Could there be a duet on the horizon? Country music icon Dolly Parton, 75, signaled her appreciation for Lil Nas X, on Sept. 29, sharing how much she loved the rapper’s recent cover of her hit “Jolene.” The Tennessee native took to her Instagram page to gush about the performance and sent the “Industry Baby” singer some love.
“I was so excited when someone told me that Lil Nas X had done my song ‘Jolene,'” wrote Dolly in her post. “I had to find it and listen to it immediately…and it’s really, really good. Of course, I love him anyway. I was surprised and I’m honored and flattered. I hope he does good for both of us. Thank you @lilnasx[.]”
Chatting with SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live on Sept. 28, Lil Nas X talked about how he and his team decided on “Jolene” for their BBC Radio performance, though it wasn’t the song they were originally planning.
“We originally were going to do a Nirvana song and then like, we were kind of goofing around and you know, like doing ‘Jolene,’ it was like, wait a minute. What if we actually did ‘Jolene?'” Lil Nas X told host Andy Cohen. He went on, “And I feel like, you know, the context to it, like completely changes as you just said, I was like, ‘Oh, that’d be really cool.’ So I went for it. Hey, [I] have like my history with country. So I was like, ah, this is perfect.”
This also isn’t the first time Dolly has spoken about her country singer contemporary. Back in 2019, the “9 to 5” songstress told Elle magazine that she was considered to be a part of Lil Nas X’s smash hit “Old Town Road,” but ultimately decided against it. “I had an opportunity to be part of that [song], but it had done so well with so many people,” she said. “I thought, ‘Well, I’ll wait and do something later on. No point in going down that same Old Town Road. We got other roads to travel.'”