Dolly Parton’s ‘Jolene’: 10 Best Covers
Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” with its pleading-to-the-other-woman cries of “please don’t take my man,” has endured over the past half-century. Hundreds of artists have offered up their own renditions of the song— the most recent being musical powerhouse Beyoncé, who included a more steely-eyed, daring reimagination of the song, with revamped lyrics, on her new album Act II: Cowboy Carter.
Parton previously recounted how she came up with the song’s titular name, telling NPR, “One night, I was on stage, and there was this beautiful little girl — she was probably 8 years old at the time,” Parton said. “And she had this beautiful red hair, this beautiful skin, these beautiful green eyes, and she was looking up at me, holding, you know, for an autograph. I said, ‘Well, you’re the prettiest little thing I ever saw. So what is your name?’ And she said, ‘Jolene.’ And I said, ‘Jolene. Jolene. Jolene. Jolene.’ I said, ‘That is pretty. That sounds like a song. I’m going to write a song about that.’”
While the title came from a fan, the song’s lyrics came from Parton’s own heartbreak, spurred by a redheaded bank teller who had shown interest in Parton’s husband.
“She got this terrible crush on my husband,” Parton said. “And he just loved going to the bank because she paid him so much attention. It was kinda like a running joke between us — when I was saying, ‘Hell, you’re spending a lot of time at the bank. I don’t believe we’ve got that kind of money.’ So it’s really an innocent song all around, but sounds like a dreadful one.”
“Jolene,” which the prolific singer-songwriter Parton wrote solo, debuted on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart in 1973 and peaked atop the chart in February 1974. The song became one of Parton’s most iconic songs and “Jolene” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2014. Last month, the album Jolene, which contains Parton’s iconic song, reached its 50th anniversary.
From faithful country-tinged renderings, full-on rock anthems and complete re-envisionings of the song, we look at 10 of the top covers of Parton’s “Jolene.”
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Lil Nas X
In 2021, “Old Town Road” hitmaker Lil Nas X included a cover of the song during his performance on BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge.
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Chiquis and Becky G
These two Latin music stars teamed up to perform a cumbia-flavored, Spanish-language version of “Jolene” in 2020.
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Sherrié Austin
Country singer-songwriter Austin released a cover of “Jolene” in 2001, as part of her album Followin’ a Feeling. The song peaked at No. 55 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. Austin is known for her top 30 Country Songs hit “Never Been Kissed” and the 2003 top 20 hit “Streets of Heaven.”
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Olivia Newton-John
Olivia Newton-John recorded a version of “Jolene” which was included as the final single from her album Come on Over, in selected countries. The song was released in Australia in 1978 and peaked at No. 29. In 2022, the song was included on the reissue of Olivia Newton-John’s Greatest Hits; Newton-John recorded an in-studio duet with Parton, which was later released as part of Newton-John’s posthumous album Just the Two of Us: The Duets Collection.
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Kelly Clarkson
Superbly talented, genre-spanning vocalist Kelly Clarkson offered up a pitch-perfect, smokey-voiced performance of “Jolene” during a “Kellyoke” segment during The Kelly Clarkson Show in 2022. Clarkson’s rendering is largely faithful to the original, but Clarkson infuses it with moments airy falsetto and a piercing, aching final flutter of notes.
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Alison Krauss
Bluegrass icon Krauss performed “Jolene” in front of an audience that included Parton herself in 2006, when Parton was feted as a recipient during the Kennedy Center Honors, alongside fellow honorees which included Smokey Robinson and Andrew Lloyd Webber.
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Mindy Smith
In 2003, Smith released a version of “Jolene,” as part of the tribute album Just Because I’m a Woman: Songs of Dolly Parton. Smith’s version of the song was later included on her debut album One Moment More.
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Miley Cyrus
Miley Cyrus, Parton’s goddaughter, has performed Parton’s classic numerous times over the years, including a rock-tinged rendering in 2012, as part of her The Backyard Sessions performance, and in 2019 with a full-on punk-rock tilt as part of her show at the Glastonbury Festival.
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The White Stripes
The White Stripes have one of the most renowned covers of Parton’s “Jolene.” The group has released both the “Live Under Blackpool Lights” version, which was released as a live single in 2004, as well as a studio version of “Jolene” as the B-side to their 2000 single “Hello Operator.”
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Beyoncé
On her new album Act II: Cowboy Carter, Queen Bey doesn’t simply pay homage to Parton by doing a straightforward cover of “Jolene.” She invites Parton to intro the song with a spoken-word moment, then flips the pleading lyrics of the original “Jolene,” instead offering up a sinister, protective warning shot for any woman who would dare try to break up the family that she has poured decades into building. That vision of a unified family only strengthens throughout the song, as she is joined by a male choir near the end, who sing, “I’ma stand by her, she will stand by me, Jolene.”
