- Beyoncé reimagines Dolly Parton’s iconic song “Jolene” on her 2024 Cowboy Carter album, transforming it from a plea into a powerful warning
- Dolly Parton praises Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter, calling the album “really, really good” and expressing pride in the bold reinterpretation of her 1973 hit
- Parton appears twice on Cowboy Carter, including as a fictional radio DJ on the track “Dolly P” and in a cameo at the start of Beyoncé’s song “Tyrant”
Don’t come for her man!
Dolly Parton’s 1973 hit, “Jolene,” has had Parton fans singing along for decades, but in 2024, Beyoncé put a modern spin on it.
Beyoncé, 43, covered the song on her 2024 album Cowboy Carter, changing the tone and key lyrics of the song to serve as more of a warning instead of Parton’s plea.
For example, where Parton sings, “I’m beggin’ of you, please don’t take my man,” Beyonce declares, “I’m warning you, don’t come for my man.”
In an interview with PEOPLE tied to the release of her single-serve frozen meals with Conagra brands, Parton gushed about Beyoncé and her musical talent.
“I’m a huge fan of hers — I mean, who’s not? Everybody loves her,” Parton said. “I think she’s a magnificent artist, beautiful and the dancing in addition to the singing.”
Parton called Cowboy Carter a “really, really good album,” one that features two cameos from the Country Music Hall of Famer.
Parton is heard in the track “Dolly P,” in which she plays a fake radio DJ queuing up the next set of songs. The “9 to 5” singer also contributed to the song “Tyrant,” which is featured later on the record.
The 10th track on the album is Beyoncé’s fiery rendition of “Jolene,” which Parton loved.
“I was just honored that she, of course, did a completely different take on ‘Jolene’ than than my version of it,” Parton tells PEOPLE. “Hers was more like, ‘Well, you’re not getting him, you’re not taking him, you’re going to go through me to get him.’ Mine was more like, ‘Please don’t take him!’ So I loved her interpretation.”
She continued, “As a writer, you like to hear how different people interpret your songs, and how they put their own spin and do their own take on it. But I was very proud of it, and I hope her tour does great, and I’m sure it will. People seem to be loving it.”
Beyoncé is currently on the road for the Cowboy Carter Tour, which is set to conclude on July 26, in Paradise, Nev.
