser crossover hits like “Two Doors Down” and “Baby I’m Burnin’.” By 1980, she’d made it all the way to the top with “9 to 5.”
“Her songwriting transcends just maybe her home base, which is country,” the Rock & Roll Hall’s Jason Hanley points out. “And you’ve got Whitney Houston having one of the biggest selling songs ever with ‘I Will Always Love You."”
“You’ve got other bands recording ‘Jolene,"” he adds. “You know, she has hit singles with Kenny Rogers, ‘Islands in the Stream."”
Dolly returned to the top of the pop charts in 1983 with “Islands,” before Whitney’s cover smash in 1992. Rock duo The White Stripes covered “Jolene” in 2004, with Dolly most recently winning a Grammy for guesting on the Pentatonix version in 2017.
We’ll find out if Dolly makes it into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame when the final inductees are revealed later this year.
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