Dolly Parton’s contribution to Beyoncé’s country album has finally been revealed — and it’s better than anything fans could have dreamed up.
Parton, 78, delivers a spoken-word intro to the song “Jolene,” which is more of a retelling of Parton’s 1973 hit than a straight cover. “Hey, Miss Honey B, it’s Dolly P. You know that hussy with the good hair you sang about?” Parton quips. “Reminding me of someone I knew back when, except she has flaming locks of auburn hair, bless her heart. Just a hair of a different color, but it hurts just the same.”
As the Beyhive knows, Parton’s line is a reference to “Sorry” from 2016’s Lemonade. On that track, Beyoncé sang about a cheating man and his mistress, closing with the line, “He only want me when I’m not there / He better call Becky with the good hair.” Fans have debated the real-life identity of Becky for years despite the fact that “Sorry” cowriter Diana Gordon says she is a fictional character created for the song.
“Jolene,” meanwhile, tells the story of a woman begging the titular character not to take her man. Parton has said that the lyrics were inspired by a red-haired bank clerk who flirted with her husband, Carl Thomas Dean, early in their marriage. Parton and Dean, 81, tied the knot in 1966.
Parton previously played coy about her involvement in Cowboy Carter, which dropped on Friday, March 29. Earlier this month, she said she thought Beyoncé had covered “Jolene” for the album, hinting that she’d cleared a sample for usage on the record.
“I think she’s recorded ‘Jolene’ and I think it’s probably gonna be on her country album, which I’m very excited about that,” Parton told Knox News. “I love her! She’s a beautiful girl and a great singer.”
The country superstar didn’t offer any hints about her intro at that point but said she and Beyoncé had previously been in touch. “We’ve kind of sent messages back and forth through the years,” she explained. “And she and her mother were, like, fans, and I was always touched that they were fans, and I always thought she was great.”
Parton also defended Beyoncé’s decision to release a country album. “A lot of people don’t realize Beyoncé is a country girl. She’s from Texas,” she continued. “I think we belong wherever we can do good, and her song is No. 1 across every chart in the whole world, I think. So, I mean, who can argue with that?”
In addition to Parton’s cameo, Cowboy Carter includes guest appearances from fellow Texan Willie Nelson and country music legend Linda Martell, both of whom also hopped on the album for spoken-word intros. Martell, 82, became the first Black woman to play the Grand Ole Opry in 1970.
Cowboy Carter is out now.
