When Dolly Parton first learned she was on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ballot in 2022, she didn’t quite get it. “Even though I am extremely flattered to be nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, I don’t feel that I have earned that right,” she told fans in an open letter. “I really do not want the votes split because of me, so I must respectfully bow out.”
It was a very rock & roll move, one even the Sex Pistols didn’t pull off when they infamously stayed home on their induction night in 2006 and called the museum “urine in wine.” Dolly, of course, would never have dreamed of being so disrespectful. She just felt like she’d been a country artist from the very beginning, and didn’t belong in the club.
“This has, however, inspired me to put out a hopefully great rock ‘n’ roll album at some point in the future, which I have always wanted to do!” she said. “My husband is a total rock ‘n’ roll freak, and has always encouraged me to do one.”
Those proved to be prophetic words, since she did release a rock album the following year. (She called it Rockstar.) But before work really began, she had a change of heart about the Hall of Fame. “It was always my belief that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame was for people in rock music,” she told NPR in April 2022. “I have found out lately it’s not necessarily that. But if they can’t go there to be recognized, where can they go? And so I felt like I was taking away from someone that maybe deserved it certainly more than me since I never considered myself a rock artist. But obviously, there’s more to it than that.”
Unsurprisingly, Parton got enough votes to enter the Hall of Fame that year, joining a class that also included Eminem, Judas Priest, Duran Duran, Eurythmics, Pat Benatar, Lionel Richie, and Carly Simon.
“I’m a rock star now!” she told the audience at the induction ceremony in Los Angeles. “This is a very special night for me. I’m sure a lot of you knew that back when they said they were gonna put me in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I didn’t feel like I had done enough to deserve that. And I didn’t understand at the time that it’s about more than that. But I’m just so honored and so proud to be here tonight.”
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She began the performance segment by debuting her new song “Rockin’ It” (“Y’all put me in the Hall of Fame, so I guess there ain’t no shame!/And I’ll be rockin’ it ’til the cows come home”), and then brought many of the night’s inductees and presenters onto the stage to join her for “Jolene.”
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It was an amazing sight to witness Dolly holding court in the center of the stage while Rob Halford, Simon Le Bon, Pink, Sheryl Crow, Pat Benatar, Brandi Carlile, Annie Lennox, and others all stood around her, waiting for their moment to grab a line. A beaming Halford even put his arm around her, and she and the Judas Priest frontman locked voices on the chorus, giving photographers an iconic photo to sum up the entire evening. (Sadly, Eminem remained backstage.)
The next year, Parton stuck to her word by releasing Rockstar. It featured a stunning lineup of guests — including Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Steve Perry, John Fogerty, Steven Tyler, Stevie Nicks, Peter Frampton, Joan Jett, Pink, Brandi Carlile, Elton John, and her good buddy Rob Halford — because nobody would have dreamed of saying no to Dolly.
