Dolly Parton says it was ‘very bold’ of Beyonce to cover Jolene

Dolly Parton has commented on Beyonce's cover of her 1974 hit song Jolene and her country-inspired album Cowboy Carter. Photos / AP

Dolly Parton thinks it was “very bold” of Beyonce to cover Jolene.

The 78-year-old country music legend first released the classic track as part of her 13th studio album of the same name in 1974 and while it has been covered numerous times over the years, she was surprised when Break My Soul singer Beyonce, 42, wanted to put her own spin on it for her Cowboy Carter record.

She told E! News: “Well, I think it was very bold of her. When they said she was gonna do Jolene, I expected it to be my regular one, but it wasn’t. But I love what she did to it. And as a songwriter, you love the fact that people do your songs no matter how they do them.”

Beyonce changed some of the lyrics of the original song - which is traditionally sung from the point of view of a desperate married woman trying to beg a beautiful girl to stay away from her husband - and Parton noted that she was “very proud” of how the Crazy in Love hitmaker had made a stark switch from her usual RnB genre for the record.

Parton said: “She wasn’t gonna go beg some other woman like I did. Don’t steal my man.’ ‘S***, get out here, b****. You ain’t stealin’ mine!’

“I was very proud of her album.

“I thought she did a great job in country music, and I thought it was great. And I was just happy she did Jolene. I, of course, would have loved to have heard how she would have done it in its original way. But of course, you know, it’s Beyonce. Yeah, her life is different than mine.”

Beyoncé's cover of Jolene was included on Cowboy Carter, her eighth studio album, which was releaed on March 29. Photo / Flying Out