Dolly Parton said she’s ready to make a “great rock album” if she is inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
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This year, Parton is among 17 nominees to be inducted, including Duran Duran, Devo, Kate Bush, Judas Priest, Rage Against the Machine, Pat Benatar, MC5, the New York Dolls, Carly Simon, Beck, Dionne Warwick, Lionel Richie, the Eurythmics, Eminem, Fela Kuti and A Tribe Called Quest. A final list of inductees will be revealed on May 22, along with more details of the induction ceremony this fall.
“I was absolutely floored when I heard that,” said Parton in a recent interview. “I’ve never thought of myself as being rock and roll in any sense of the word, but I guess they judge it on the music and the influence certain songs have had… I guess I’ve had songs with other people in that realm, but I don’t know how they judge that.”
Parton added, ”I’m not expecting that I’ll get in. But if I do, I’ll immediately, next year, have to put out a great rock and roll album, which I’ve wanted to do for years, like a Linda Ronstadt or Heart kind of thing. So this may have been just a God-wink for me to go ahead and do that. It’s just nice to be nominated.”
Throughout her career, Parton has covered more than a dozen rock songs, including Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven,” Neil Young’s “After the Gold Rush,” “House of the Rising Sun” by The Animals, Bon Jovi’s “Lay Your Hands on Me,” and “I Walk the Line” by Johnny Cash.
Parton is set to host the Academy of Country Music Awards on March 7 with Gabby Barrett and Jimmie Allen and released a title track single for her upcoming novel Run, Rose, Run, which she wrote with author James Patterson.
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