Back in February, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame announced a list of nominees that included Dolly Parton. This sparked some serious debate online. Most folks want Dolly to get all of the accolades she can. We’re firmly in that camp. However, others balked at a country icon entering the ranks of the rock elite. Unsurprisingly, Dolly aligned herself with that camp.
The list of nominees hit the internet in early February. On March 14th, Dolly Parton made an official statement about her Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nomination. Much like the statue on the grounds of Tennessee’s capitol building and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Dolly didn’t want it. More specifically, she didn’t believe she had earned the right to join those ranks.
In true Dolly Parton fashion, she thanked the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for the nomination. She went on to say that the nod inspired her to put out a rock record in the future and added that she hoped that the RRHOF would consider nominating her in the future. However, she only wanted the nom if she was ever “worthy” of it.
Unfortunately, she was too late to pull herself out of the running.
Dolly Parton Changes Her Mind About the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Earlier today, Dolly Parton and James Patterson appeared on NPR’s Morning Edition to talk about their New York Times best-selling novel Run, Rose, Run. During the interview, NPR’s Rachel Martin asked how Dolly would react if she learned that she was inducted into the Rock &Roll Hall of Fame.
“Well, I’ll accept gracefully. I’ll say thanks and accept it because the fans vote,” Dolly said. She went on to explain that when she made the abovementioned statement, she thought that only rock artists could join the Hall of Fame. “I just felt like I would be taking away from someone that maybe deserved it certainly more than me because I never considered myself a rock artist. But, obviously, there’s more to it than that,” she said.
However, over the years we’ve seen that the RRHoF accepts impactful artists from all genres. This year, Dolly is up against Eminem. Back in 1997, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted the Father of Bluegrass himself, Bill Monroe.
If you think that Dolly deserves a spot in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, you can help her get there. Just head over to the HoF’s website and cast your vote. Today (April 29th) is the last day to vote.
At the end of the day, the judges still control who gets inducted. However, they do take the fans’ votes into consideration when making the decision.
