Isn’t it just like Dolly Parton to give us gifts on her birthday?
And if hearing the country queen rock out to “I Hate Myself for Loving You,” “Heart of Glass” and “Let It Be” — with help from Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, Debbie Harry and freaking Paul McCartney, respectively — on her “Rockstar” album released last November wasn’t enough, well, here’s more Dolly for your headbanging pleasure.
“It’s my Birthday so I’m going to give you a present!” Parton announced on Instagram.
“I’m releasing four never released songs for my birthday, to go with the Rockstar album, and a few others that you may have heard before that were not on the album.
“I hope you enjoy them, and I hope you all have a happy birthday for me! LOL”
And of course, the ever-gracious goddess signed it off with, “Thanks for everything, Dolly,” along with a rhinestone heart
QUEEN!!!!
The four previously unreleased tracks include Parton’s covers of the 1983 Eurythmics hit “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This),” the 1974 Billy Joel gem “The Entertainer” and the 1970 Simon & Garfunkel classic “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”
There’s also “Stay Out of My Bedroom,” a new version of the song that Parton previously released for the soundtrack of her 1984 film “Rhinestone” co-starring Sylvester Stallone.
And in her ever-charitable spirit, Parton has also blessed us with five tracks that were only previously available on special (read: pricey) editions of “Rockstar,” which came on the heels of her 2022 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction.
Those include her cover of Eddie Money’s 1978 hit “Two Tickets to Paradise” and “Hit Me With Your Best Shot,” Pat Benatar’s 1980 rocker for the ages that follows Parton’s “Rockstar” rendition of “Heartbreaker” featuring Benatar herself.
Then there’s the reimagining of Parton’s own “Jolene” with Italian rock band Maneskin, which comes out just a couple weeks before the 50th anniversary of her “Jolene” album, which was released on Feb. 4, 1974.
Count this as reason 8,762 why we will always love Dolly.
