Dolly Parton Withdraws From Nomination for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Dolly Parton, the legendary country music singer, made a stunning announcement on social media on Monday (March 14). The musician, who was recently nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, has now declined the honour, claiming that she does not believe she has earned it.
She wrote on Twitter: “Dolly here! Even though I am extremely flattered and grateful to be nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, I don’t feel that I have earned that right. I really do not want votes to be split because of me, so I must respectfully bow out.
“I do hope that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame will understand and be willing to consider me again—if I’m ever worthy. This has, however, inspired me to put a hopefully great rock ‘n’ roll album at some point in the future, which I have always wanted to do!
“My husband is a total rock ‘n’ roll freak, and has always encouraged me to do one. I wish all of the nominees good luck and thank you again for all the compliment. Rock on!”
Parton claimed earlier this year that if she gets accepted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, she is ready to record a “great rock album.”
Duran Duran, Devo, Kate Bush, Judas Priest, Rage Against the Machine, Pat Benatar, MC5, the New York Dolls, Carly Simon, Beck, Dionne Warwick, Lionel Richie, the Eurythmics, Eminem, Fela Kuti, and A Tribe Called Quest are among the 17 nominees this year. On May 22, the final list of inductees will be announced, as well as more information about the induction ceremony in the fall.
“I was absolutely floored when I heard that,” said Parton in a recent interview. “I’ve never thought of myself as being rock and roll in any sense of the word, but I guess they judge it on the music and the influence certain songs have had… I guess I’ve had songs with other people in that realm, but I don’t know how they judge that.”
Parton added, “I’m not expecting that I’ll get in. But if I do, I’ll immediately, next year, have to put out a great rock and roll album, which I’ve wanted to do for years, like a Linda Ronstadt or Heart kind of thing. So, this may have been just a God-wink for me to go ahead and do that. It’s just nice to be nominated.”
Parton has covered more than a dozen rock songs during her career, including Led Zeppelin’s ‘Stairway to Heaven,’ Neil Young’s ‘After the Gold Rush,’ The Animals’ ‘House of the Rising Sun,’ Bon Jovi’s ‘Lay Your Hands on Me,’ and Johnny Cash’s ‘I Walk the Line.’
—Silviya.Y
