Bad Wolves have released their cover of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” in memory of the late country music icon, with proceeds from the track set to benefit Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
As previously reported, Parton had been planning to contribute vocals to Bad Wolves’ rendition of the song before her passing. According to Bad Wolves founder, drummer and songwriter John Boecklin, Parton had heard the finished recording and was interested in appearing on it.
“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,” Boecklin explained.
He continued: “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.”
Parton’s longtime manager, Danny Nozell, has now confirmed that she had heard and approved Bad Wolves’ rendition and was planning to collaborate with the band.
“Dolly was a champion of artists pushing musical boundaries,” Nozell said. “She listened to the Bad Wolves arrangement of ‘Jolene’ weeks ago, gave it her full blessing, and was incredibly excited to collaborate on it.”
Nozell also addressed recent online discussion surrounding the decision to release the cover following Parton’s passing, stating that releasing the track as a tribute while donating proceeds to her Imagination Library was “exactly what Dolly and her team wanted.”
The statement comes after guitarist AJ Rebollo announced his departure from Bad Wolves over the weekend, citing disagreements with decisions being made for the band by their label. Rebollo specifically pointed to the release of “Jolene” as the “final nail in the coffin,” claiming that members of the band had opposed moving forward with the song following Parton’s death over concerns that it could be perceived as capitalizing on her passing.
The new statement also includes comments from Don Burton, manager and husband of late Cranberries vocalist Dolores O’Riordan, who drew parallels between “Jolene” and Bad Wolves’ 2018 cover of “Zombie.” O’Riordan had been scheduled to contribute vocals to that recording before her death.
Burton recalled that Bad Wolves and Better Noise Music moved forward with “Zombie” with his family’s blessing and donated proceeds to O’Riordan’s children.
“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,” Burton said.
Boecklin added: “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.”
Listen to Bad Wolves’ cover of “Jolene” below.
