Dolly Parton Reveals Why You'll Never See Her As A Judge On 'American Idol' Or 'The Voice'

Dolly Parton seems like she’d be a perfect judge for American Idol or The Voice. Not only because both reality singing competitions have hosted Carrie Underwood and Reba McEntire as judges, but because Parton has kind, nurturing sensibilities about her.

However, that doesn’t mean she wants to be that person who has to let an aspiring singer down easy and crush their dreams. In a new interview with E! News, Parton was asked if she’d ever be a judge on American Idol or The Voice.

Revealing that she’s received offers “a lot of times,” Parton added: “It’s too hard for me. That’s why I don’t accept it, because I know how sincere everybody is. Even if they’re not that good, they believe they are. And I just can’t hurt people.”

You can watch the interview below.

While you won’t see Parton as a judge on Idol, she did serve as a mentor in the 2008 season of the long-running series, where singers, including winner David Cook, performed her songs. She’s also been a mentor on The Voice, appearing twice: in seasons nine and eleven.

Right now, Parton is preparing for the 2026 Broadway debut of Dolly: An Original Musical; she’s celebrating the 40th anniversary of her theme park, Dollywood, and her most recent album, Smoky Mountain DNA: Family, Faith And Fables, was released in late 2024.

Parton will write new songs for her forthcoming musical, Dolly: An Original Musical, which will showcase her expansive career in music by highlighting her biggest hits. In addition to new songs, Parton and Maria S. Schlatter have teamed up to write a book accompanying the musical.

Dolly Parton shared the big news while on stage at CMA Fest in Nashville last year. She also published a statement about the Broadway-bound musical on her website, in which she wrote: “Hello, I’m Dolly, and I lived my whole life to see this show on stage.

“I’ve written many original songs for the show and included all your favourites in it as well. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll clap, you’ll stomp; it truly is a Grand Ol’ Opera. Pun and fun intended. Don’t miss it!”

In 2023, Countrytown’s sister website, The Music, locked in a cover story interview with Dolly Parton about her all-star rock and roll album, Rockstar. You can read that here.