She’s got a heart as big as her… hair, but it’s Dolly Parton’s fans who’ll soon find their hearts bursting with emotion.
The iconic country superstar has a new song coming out – but that’s nothing out of the ordinary for the tireless legend.
Not only has she been working on a new rock’n’roll album, dubbed some of the best work of her career (which she’s sweetly dedicating to her long-time husband, Carl Dean), Dolly continues to deliver the goods with her charitable work.
At 77, you’d think the recently inducted Rock and Roll Hall of Famer might be wanting to slow down, but as seen in her attitude towards aging, that isn’t going to happen anytime soon.
So, it’s not just that the Jolene singer continues to churn out the goods that’ll have fans feeling their feels. This new song is extra special.
It reunites Dolly with her dearly departed friend, fellow country legend Kenny Rogers.
Dolly and Kenny famously teamed up for one of the most beloved duets of all time, Islands in the Stream.
A perennial karaoke hit, it helped cement the legacies of both stars and caused them to reach new levels of fame outside of the country scene.
Written by The Bee Gees and named after an Ernest Hemingway novel, Islands in the Stream almost never came to be – or, not for Dolly and Kenny. The song was originally written for Diana Ross in an R&B style but later reworked for the unforgettable duet, which was the first single from Kenny’s 1983 album, Eyes That See in the Dark.
Kenny and Dolly – who were already friends – continued to enjoy commercial success after their first duet. They went on to record a Christmas album together and had an additional hit with their 1985 duet, Real Love.
Kenny died in March 2020, and Dolly was one of the first to pay tribute.
Dolly says they loved each other “like brother and sister” and joked how she was the person who made Kenny’s hair and beard turn white. In a tearful video, she described her heart as being “broken” by Kenny’s death. So to hear the two voices once more will be a true treat for fans.
Wanda Rogers, Kenny’s widow, has curated a new album of Kenny’s unreleased songs on the themes of life and death, and love and faith.
The album, titled Life Is Like a Song, is due June 2 and will feature 10 tracks, eight of which have never been heard before.
One of the tracks is the duet with Dolly, titled Tell Me That You Love Me. While it isn’t an entirely new track, it has previously been considered a lost song.
It was released only as a special song on a Time-Life compilation, and subsequently vanished from print.
Other songs on what will no doubt be an emotional album include Kenny’s cover of the Temptations’ I Wish It Would Rain and a reading of Eric Clapton’s Wonderful Tonight.
