Reba McEntire Explains Why It Took Her and Dolly Parton So Long to Collaborate

Country star Reba McEntire is no stranger to powerful collaborations. McEntire has sung duets with many of country music’s biggest names including Kenny Chesney, Vince Gill, and Brooks & Dunn, along with crossover artist, Kelly Clarkson.

Now, McEntire tells Absolute Radio about her recent collaboration with the Queen of Country, Dolly Parton, when rerecording McEntire’s 1993 hit, “Does He Love You.”

Reba McEntire and Dolly Parton’s first duet

Despite being two of the most iconic and legendary women in country music and long-time friends, McEntire and Parton have only recently made music together. When asked why the collaboration took so long, McEntire seems flabbergasted by the idea as well. 

Noting that she and Parton were not able to record their new duet together because of the pandemic, McEntire reveals that they were finally able to collaborate in person during the filming of the music video. McEntire tells Absolute Radio: “That’s what she and I would talk about when we were shooting the video… We were sitting there just shaking our heads [saying], you know, ‘why has it taken so long?’”

McEntire then seems to resign herself to the simplest explanation saying, “timing is everything and everything happens for a reason. I am just thrilled she said ‘yes.’”

Now, the two talented country songstresses are finally heard together on their duet, “Does He Love You” for McEntire’s new boxed set, Revised, Remixed, Revisited. 

Reba McEntire and Linda Davis’ original ‘Does He Love You’

McEntire originally sang the song about two women in love with the same man with Linda Davis in 1993.

The song remained the No. 1 female duet on Billboard country music charts until it was dethroned this year by Elle King and Miranda Lambert’s “Drunk (and I Don’t Wanna Go Home). “Does He Love You” also earned McEntire and Davis the Grammy for Best Country Vocal Collaboration that year. 

‘Does He Love You’ gets a feminist reboot by Reba McEntire and Dolly Parton

Though the recent rendition of “Does He Love You” is reminiscent of the original recording, there seems to be a far different tone to the song now.

In McEntire’s own words, she has described the original version of “Does He Love You” to Billboard as “catfight city” but in the new rendition, there is a more mature tone. “The way that Dolly and I approached it,” McEntire says, “It’s like confrontation on Valium. It’s kind of like, ‘I know you. You know me. We’re adults.’”

McEntire continues, further explaining that, while the initial idea behind the song was competitive, the new version “… [is] like, ‘I don’t like him. Do you like him? You can have him.’ So, it was totally different. It was confrontation, but not hatred.”

“Does He Love You” featuring Dolly Parton is available on the “Revisited” album and a second remixed version is also heard on the “Remixed” album. 

McEntire’s boxed set features other McEntire hits like remixes of “Turn on the Radio” (remix by Tracy Young) and an Eric Kupper remix of “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia” along with a dazzling remix of McEntire’s “Fancy” by Dave Aude.

“Is There Life Out There,” “The Greatest Man I Never Knew,” “Whoever’s in New England,” and “What am I Gonna Do About You” are other hits heard on the albums making it a greatest-hits album done in a new, fancy way.