Dolly Parton Rocks Out On 'We Are The Champions' Cover

Dolly Parton has covered one of the most iconic rock songs of all time for her Rockstar album, and it’s Queen’s We Are The Champions.

Her cover remains remarkably faithful to the song we all know, just with a We Will Rock You coda at the end – the inverse of the original tracklist on Queen’s 1977 album, News Of The World. The music video will debut on The Today Show tomorrow – we’ll update this article when the clip drops.

With a powerful piano and guitar-based arrangement, Parton belts We Are The Champions with utmost sincerity and power, like she always has, poising her Rockstar tracks for arenas and stadiums across the globe. There’s just enough twang to assure listeners that while Parton spreads her wings into the rock genre, she remains the goddess of country music. You can listen below.

We Are The Champions is the fourth single from the Rockstar album, which will be released on Friday, 17 November, via the singer’s independent Butterfly Records.

The track follows the previously released World On Fire, which she performed for the first time at the 58th ACM Awards, Bygones starring Judas Priest vocalist Rob Halford and Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx and guitarist John 5, and a cover of Heart’s Magic Man, featuring guest vocalist Ann Wilson of Heart fame.

A few weeks ago, the 9 To 5 singer revealed that she never wants to retire and hopes to “drop dead on stage”.

Appearing on Greatest Hits Radio on 12 July, Parton said, “I would never retire! I would hopefully drop dead in the middle of a song on stage someday – and hopefully one I’ve written – but that’s how I hope to go. I don’t have much of a choice in that, but in the meantime, I’m going to make hay while the sun shines.”

She added, “I’m not touring anymore, but I will continue to do special shows here and there now and then, like a long weekend or festival shows. But as far as touring, I think those days are pretty much behind me... you have to stay gone so long on a tour to make it productive and prosperous, and that’s a lot of time at my age – I ain’t got no years to waste!”

You can listen to Parton’s chat here.

Rockstar arrives after Parton’s induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, an honour she didn’t feel she deserved at the time but is now rectifying with a stacked rock and roll album.

“I am very honored [sic] and privileged to have worked with some of the greatest iconic singers and musicians of all time, and to be able to sing all the iconic songs throughout the album was a joy beyond measure,” she wrote on her website. “I hope everybody enjoys the album as much as I’ve enjoyed putting it together!”

Check out the full tracklist here and pre-order the album here.