Bad Wolves have revealed that Dolly Parton was preparing to appear on their heavy metal version of “Jolene” before her death earlier this week. The band will now release the track on August 31st in her honour, with proceeds donated to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
According to Bad Wolves founder John Boecklin, the cover began after the band’s new vocalist KILLBOY, a longtime Parton fan, shared videos of herself covering “Jolene”. The band decided to record their own version for their next album before the idea developed into something much bigger.
Boecklin says their label CEO Dan Waite sent the finished demo to Parton’s manager, Danny Nozell, with an invitation for Parton to feature on the track. The band were subsequently told that Parton had heard and loved their version and was planning to record vocals, with Bad Wolves sending the necessary stems to her studio engineers.
Following Parton’s death at the age of 80 on August 25th, the band have decided to release the song without her planned contribution and use it to support one of the causes that became a major part of her legacy. Parton founded the Imagination Library in 1995, providing free books to young children regardless of family income. The programme has now distributed more than 300 million books worldwide.
“We will honor Dolly’s incredible legacy by donating proceeds from ‘Jolene’ to the Dolly Parton Imagination Library,” Boecklin said.
Bad Wolves’ version of “Jolene” will be released on Monday, August 31st.