Following his epic rendition of ‘Jolene’, hip hop megastar Lil Nas X has received the highest of praises from Dolly Parton herself.

The ‘Montero’ hitmaker performed his take on the classic country track as part of the BBC Live Lounge on September 21, with fans raving over his soulful performance on social media.

Singing into an appropriately rhinestone-enshrined microphone, Lil Nas delivered his version of ‘Jolene’ in his deep baritone with aplomb and played it slow and sultry, looking straight at the camera.

It wasn’t long before the beloved country singer caught wind of the cover, with the star taking to Twitter to quote-tweeting Lil Nas X’s post about the song.

Dolly wrote: “I was so excited when someone told me that Lil Nas X had done my song #Jolene. I had to find it and listen to it immediately… and it’s really good.”

She added: “Of course, I love him anyway. I was surprised and I’m honoured and flattered. I hope he does good for both of us. Thank you Lil Nas X.”

The rapper then responded in a way that literally every one of us would, simply replying, “HOLY S***T”.

Dolly has previously spoken of her love for Lil Nas X, having told Elle in 2019 that she hoped to work with him on a project in the future after passing on ‘Old Town Road’.

“I had an opportunity to be part of that (song), but it had done so well with so many people,” she said back then. “I thought, ‘Well, I’ll wait and do something later on. No point in going down that same ‘Old Town Road’. We got other roads to travel.’”

Lil Nas X’s highly-anticipated Montero was released on September 17th and has been collecting strong reviews for its powerful queer representation and potent mixture of hip hop and pop.

For more on this topic, follow the Country Music Observer.

Check out ‘Jolene’ (cover) by Lil Nas X:

YouTube VideoPlay

Get unlimited access to the coverage that shapes our culture.
to Rolling Stone magazine
to Rolling Stone magazine