Dolly Parton changes her tune on her Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame nomination
The country singer now says she'll "say thanks and accept it" if inducted
Aux News Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton has now said that she will “accept gracefully” if she is inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame this year.
Parton had previously wished to decline her nomination, stating that she felt she “hadn’t earned that right, suggesting that she has yet to release a great rock ‘n’ roll record. The Hall opted to not remove her from the ballot, and now, Parton has come around.
In an interview with NPR’s Morning Edition to promote her new novel Run, Rose, Run—that she co-wrote with airport bookstore favorite James Patterson—and the companion album of the same name, the singer, songwriter, philanthropist (and so much more) explains her change of heart.
“It was always my belief that the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame was for people in rock music” Parton says. “I have found out lately it’s not necessarily that. But if they can’t go there to be recognized, where can they go? And so I felt like I was taking away from someone that maybe deserved it certainly more than me since I never considered myself a rock artist. But obviously, there’s more to it than that.”
The Cleveland institution has always left the definition of “rock music” open to interpretation, inducting soul singers, country twangers, and rappers—much to the chagrin of some purists (rap scares parents and teenagers love it; sounds like rock ‘n’ roll to this writer).
The roots of rock music are in the country artists and blues artists that influenced Chuck Berry and Little Richard, and with her influence on popular culture, Dolly Parton deserves to sit alongside those giants. Once you begin to debate purity, you’ve already lost, and if it’s got a good beat and you can dance to it, well that’s rock ‘n’ roll.
Voting just ended today so only time will tell if she makes it in this year. Parton is being considered alongside Eminem, Rage Against the Machine, Lionel Richie, Duran Duran, Carly Simon, A Tribe Called Quest, Kate Bush, Devo, Beck, Judas Priest, Eurythmics, Pat Benatar, Fela Kuti, MC5, New York Dolls, and Dionne Warwick.
19 Comments
You do you, girl
After all that they better let her in!
Honestly, it’s time to change the name of the Music Hall of Fame, drop “Rock and Roll” all together since it’s the dumbest name to define a vague form of popular music that’s spawned multiple successors.
I’m with you. They probably feel too dug in on the branding though. And the fact that every round of nominations/inductions carries a debate over “Who is or isn’t rock n’ roll” certainly appeals to the all press being good press mindset.
That’s not very Rock and Roll. 😉
Besides, call it the Music Hall of Fame and you’ll need a special ceremony to induct all those composers from the dawn of written music onwards.
You can definitely define it within the mission statement to define it as post-19th century music. It’s a great way to get around antiquities and non-American centric artists. I love the Pillows and they certainly would count as Rock and/or Roll but they’re never making it even if they’re wildly popular in Japan.
No, “post-19th century music” doesn’t work. There are already artists inducted that were born in the 19th century, and there’s plenty of non-American centric artists inducted too. They’d have to start inducting artists like Debussy, Gershwin, Rachmaninoff, Schoenberg, etc.
If you need to read a mission statement to know how they define “music” then might as well leave it as Rock and Roll and define that. Hardly anyone’s been getting famous for playing rock and roll as a genre since the mid-60s anyway, so it’s reasonably understood they don’t mean the genre rock and roll (or even just rock) specifically.
Of course she’ll accept gracefully, everything Dolly does is gracious as hell.
It’s part of being an actual, genuine angel. Grace comes with the territory.
Setting aside Fela Kuti, whom I know by name only and have no opinion of, who from that roster should NOT be inducted? Beck? Maybe it’s still to early for Eminem? That’s an incredible lineup.
Maybe Dionne Warwick, who’s a bit too on the easy-listening side of R&B? That said, it’s actually a tougher lineup than usual for the RRHOF shortlist.
Yeah pretty tough to get that list down to five. Mine were Eurythmics, Duran Duran, Pat Benatar, Devo, and Eminem
I’d go Judas Priest before Pat Benatar, they were one of the bands that brought metal into the mainstream. I thought of her more as straight pop.
I see Pat Benatar as more of a groundbreaker, but I won’t pretend to be objective since of everyone on the list I am probably the biggest fan of her
Hearing her stuff occasionally on XM she definitely rocked more than I remember at the time. Of course I was a young cock rock kid who thought MTV chicks were lame, so what did I know. At this point I’d probably go with her ahead of Eminem. Like I originally said, he’s still got time. Same with RATM. Beck, I don’t really see being HOF material. Interesting stuff, I like much of it, but not head of class.
Eminem was my last one in, not that I don’t respect his work, but I am a little questioning if it is his time yet
I was ready to leave off Lionel Richie because I’d assumed he was already inducted as a Commodore, but not so. New York Dolls can probably wait for a less crowded year, as can Kate Bush and Eminem. Gun to my head, I guess my five have to be Judas Priest, A Tribe Called Quest, Devo, Pat Benatar, and MC5 — though I freely acknowledge that several others are probably more influential on the musical landscape overall.
I heard that interview and did not interpret it as her changing her tune. When she said she would accept gracefully she also said that it was because the fans voted for it. So I read it that when she was nominated by a small committee she had the right to express her opinion and refuse, but if she was picked by a group of fans, their collective opinion mattered more than hers so she is obligated to accept. If she doesn’t get inducted and gets nominated again, it does not seem unreasonable that she would try to refuse it again. I do not see that as changing her tune. Others may see it differently, but you have to admit that her stance is more nuanced than it was made to appear
suggesting that she has yet to release a great rock ‘n’ roll record. Meh, she could rock with the best of them.