A Fan’s Name Helped Inspire 1 of Dolly Parton’s Biggest Hits
Dolly Parton is one of the biggest music stars of all time, conquering the country and pop charts. She has a lot of hits in her song catalog, but one of her most popular songs is “Jolene,” a track that was partly inspired by a fan.
‘Jolene’ is one of Dolly Parton’s biggest hits
“Jolene” was released in 1973 as the lead single off Dolly Parton’s 1974 album of the same name. It became her second solo No. 1 single and was certified 2x Platinum in the United States. Rolling Stone ranked it at No. 63 on their 2021 list of the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time.”
Parton revealed the inspiration behind the story of the song, where a woman begs Jolene not to “take my man.” The country star told NPR that the song was partially inspired by her real life when she noticed a redheaded bank teller had a crush on her husband, Carl Dean.
“She got this terrible crush on my husband,” Parton explained. “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.”
A fan encounter led Dolly Parton to use the name ‘Jolene’ in a song
However, the name of the song’s main character came from a very different place. In an interview with Pitchfork, Parton shared that a chance meeting with a fan gave her the name “Jolene.”
“I did get that name from a little girl that I was signing autographs for,” Parton explained. “I had never heard that name before,” she continued, adding “I remember signing the name ‘Jolene,’ and I said, ‘That’s a beautiful name! I’m going to write a song about that.’”
Parton told the girl that, if she ever heard a song with the name “Jolene” in it from the country star, “You’ll know I wrote it about you!” She then shared how she came up with the now-famous melody by repeating the name over and over on her way back to her tour bus in an effort to remember it.
‘Jolene’ has been covered by many artists over the years, from Olivia Newton-John to Miley Cyrus
“Jolene” is now one of the most famous songs of all time, country or otherwise. It has been covered by dozens of other artists over the years. Pop star Olivia Newton-John recorded a version in 1976, and she and Parton teamed up to sing it together recently. Their duet will be featured on Newton-John’s upcoming posthumous album Just The Two Of Us: The Duets Collection.
The acapella group Pentatonix also recorded a version of “Jolene,” with Parton as a featured vocalist. Their cover of the song went on to win Best Country Duo/Group Performance at the 2016 Grammy Awards.
Perhaps one of the most-beloved covers of the song is Miley Cyrus’ many live performances of “Jolene” over the years. Cyrus is Parton’s goddaughter and has covered “Jolene” online, at concerts, and with Parton herself.
