Bad Wolves have officially released their rock cover of Dolly Parton’s classic “Jolene,” a collaboration that was originally expected to feature Parton herself.
The band says Parton had already heard their version of the song, loved it and planned to record guest vocals. However, she died last week following a battle with cancer before she was able to enter the studio.
Proceeds from Bad Wolves’ version of “Jolene” will now benefit Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, the literacy program that provides free books to children.
Bad Wolves founding drummer John Boecklin explained how the planned collaboration came together:
“Our singer is a big fan of Dolly and had posted a bunch of videos of her covering ‘Jolene.’ So, we decided to make a rock cover version for our next album. On hearing our version, our label CEO Dan Waite sent the finished record to Dolly‘s manager, Danny Nozell, with a request for Dolly to guest feature on our version. We heard back that Danny had played the track to Dolly, and that Dolly loved our version, and that Dolly was going to go into the studio and add her vocals very soon. We then sent over the stems for Dolly‘s studio engineers to work with. Like everyone, we were devastated by last week’s news of Dolly‘s passing.”
Parton’s manager, Danny Nozell, said she had given the cover her blessing and was looking forward to collaborating with the band.
“Dolly was a champion of artists pushing musical boundaries. She listened to the Bad Wolves arrangement of ‘Jolene‘ weeks ago, gave it her full blessing, and was incredibly excited to collaborate on it. Releasing this track on Monday as a tribute—with proceeds directly supporting her beloved Imagination Library—is exactly what Dolly and her team wanted.”
There are some striking parallels between “Jolene” and the song that became Bad Wolves’ biggest hit.
In 2018, the band was preparing to record its cover of The Cranberries’ “Zombie” with Dolores O’Riordan. The Cranberries frontwoman died before she was able to record her vocals for the track.
Bad Wolves released the song in her honor and ultimately donated hundreds of thousands of dollars from its proceeds to O’Riordan’s family. The cover became a massive success for the band and was certified triple platinum in 2023.
Don Burton, O’Riordan’s former husband and manager, commented on the similarities between the two situations:
“When Dolores died, prior to recording with Bad Wolves on Zombie, Better Noise Music’s Allen Kovac and Dan Waite reached out say that with our blessing they would like to continue with their plans to release ‘Zombie,’ but wanted to donate the proceeds to Dolores‘ children.
As a parent, I was touched, and also very surprised when the label and band were true to their word and presented our kids (aged 12, 16, 20, 27 at the time) with hundreds of thousands of dollars. A very gracious gesture, which helped with their college costs, and we will always remember the band’s kindness in honouring their pledge and Dolores‘ memory.
The similarities here with Dolly Parton loving Bad Wolves version of Jolene, and sadly passing before recording, is tragic, but once again the Bad Wolves have agreed to donate their proceeds to the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, and based on the ‘Zombie‘ track record, this could provide a lot of books for young children around the world.”
Boecklin said the band hopes the release will help continue Parton’s work promoting childhood literacy:
“We will honor Dolly‘s incredible legacy by donating proceeds from ‘Jolene‘ to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. We know that we can contribute to Dolly‘s vision of giving access to books and improving literacy.”
The story surrounding “Jolene,” however, hasn’t been without controversy.
Bad Wolves guitarist AJ Rebollo announced Friday, August 28, that he was leaving the band, claiming the decision to release the cover was the “final nail in the coffin” after ongoing disagreements over decisions being made for the group.
According to Rebollo, members of Bad Wolves opposed releasing “Jolene” after Parton’s death because her planned collaboration was no longer possible. He said they were concerned the release could be viewed as an attempt to capitalize on her passing.
“I have been at odds with one too many decisions being made for the band for quite some time, but the final nail in the coffin was the label’s decision to move forward with the upcoming Dolly Parton cover, after we blatantly expressed our opposition. We, as an entity, told the label we had no interest in releasing the cover after learning of Dolly‘s unfortunate passing as her collaboration on the song was no longer a possibility, and we felt it would (understandably) be interpreted as somewhat of a capitalization on her passing from an outside perspective. They went ahead and posted that we were releasing it anyway, despite efforts from more than one member, myself included, to oppose it.
With the label completely disregarding numerous decisions we make out of passion, and ultimately just unknowingly exhausting the band’s attempts to fully enjoy being here, I am no longer happy here. The amount of hate, negativity. and harassment we receive on a daily basis due to decisions made outside of our control has taken a massive toll on our sanity.”
Despite that dispute, the cover has now officially arrived, with proceeds benefiting Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
