Dolly Parton was among those musicians inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame over the weekend, joining the prestigious class which this year included Eminem, Duran Duran and Lionel Richie.
The ceremony took place on Saturday (November 5) at Los Angeles’ Microsoft Theatre, and saw Dolly Parton take to the stage for a rousing acceptance speech for her fellow inductees: “I’m a rock star now!” exclaimed the 9 to 5 singer upon receiving her induction. “I’m just so honoured and so proud to be here tonight.” Elsewhere in the speech, Parton referenced her initial rejection of Hall of Famer status, which earlier this year saw her release a statement saying she “didn’t feel that I had earned that right.”
She ultimately changed her mind about the induction, and mentioned as much in her acceptance speech: “I’m sure a lot of you knew that back when they said they were gonna put me in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I didn’t feel like I had done enough to deserve that. And I didn’t understand at the time that it’s about more than that.” Coasting off her Rock and Roll win, Parton later hinted that an album within the genre is in the works, telling reporters on the red carpet that “the time is right.”
DOLLY ROCKER: Country star @dollyparton is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and reveals she plans to release her first rock album. pic.twitter.com/r1kw7eXxfi
— AP Entertainment (@APEntertainment) November 6, 2022
“I’m doing a rock and roll album… I had always thought I might do one, but I hadn’t thought about doing it right now. But I thought, Well, why not right now, with all the hoopla and all the craziness that went on around this? So I’m gonna do it. I’m gonna do a lot of classic songs. I’ve written a few rock songs, and I’m gonna have a lot of the icons sing with me.”
While Parton remained tight-lipped about who the possible album collaborators might be, she no-doubt has a slew of icons to choose from, having performed her smash hit Jolene with Rob Halford of Judas Priest at the ceremony. Priest — who was a fellow inductee alongside Parton, Richie and Eminem — took to the awards stage for a head-banging dual rendition of the 1974 original. Priest also performed their own three-song set during the ceremony.
Parton’s induction comes days after her admission that she’d love to collaborate with, and reunite, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page of the rock band Led Zeppelin.
