The world got a little bit bleaker today when the news came out that Dolly Parton had passed away at 80 years old, after a short battle with cancer. She was a legendary songwriter, a talented singer, a renowned philanthropist, as well as an accomplished actress and businesswoman.
Although I had heard her duet with Kenny Rogers, Islands In The Stream, when I was a kid, from it playing on the radio once in a while, I only really got acquanited with the Queen Of Country Music's art via the 1993 album Honky Tonk Angels with Loretta Lynn and Tammy Winette, which came a year after Whitney Houston's cover of I Will Always Love You for the soundtrack to The Bodyguard. From then I fell into such classics as Jolene and Coat Of Many Colors, and the poppier 9 To 5.
She was inducted in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2022, a nomination she initially wanted to pass on, but was convinced to accept after fan pressure and the Hall explaining that her influence surpassed the realm of country music and that "Rock And Roll" had a meaning that extended beyond the straight line from Elvis Presley to The Beatles to Led Zeppelin to Soundgarden. But she insisted on making a "rock" album to justify her inclusion, with such luminaries as Sting, John Fogerty, Steve Perry, Ann Wilson, Steven Tyler, Warren Haynes, Joan Jett, Rob Halford, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Pat Benatar, Peter Frampton and Stevie Nicks, among others, offering to lend a hand in what was ultimately a gloriously tacky record that warrants an A for effort and C+ for execution. From the second disc of that album is a cover of 4 Non Blondes' What's Up, featuring frontwoman Linda Perry:
I'm not sure how happy Mrs. Perry was that Mrs. Parton changed so many of the lyrics to the song, but this version reflects the way Dolly Parton saw life - with hope and positivity. I'll give it a try myself in her honour.
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