Dolly Parton has causally teased some brand new music, saying that she’ll release a “great rock and roll album” if she’s inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Parton is among 17 nominees to be inducted this year, listed alongside Judas Priest, Rage Against the Machine, Eminem and Lionel Richie. Speaking of her nominations, the ‘Jolene’ singer told Billboard.
“I was absolutely floored when I heard that,” said Parton in the 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.”
It’s surprising that Parton is surprised about her nomination, considering she has a cupboard full of awards and trophies for her hit songs. The musician has won level Grammy’s and has a total of 51 Grammy Award nominations, she has the second most nominations of any female artist, after Beyonce.
Parton has taken out many, many other awards, including multiple American Music Awards and Country Music Association Awards. She has also had 25 songs reach no. 1 on the Billboard country music charts, and 110 career-charted singles over the past 40 years.
Elsewhere in the same interview, Parton revealed that she’s been asked to sing the national anthem at the Super Bowl multiple times, but has turned it down.
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“I’ve been offered it many times, but I’ve never accepted. I’d be scared to death to sing that. That is such a hard song to sing, and people are so critical if you really mess up bad. I’ve just always been afraid of it. You always want it to be great, especially something that serious. Maybe someday I’ll get the nerve to do it,” she said.
