Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton pose together back-to-back.

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Miley Cyrus Reveals Confused Fans Think Dolly Parton’s ‘Jolene’ Is Her Song

Miley Cyrus has covered "Jolene" many times, and she says fans think the 1973 hit is her song, not Dolly Parton's.

by Grace Turney

Published on February 21, 2023

3 min read

Dolly Parton had a surprising inspiration for her hit song ‘Jolene’

Dolly Parton’s song “Jolene” was released in 1973 as the lead single and title track from her album of the same name. Parton sang about a woman with “flaming locks of auburn hair” and “eyes of emerald green” who could “easily” take her man.

But rather than an adult temptress, the song was inspired by an 8-year-old fan. “One night, I was on stage, and there was this beautiful little girl – she was probably eight years old at the time,” Parton told NPR in 2008. “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.’”

Parton’s goddaughter, Miley Cyrus, has honored the country singer by covering the hit song several times.

Dolly Parton’s goddaughter, Miley Cyrus, said fans confuse ‘Jolene’ as her song

Miley Cyrus’ 2020 Plastic Hearts album draws from a number of musical influences, such as sampling Stevie Nicks’ “Edge of Seventeen” in her song “Midnight Sky.” The digital and vinyl versions of the record include several cover songs, including Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” and The Cranberries’ “Zombie.”

Her 2022 album ATTENTION: MILEY LIVE features covers of Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind,” Madonna’s “Like a Prayer,” and Dolly Parton’s “Jolene.”

In December 2020, Cyrus opened up about how performing classics allowed her to introduce her fans to music they may never have heard otherwise. The former Disney star even said that fans had mistaken Parton’s song for her own.

“Most of my audience, they don’t know the music that we cover,” Cyrus said on The Howard Stern Show. “There was a minute where if you Googled ‘Jolene’ it would say that it was my song.”

Covering songs like “Jolene” and “Zombie” also helped the singer gain new fans who underestimated her vocal talents.

The ‘9 to 5’ singer wanted her goddaughter to make a special appearance in her TV show ‘Heartstrings’

Dolly Parton loved Miley Cyrus’ cover of “Jolene” so much that she wanted her goddaughter to play the role of Jolene in her Netflix show, Heartstrings. The anthology series explores the stories behind the country music star’s most beloved songs.

Although Julianne Hough ultimately landed the part, Parton told ET she’d hoped Cyrus could be involved in the project. “Years back when I used to think of Jolene, you know, before Julianne came on, I used to think… I’d love – Miley would have been great at that as well,” she said. “But Miley was doing other things. It wasn’t that kind of a thing, but she would have been great in that as well.”

But Parton was happy with Hough’s performance. “We wanted it to be someone that kind of was described in the song, with auburn hair, ivory skin, the emerald green eyes, which she had all of that,” she explained. “All she had to do was put on this beautiful red hair and she was the most beautiful Jolene you could ever, ever get.”

Parton added, “She’s such a great little actress. She’s just got such a great spirit and she’s a great singer.”