Of Course Dolly Parton Turned Down Her Rock Hall Nomination

Boy did I catch some hell for having the audacity to say that despite all of our love for the great and powerful Dolly Parton—which should be taken as a given simply by evoking her name—she didn’t deserve to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. At least not yet.
In fact, I’ve said it twice.
I got especially trounced on Facebook. Let’s dig up some of those comments…
I couldn’t disagree more with your very disrespectful article. Dolly Parton has done more in her 60+ years in the music industry than probably anyone. Her talent spreads thru all genres of music. She’s sang with almost everyone. If not induct her now then when…after she’s gone and not able to be given the recognition she deserves … She’s deserving and I’m offended by this article. You call yourself saving country music. Dolly was, is and will always be country music and she deserves all of our respect and an apology from you.
Oof. Tell us how you really feel. Here’s a couple more:
This is absurd and nonsensical- it’s such a stupid statement in fact, it has to be parody or click-bait, right?
Dolly Parton deserves to be in the Rock n Roll HOF. Stop the nonsense and this is a BS article just from the title. Hate to break it to you but she’s getting in.
Got to give credit to that last one though, because it’s right. If Dolly Parton had not put a stop to it, she would have gotten in. There would be no question about it. Her star power is so immense, she would have overshadowed all of the other nominees, and was doing so already with the media coverage on the 2022 Rock Hall of Fame inductees, and would have parsed the votes between the other female nominees who actually do fit into the rock genre, making it more difficult for them to get in.
So Dolly did the most Dolly thing she could do, and once again exemplified why we all love her. She bowed out of contention for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022. And for all the right reasons, and while saying all of the right things.
“Even though I’m extremely flattered and grateful to be nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I don’t feel that I have earned that right,” Parton said in a statement released Monday morning (3-14). “I really do not want votes to be split because of me, so I must respectfully bow out.”
Dolly continues, “I do hope that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will understand and be willing to consider me again—if I’m ever worthy…”
Yes! This was never about forever excluding Dolly Parton from contention for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the future, just the fair concern that as a predominately country artist—and one with such a huge footprint—she would lock out other women more native to rock who deserve, and in some cases, need a Hall of Fame induction to cement their legacy, while Dolly Parton’s legacy is secured 1,000 times over, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction or not.
I get it. As a naked question, if someone asks you, “Should Dolly Parton be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?” your tendency is to want to say “Yes.” Because you love Dolly Parton. But it’s really a two-part question. The real question is, “What artist native to rock and roll would you like to leave out of the Hall of Fame in 2022 so Dolly Parton can get in?” or “What are the ramifications of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducting Dolly Parton?”
As soon as Dolly Parton was inducted, it would immediately open the floodgates for other country artists to be considered—Willie Nelson, Garth Brooks, Loretta Lynn, etc. etc., and never-ending, with dozens of artists immediately feeling like gross oversights. As country fans, we should be better stewards of music and neighbors to our brethren in rock. We have a Country Music Hall of Fame, and Dolly Parton is already in it. We don’t need to borrow theirs.
And I get it, trust me. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has already been plundered with names from the pop and hip-hop worlds. But guess what, pop and hip-hop don’t have a Hall of Fame, like country does. There should be a Hip-Hop Hall of Fame. It’s the biggest genre in America and the world at the moment. But putting Dolly Parton in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame doesn’t solve that problem. Two wrongs don’t make a right.
Some day there will be a time when the amount of rock nominees for the Hall of Fame is so thin, Dolly Parton, or perhaps other country artists would make good nominees. 2022 is not that year. But when that times comes, then, respectfully, we’ll ask that perhaps Dolly be considered, beside her friend Whitney Houston, and others for their pop contributions.
And yes, I know there are some country artists in the Rock Hall already—Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, and others as Early Influence inductees. But these artists have legitimate ties to rock. Dolly Parton just doesn’t.
This situation reminds one of the statue controversy involving Dolly Parton in early 2021. In that instance, Tennessee House Bill 135 looked to erect a statue of Dolly on the grounds of the Tennessee Capitol. A previous bill has also worked to replace a bust of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest with one of Dolly Parton. Both efforts received universal popular support, including a petition with over 25,000 signatures.
But a deceptive article in Rolling Stone Country that misquoted the bill’s author, Democrat State Representative John Mark Windle, polarized and politicized the subject, asserting it should be a black icon to receive a statue instead of Dolly. After the article, Parton came out publicly and said she didn’t feel it was the right time to erect a statue in her honor.
Of course, where the Dolly Parton statue had private funding already lined up, an organization formed to oversee its planning and construction, and a bill certifying the effort, this hypothetical statue of a black icon at the Tennessee Capitol has seen absolutely no planning or organizational support behind it whatsoever. The small, but loud individuals advocating for it never followed through. It was simply a lark on Twitter. There was never even any consensus behind what Black icon should actually be honored.
But in both cases, Dolly Parton proved that she was above the bickering of all us plebeians. By pulling out of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame contention, Dolly Parton did her legacy even one better, and perhaps even more than an induction would have done, while now a more relevant nominee to rock and roll will hopefully enjoy a worthy induction.
Meanwhile, Dolly says, “This has, however, inspired me to put out a hopefully great rock ‘n’ roll album at some point in the future, which I have always wanted to do! … I wish all the nominees good luck and thank you again for the compliment. Rock on!”
March 14, 2022 @ 6:35 pm
If there is an angel on Earth, her name would be Dolly Parton.
March 14, 2022 @ 6:35 pm
I agreed with you on the original post. Classy move by Dolly here.
March 14, 2022 @ 6:49 pm
Anyone who wants Dolly Parton in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, hates C(c)ountry Music, and has a surface level understanding of its place in world history. I just hope they build a Country Music Hall of Fame someday, to induct Dolly into.
March 14, 2022 @ 6:53 pm
She backed out of the nomination as quickly as possible, but, due to her anatomy, that took several days.
March 14, 2022 @ 6:59 pm
“This has, however, inspired me to put out a hopefully great rock ‘n’ roll album at some point in the future….” is pretty funny considering the context.
March 14, 2022 @ 9:37 pm
…but typically Dolly. I mean, it’s frequently difficult to know how seriously to take what she says, given that this is the same woman who said that “it costs a lot to look this cheap.” She’s a wildcard in a way that nobody else in country music has ever been (with the possible exception of Johnny Cash).
When she talked about doing a great rock and roll record, she said something along the lines of Heart or Linda Ronstadt. I think the first may be out of her league, but doing it Linda’s way is probably much more doable since the two of them are pals (and Linda’s classic albums of the 1970’s had a mass crossover appeal between rock and country).
In any case, it was her decision to withdraw her nomination, so I respect her for it. She would still be worthy of it, even if her rock output is relatively minimal compared to Linda.
March 15, 2022 @ 6:20 am
It’s kind of like saying “I’m withdrawing consideration for the Nobel Prize for Fiction, but I do hope to one day write some fiction.
I think she was just being gracious and her usual humble self, but the context points to the ridiculousness of the situation. And I’d be even more impressed if she was slyly pointing that out.
March 14, 2022 @ 7:09 pm
I figured you’d blow a wad when I saw this on another site today. Leave it to Dolly to be classy and do the right thing.
(I’m sure it was all because of this blog…lol)
March 14, 2022 @ 7:26 pm
I’ve been seeing this all over Twitter. Lots of rock & roll types are praising her decision. There is a reason why everyone adores her. We’ll played Dolly.
March 14, 2022 @ 8:41 pm
I think she belongs. She did a pop album STRAIGHT TALK, and should be in there and I know there are some people are saying then Willie Nelson and Alan Jackson, would, blah blah blah… then Hank Williams and Brenda Lee should be taken out of the rock n roll hall of fame as well, ….. did George Jones and Tammy wynette and Merle haggard get put in when hank and Brenda got put in… NO. SO that stupid notion that Willie and every one else being put in is just garbage. And while we are at it, take Elvis out of the country music hall of fame. Because, he was NEVER COUNTRY and does not belong in there. Why aren’t ac/DC and Bon Jovi being considered? See how stupid that is. I think the only reason Dolly pulled out , was because of cry bag country media people crying about it. If Hank Williams and Brenda Lee are in the rock n roll hall of fame, then take them out. Because if Dolly doesn’t belong there, THEN THEY SURE AS HELL DON’T EITHER.
March 14, 2022 @ 10:49 pm
The idea that Elvis Presley does not belong in the Country H-o-F or that he was never country is sheer absudity.
Based on bare numbers he had something like 25 Top Ten country hits and about 10 that went to #1–along with a bunch of other songs like “Suspicious Minds,” “Kentucky Rain,” and “In the Ghetto,” that are seen as country now, but were not hits on the coutry chart, at the time.
And clearly, those chart numbers only begin to tell the story of his impact on the country music business and landscape.
March 14, 2022 @ 8:43 pm
Dolly at her best.
But please tell her to keep it country. We don’t need R&R from her.
March 14, 2022 @ 8:48 pm
Dolly Parton is a class act. There’s some cm singers that could learn alot from Dolly.
March 14, 2022 @ 8:55 pm
Why aren’t you posting my post trigger? You post hockey face but not mine, afraid I am telling the truth, I guess.
March 14, 2022 @ 9:02 pm
Your comment’s posted. I stepped away from the helm for a few minutes. Sheesh.
March 14, 2022 @ 11:18 pm
Well trigger ,after my Reagan post that you would not put up. I always think what can I say and what can’t I say. Then I post my Dolly post when there were just 7 posts, so I checked back. There were 8, and then 9. Comments and not mine. So yeah I figure what did I say wrong now. Do not know if you have bad internet connection or me, but you said you stepped away while other comments were going up? Maybe it was my internet connection I don’t know, but it is frustrating to know what can and cannot be said here, and some people get away with more than others. So sorry if it was my connection, but I don’t know what is OK and what is not. So that was the reason for my frustration.
March 15, 2022 @ 7:43 am
Countryfan68,
None of your comments here have been deleted. Your Reagan post was posted. It may take a little longer for your comments to go up, because you have a history of veering off topic into political subjects, just like Honky and others, so your comments must be moderated. Don’t veer into politically divisive subjects (like you did with your Reagan post), and then I’ll take you out of moderation.
Believe it or not, I do actually have a life, and don’t live to host this comments section 24/7.
March 15, 2022 @ 10:26 am
I’ve gone 6 months before, without violating your selectively-applied, ever-changing guidelines, and you still didn’t take me off perma-mod. And these days, I pretty much only do it when I see others have.
How long does one have go, before you’ll take them off perma-mod? Can I get an objective measurement in writing?
March 15, 2022 @ 11:20 am
Honky,
What’s the biggie?
Am in permanent moderation.
Not offended.
This is Trig’s site.
March 15, 2022 @ 2:00 pm
Hi Di,
If there is an objective measurement by which one can be graded, with the goal of being taken off moderation, I would like to know what it is.
March 15, 2022 @ 2:27 pm
Honky,
You already know what it is.
Stop being coy.
Just be yourself – bring a heart for humanity at large. Non-lecturing. Understand that you are a guest/commenter on someone else’s site.
Over & out, on this thread.
March 15, 2022 @ 2:57 pm
No, Di, I don’t. If I knew what it was, I’d be willing to at least try to achieve it.
I don’t have anything against you personally, but these little nitpicky thought experiments you keep trying pull, are very irritating. I’d appreciate it very much if you’d get off my anus.
March 15, 2022 @ 3:35 pm
” …but these little nitpicky thought experiments you keep trying pull, are very irritating. I’d appreciate it very much if you’d get off my anus.”
But, that’s the thing, Honky. Commenting to you in friendship, as it were, not criticizing you.
*Apologies, final comment on this thread.
March 15, 2022 @ 4:51 pm
So Trig, seriously, what’s the measuring stick?
March 15, 2022 @ 5:29 pm
Different depending on the day of the week, subjective in length, subject to to my specific mood, and utterly arbitrary in its entirety.
March 15, 2022 @ 7:31 pm
Well, Trig, I appreciate the confirmation. But like I always say, there’s no day today, and no time like now.
March 15, 2022 @ 3:11 am
She is a class act and a classy lady. A true legend. Someone said an angel in one of the comments. Yes, as near as a human can be,
March 15, 2022 @ 3:46 am
Rock N Roll Hall of Fame is a complete joke even compared to the the CMHOF. This was nothing but another desperate PR move by the RNRHOF to try to stay relevant and create some noise and make headlines. I’ll be surprised if the RNRHOF is even open 20 years from now. Their track record of oversights and publicity stunts makes the CMHOF look like a well-oiled machine.
March 15, 2022 @ 5:02 pm
I have to disagree – the Rock N Roll HOF has it all over the Country Music HOF in believing that you don’t have to sell millions of records to be historically important. RNR puts it about a dozen acts each year, many who didn’t make much national impact beyond five years yet the CMHOF only puts in three a year (one of them non-artist) and has ignored a good 50 people who had charting records for over twenty years, were Opry members for 30 or 40 years, and/or broke all sorts of boundaries for country music. The CMHOF is the real joke – and a shameful one, ignoring countless singers who devoted their whole lives to making music and doing so on a big scale for decades.
March 15, 2022 @ 4:59 am
First Dolly then who’s next? Slim Whitman? Why don’t we nominate Scum of the Earth for the hall?
Is the RRHOF getting so desperate for members it’s having to go outside the genre for nominees/members? If that’s the case, wait a few years. They’ll be plenty of bro-country artists they can nominate soon.
March 15, 2022 @ 7:01 am
Oh they’ve been putting straight hip hop/rap artists in for awhile. The only reason Dolly getting in the RnR Hall has so much support is cause it hasn’t been a Rock and Roll HOF for quite a number of years now.
March 15, 2022 @ 6:09 am
I think the logic is that she is a pop artist as well as a country artist. 9 to 5, islands in the stream, I will always love you, etc, were pop hits.
March 15, 2022 @ 6:29 am
When the tv 6’oclock news announced that Dolly was turning down the nomination, I immediately thought, ‘Dolly, you read SCM and you totally agree with the well-thought out and respectfully presented valid points. Regardless if that’s what happened, it’s a great thought. Trig rocks (excuse the pun)!
March 15, 2022 @ 8:22 am
Not surprised Dolly did this. But there are other country musicians or country influenced musicians who I think should be considered. Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Charlie McKoy, Gram Parsons, Charlie Daniels, Willie Nelson, Jimmy Buffet are just a few who come to mind.
March 15, 2022 @ 11:55 am
How the heck is Jimmy Buffet not in there and yet some horrible artists are? That in itself is an indictment of how stupid and useless these things have become.
Honestly there are plenty of legendary rock artists that should be in there over any country or rap.
March 16, 2022 @ 10:25 am
Nope….Jimmy isn’t in the RRHOF.
March 16, 2022 @ 6:43 am
Is Steve Earle in the Rock HoF yet?
March 16, 2022 @ 10:26 am
Nope….Steve isn’t in the RRHOF.
March 15, 2022 @ 8:24 am
And this is why everyone loves Dolly. She is Real.
I get that it is all about pop, but I found out that Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, even Iron Maiden and Judas Priest are not in there. They should change the name.
March 15, 2022 @ 8:29 am
I’ll bet a few folk posting here wish that Nathan Bedford Forrest statue remained because,let’s face it,FAR TOO MANY Country music fans (and some artists,fans and record label execs) share at least some of Ol’ Nate’s unprogressive racial beliefs .
March 15, 2022 @ 8:49 am
Dolly stated that her husband, Carl Dean, is a Rock ‘n Roll freak. If anyone swayed her opinion, betting it was him.
Not to take anything away from Trig.
We don’t want Trig going anywhere
March 15, 2022 @ 10:06 am
Those two quoted comments shows how driven by emotions some people are.
Not a single shred of factual evidence to justify the nomination.
Good for Dolly. She has standards.
March 15, 2022 @ 11:18 am
It’s beneficial to music to honor distinct factions and keep it that way. Yes the 50’s and 60’s were a melting pot of blues, soul, country, jazz, bluegrass, etc and genres were ambiguous, but now genres are more clearly defined and it’s obvious that Dolly Parton is country. (with some occasionally pop crossovers)
March 15, 2022 @ 5:21 pm
I disagree – “Rock n’ Roll” has basically been mainstream “pop music” for 40 years now and this would have been a great breakthrough for Country Music to be accepted in rock circles like soul, rap, etc. are. I think Dolly is just listening to too many people and should have just accepted the honor. It wouldn’t make her any less country. If there’s a place for Johnny Cash and Hank Williams there, then certainly Dolly should be inducted into the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame.
March 19, 2022 @ 12:55 pm
I think you do Dolly a great disservice by saying she is not capable of making her own mind up, and has to rely on outside influences. Even if it was an something or someone that helped alter something, that’s called rational thinking. I’m indifferent to Dolly, but respect her decision.
March 16, 2022 @ 7:39 am
I suppose an argument for Dolly’s inclusion in the R&R HOF could be made because she did score a few top 40 pop hits. Her late 70’s/early ’80’s recordings were more pop than country but were not exactly what I would call “rock & roll.” Her withdrawal from nomination was gracious and “Pure Dolly.” On brand she did it with a touch of humor in her usual lighthearted and self-deprecating fashion that could offend no one.
But the definition of “rock & roll” has in my opinion been severely bastardized as it applies to that institution. R&B, country, rap, punk, metal & disco (among other genres and sub-genres) just ain’t rock & roll in my book. There are legendary performers from other genres way back in the day that were influences for sure. But those acts are mostly pre-1960’s and can be classified as ‘Early Influences.’ But if “rock & roll” is everything then what the hell IS rock & roll anyway?
Another major music museum should have been established years ago. The POP MUSIC HALL Of FAME could include all popular music that cannot be truly or accurately classified as rock & roll. That seems a much better fit for acts like Michael Jackson, Earth, Wind & Fire, Prince, Madonna, Whitney Houston, Jay-Z, etc. All worthy performers but not really R&R.
To give credit where credit is due, at the time of the initial announcement of Dolly’s nomination Trig typed out loud what many of us were thinking.
As a sidebar, I shudder when I think that some day the horrible pop/rock clones that now call themselves “country” may be inducted to the Country Music Hall Of Fame. To have them alongside the giants of the genre – Hank Williams, Lefty Frizzell, Roy Acuff, Bill Monroe, Johnny Cash & Merle Haggard – would be a sacrilege.
March 16, 2022 @ 2:56 pm
You were definitely right on the money with this one. Dolly is a class act through and through!
March 17, 2022 @ 10:44 am
So just today (03/17) the RHOF has declined Dolly’s request to withdraw, stating: “We are in awe of Dolly.” Join the club. I have no problem with her nomination…I understand it. I have no problem with her request…I understand that too. But it almost sounds as if they’ve already decided she will be voted in. Very odd. I suppose she could refuse to accept and attend, but that’s just not Dolly.
March 17, 2022 @ 2:21 pm
The rock and roll hall of fame said they are keeping Dolly parton! Thank goodness, I don’t care what anyone says , she belongs. And if you do not think so then too bad. She is going to be in and I am so happy for her. You do deserve it Dolly!
March 18, 2022 @ 4:38 am
RNRHOF is using Dolly Parton for publicity. They knew from the beginning this would cause controversy and keep them in the news. Nothing more than a publicity stunt.