Dolly Parton enlisted an army of classic rock greats to appear on her latest album Rockstar. Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Ann Wilson, Sting, and many more lent their talents to the country icon. Recently, Parton revealed how she reached out to the rock legends.
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Last week, Parton appeared on NPR’s All Things Considered and spoke to Juana Summers about how she brought the rock legends into the fold.
[Review: Dolly Parton’s ‘Rockstar’ is a Trip Through Rock’s Greatest Songs]
“One day I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to have Paul McCartney on Let It Be?’ And, after Paul was on I thought ‘We’ve got to get Ringo Starr on this,’” she recalled. “So, I just sent them a love note through their managers. I just said what I was doin’ and I said, ‘I don’t want to put you on the spot, but I’d love to have you sing with me on my rock album. If you’re interested, call me at this number.’ All the people I reached out to said, ‘Yes, we’d love to,’” Parton continued.
She added that the responses she received made her feel “very honored and very proud and very humbled.”
Parton’s discography is full of reinvention and genre-bending records. Later in the interview, she revealed how she maintains that fluidity while also staying true to herself. “That’s why I am where I’m at and still where I’m at. I just am myself. I’m safe in being me because I know who that is. I know what I will and won’t do. I know what I can and can’t do.”
Rockstar contains 30 tracks. Most of those songs include at least one rock ‘n’ roll legend. However, “Let It Be” was the most star-studded song in the collection. Parton enlisted Peter Frampton and Mick Fleetwood as well as McCartney and Starr to play on the song.
After the album dropped last Friday (November 17), Parton took to social media to share her excitement for the project. “I really had a wonderful time working with all these iconic artists on the record and all these iconic musicians. Not to mention all these great iconic songs that I think everybody will love hearing again. I just hope you enjoy my version of them,” she wrote in an Instagram post.
(Featured Image by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for American Greetings)
