Dolly Parton Reveals Her Honest Reaction After Hearing Beyonce’s Cover of ‘Jolene’ for the First Time

Dolly Parton has shared what she really thinks about Beyoncé’s cover of her hit 1973 single “Jolene.”

On Wednesday, July 9, the country superstar, 79, was a guest on Khloé Kardashian’s Khloé in Wonderland podcast when Kardashian, 41, pointed out how Bey, 43, “flipped the messaging” of the song, to which the 9 to 5 actress agreed.

“Well, she did. In fact, I heard she was doing ‘Jolene.’ I was so excited. And then, when I heard it, I thought, ‘What?’ It was completely different,” Parton admitted. “I don’t know that it’s the difference in the times as much as it’s the difference in the person.”

Beyoncé’s cover of “Jolene” was part of her 2024 Grammy-winning album Cowboy Carter. She switched up many lyrics, singing, “I’m warning you, don’t come for my man,” instead of Parton’s original lyric, “Please don’t take my man.”

Parton explained her version was based on a “true story.”

“To me, it was about just being vulnerable… you take him, but you don’t know how much I love him, right?” the music legend said on the podcast. “So with her, she flipped it around, thinking,’you think you can take my man.’ But she’s that cool.”

Regardless of the different messaging, Parton has completely embraced the former Destiny’s Child member’s take on the tune.

“I loved it because, as a songwriter, you love to hear how other people interpret your songs,” Parton explained. “And the fact that she did it, I knew it was going to make a lot of money.”

The track right before “Jolene” on Cowboy Carter is titled “Dolly P” and consists of Parton relaying a message to Beyoncé.

“Hey, miss Honey Bey. It’s Dolly P. You know that hussy with the good hair you sang about?” Parton says, referring to a person dubbed ‘Becky with the good hair’ in Beyonce’s 2016 song “Sorry.”

“Reminded me of someone I knew back when. Except she has flaming locks of auburn hair,” Parton continued. “Bless her heart. Just a hair of a different color, but it hurts just the same.”

In March 2020, Parton spoke to 60 Minutes Australia about the inspiration behind “Jolene,” and how it related to her husband, Carl Dean, who has since passed away.

“There was a girl that worked at the bank when my husband and I first got married, and she got a big crush on him, and I think he kind of had a crush on her,” she confessed. “I know he spent more time at the bank than we had money, so I called him on it, and so I just kind of took that little bit of that other woman kind of thing.”

Parton and Dean were together for nearly 60 years before he passed away at age 82 in March.