This year’s Rock Hall was the scene of many performances that will be remembered for a long time. Among the shows, there was one surprising performer: Dolly Parton. The country icon, who declared she was ‘a rock star now’ on stage during the ceremony, sang ‘Jolene,’ Rob Halford was also there during the performance. Speaking to The Current, Halford praised Parton’s musical ability and compared her aura to Queen Elizabeth II.
“I knew that there was going to be an opportunity a few weeks before the event,” he said, implying he was not surprised to see Parton at Microsoft Theatre. “Again, it was just kind of floating around that she was going to do this song at the end of the show and bring all of her friends onstage with her. And I didn’t realize that we were going to be so connected. I sang one chorus with Dolly Parton, and the world’s gone nuts. And I can appreciate that now. I didn’t understand it at first. And now these days have gone by, and people are going, ‘Where’s the album with Dolly and the Metal God?'”
He continued, “I’ll tell you something about her: She’s been here forever, a bit like Her Majesty the Queen, who left us recently. What I mean by that is when Dolly walks into the room, you feel this regal presence. She’s just got this aura about her personality. She’s a genuinely beautiful light of love and caring and philanthropy and humanity. It’s all real, man. It’s all very real. There are some people who are very different on and off stage. Well, no, not with Dolly. That’s Dolly’s thing.”
For him, it was an opportunity to perform with Parton her hit song ‘Jolene,’ and the musician expressed his excitement, saying, “So, for me to have that opportunity, I was just blessed and honored and thrilled. I know her work because I’ve lived as long as Dolly, and I was aware of Dolly as a young person growing up and seeing her on British television. She’d come over and do these British variety shows. And here I am, this kid from a public housing estate in the West Midlands in England, and I’m standing next to Dolly f*cking Parton, who is now a rock chick.”
When Dolly Parton was invited to Rock Hall, her first reaction was to politely decline, as she felt that this induction did not meet the requirements. However, later on, the singer, who seemed to have enjoyed the idea, accepted the invitation and wrote a rock song to perform for the ceremony. Before the performance, she had changed clothes and returned to the stage in a typical rocker look: leather suits and metal chains. Finally, she exclaimed, ‘I’m a rock star now!’
This induction of Parton was controversial in the rock scene. Some said she was a total country artist and didn’t deserve that title. Some think Rock Hall has wholly lost its personality and turned into a music hall, so this induction was not surprising. It seems Rob Halford has no objections to either Parton’s musical talent or her personality. After their performance together at the ceremony, he even seems convinced she is a ‘rock chick.’
