The passing of the iconic Dolly Parton shook the world mere days ago. In honor of the legendary star, heavy metal band Bad Wolves will release a cover of Parton fan favorite “Jolene” this upcoming Monday (August 31st). The song has reportedly been in the works for several weeks now, and Parton was set to record vocals for it.
“On hearing our version, our label CEO Dan Waite sent the finished demo to Dolly’s manager Danny Nozell with a request for Dolly to guest feature on our version,” John Boecklin, the band’s founder, said. “We heard back that Danny had played the track to Dolly, and that Dolly loved our version, and that Dolly was going to go into the studio and add her vocals very soon. We then sent over the stems for Dolly’s studio engineers to work with.”
However, after her tragic passing, the band had to readjust their plans. “Like everyone, we were devastated of this week’s news of Dolly’s passing,” Boecklin continued. “We will honor Dolly’s incredible legacy by donating proceeds from ‘Jolene’ to the Dolly Parton Imagination Library.”
The Dolly Parton Imagination Library was founded in 1995 and set out to inspire a love for reading and books in children across the world. The nonprofit has given over 300 million books to children since its inception.
“With ‘Jolene,’ being able to use our platform to help deliver critical funding to the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, we know that we can contribute to Dolly’s vision of giving access to books and improving literacy,” Boecklin said. “Our thoughts are with Dolly’s extended family, manager Danny Nozell, and all of the many thousands of people she touched in her extraordinary life who are grieving her passing.”
The forthcoming cover hasn’t been without controversy. The band’s guitarist AJ Rebollo announced his departure from the band yesterday (August 28th) after news broke about the “Jolene” cover. He cited frustration with a lack of input and their label making decisions for Bad Wolves as reasons he could no longer “in good faith remain a member.”
“The final nail in the coffin was the label’s decision to move forward with the upcoming Dolly Parton cover, after we blatantly expressed our opposition,” Rebollo said in a statement. “We, as an entity, told the label we had no interest in releasing the cover after learning of Dolly’s unfortunate passing, as her collaboration on the song was no longer a possibility, and we felt it would (understandably) be interpreted as somewhat of a capitalization on her passing from an outside perspective. They went ahead and posted that we were releasing it anyway, despite efforts from more than one member, myself included, to oppose it.”
He goes on to say that he believes the donation to the Imagination Library is an amazing choice; he “can’t help but feel there is ill intent behind the decision to release the song.” Rebollo thanks Boecklin and their label for helping him make a living, expresses his passion for music and ends his statement with: “I absolutely loved the time I got to spend with the band. I love them all (the old and new members) as bandmates, people, and friends. I loved creating this upcoming album with them as I think it is a genuinely incredible piece of art, but this is a decision I just have to make.”
At the time of publication, no other band members have commented on Rebollo’s decision, and the “Jolene” cover is still set to release on August 31st.
