Dolly Parton has revealed the song she is “most proud” of – and it’s not “Jolene” or “9 to 5”.
The country music legend is preparing to release her latest album, Smoky Mountain DNA – Family, Faith and Fables, which celebrates her heritage and musical roots.
It includes collaborations with family members including her niece, Heidi Parton, her sister, Stella, and brother, Floyd, who died in 2018.
In a reader Q&A with The Guardian, Parton, 78, said she was proud of all of her songs, spanning a career of more than six decades, but named one that she felt was “most personal” to her: the 1971 single “Coat of Many Colors” from her album of the same name.
“Because it talks about my mom, my parents, and kind of gives you an insight,” she explained. “It also covers bullying, acceptance and all that.”
She continued: “Of course, the one that’s most recorded is ‘Jolene’. That seems to be the favourite – do you know that song has been recorded, somebody told me, 450 times in the last 52 years?
“I’m so proud of it. And ‘I Will Always Love You’ is one of the great love songs, so I’m very proud of that too.”
In the same interview, Parton responded to a longstanding rumour that she wrote “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You” on the same day: “I don’t know if I wrote them on the same day, but they were found on the same cassette, and so I wrote them during that period of time.”
Parton’s most recent album, Rockstar, was released in November last year and featured covers of a number of classic rock songs, for which she collaborated with fellow stars such as Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Mick Fleetwood, Pink, and her goddaughter Miley Cyrus.
“I wanted it to be good, because I wanted rock artists to hear it and say, ‘Well, you know, that ain’t bad!’” Parton told The Independent at the time.
“I thought it turned out really well. I’m proud of it!”
Earlier this year, Parton shared that she is planning to bring her life story to Broadway in an autobiographical musical titled Hello, I’m Dolly.
Sharing the news during an appearance at CMA Fest in Nashville, she said the stage adaptation’s score would include a mix of new original songs and “all your favourites”.
“You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll clap, you’ll stomp, it truly is a Grand Ol’ Opera. Pun intended,” she said, referring to her riff on the famous Nashville venue, the Grand Ol’ Opry.
Dolly Parton and Family: Smoky Mountain DNA – Family, Faith and Fables is released on 15 November.
