Dolly Parton Shares 'Bygones' Featuring Judas Priest's Rob Halford

Dolly Parton’s Rockstar doesn’t come out until Friday, 17 November, but overnight, she revealed the latest two singles: Bygones, starring guest vocalist Rob Halford (of Judas Priest fame) and performers Nikki Sixx (Mötley Crüe) and John 5, and a duet of Heart’s Magic Man alongside the rock goddess herself, Ann Wilson.

The Rockstar album arrives after Parton’s induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, an honour she didn’t feel like she deserved at the time.

"If I’m going to be in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, I better do something to earn it," she said on The View earlier this year. "So I’m doing a rock ‘n’ roll album, and I’m having a lot of the rock stars that I met that night be on the album with me."

Without the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, a Dolly Parton collaboration with Judas Priest’s Rob Halford was basically unimaginable. The song was co-written by Nashville producer Kent Wells. Here’s what Parton had to say about the collaboration, per Stereogum:

“Bygones is an original song of mine featuring Rob Halford from Judas Priest, with Nikki Sixx and John 5. It is one of my very favorites [sic] on the whole album. The song fits with so many couples, and coupling my voice with Rob, one of my all-time favorites [sic], made it even more special.”

You can check out Bygones and Magic Man (Carl Version) – the latter in tribute to Dolly’s husband of 57 years, Carl Thomas Dean – below.

Last month, Dolly Parton dropped the first single from Rockstar, World On Fire, which saw her get political for one of the few times in her career.

While a majority of the album’s whopping 30 tracks feature guest vocalists from a star-studded line-up (Steven Tyler, John Fogerty, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and Debbie Harry, to name a few), World On Fire only features Parton on vocals.

Observing a “world on fire” and the “liar” that’s brought us here, she sings, “Don’t get me started on politics / Now, how are we to live in a world like this? / Greedy politicians, present and past / They wouldn’t know the truth if it bit ‘em in the ass”. 

It’s a call-to-arms song, filled with attitude and an arrangement that recalls the '70s and '80s music icons who feature on Rock Star.

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