Dolly Parton Reviews 'Cowboy Carter'

Queen of country (and rock) music, Dolly Parton, has reacted to one of the year's most popular yet controversial country album releases, Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter.

Sharing her take on the album in a recent interview with E! News, the 9 To 5 singer remarked, “I was very proud of her album. I thought she did a great job in country music, and I thought it was great.”

Acknowledging Beyoncé’s version of Jolene, which appears on the album, and the lyrical differences, Parton stated that she was “happy” Beyoncé covered her song, but she “would have loved” to hear it done “in its original way.”

She added, “But of course, you know, it's Beyoncé. Her life is different than mine.” Elsewhere in the interview, Parton said she found Beyoncé’s decision to cover and reinterpret Jolene to be “bold”.

“I think it was very bold of her,” Parton explained, “When they said she was gonna do Jolene, I expected it to be my regular one, but it wasn't. But I love what she did to it. And as a songwriter, you love the fact that people do your songs no matter how they do them.”

You can watch for more thoughts from Dolly Parton on Cowboy Carter below.

Cowboy Carter and Post Malone’s recent collaboration with Morgan Wallen, I Had Some Help, have kicked off a major country music resurgence in the UK, with the genre's popularity climbing by a whopping 67%.

Martin Talbot, the Chief Executive of Official Charts, said of the apparent new trend: “The explosion of country music in the UK this year is a reflection of the growing interest in guitar and story-telling music over recent years, spanning country, Americana, folk and roots.

“Beyoncé is undoubtedly this year’s queen of country (claiming Number 1 in the Official Singles and Albums Charts earlier this year with Texas Hold ‘Em and Cowboy Carter) – but she really does represent the tip of an iceberg, as the latest offerings involving Dasha, Shaboozey, Post Malone, Morgan Wallen, and many others indicate.”

In other Dolly Parton news, the country music icon recently announced her new album, Dolly Parton & Family: Smoky Mountain DNA—Family, Faith & Fables, which will be released on Friday, 15 November.

In addition to the album announcement, Parton revealed that an accompanying docuseries for the album is currently in production.