Dolly Parton has always been a woman of her word, and she’s holding true to the statement she made back in May. She’s making a rock album. But it’s who she’s got in mind that makes it even more thrilling – Parton wants to get Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant and Jimmy Page to reunite for a new take on “Stairway to Heaven.”
The country star, who originally pushed back on her Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nomination earlier this year, feeling she was unworthy of the title, vowed she’d make a rock record to mark the occasion if she was inducted. That in fact will happen in November.
As she told Billboard earlier this year, “I’m not expecting that I’ll get in. But if I do, I’ll immediately, next year, have to put out a great rock and roll album — which I’ve wanted to do for years, like a Linda Ronstadt or Heart kind of thing. So this may have been just a God-wink for me to go ahead and do that. It’s just nice to be nominated.”
Hearing Parton’s statement was like a bat signal to the music community, as Heart’s Nancy Wilson offered to help write it and even mega producer Steve Albini offered to be behind the boards in this tweet.
But now, Parton is telling Pollstar what her exact plans are for the album in a new interview published Oct. 27. One of them includes covering “Stairway to Heaven,” and she wants to reunite Plant and Page for the effort.
Speaking of her “big rock ‘n’ roll fan” husband, who she ultimately wants to do the upcoming album for, Parton shared, “He did not like it when I was going to do ‘Stairway to Heaven.’ But I’m going to redo that really on the money. I did it kind of bluegrass-style when I did it; but when I do the rock album, I’m going to actually re-record it – and do it more true to the regular record. I’m trying to see if Robert Plant might sing on it. Maybe Jimmy Page might do the pick-up part on it. I’m looking forward to dragging in some of the great classic people, girls and boys, to sing on some of the songs.”
The last time Plant and Page appeared together was a 2007 benefit show for Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun, as noted by Ultimate Classic Rock.
Though Parton also shared she’s “not far enough along to discuss who and what” might be behind the album, she also threw out some other hints with a list of who she’s always dreamed of working with. Those include her goddaughter Miley Cyrus, Stevie Nicks, Lady Gaga, even Jimmy Fallon. “We sound really good together; Jimmy is a really good singer. He doesn’t think so, but I do,” she said.
In the Pollstar interview, Parton also revealed that, at 76-years-old, she doesn’t plan to tour anymore but will do “special shows here and there, now and then.”
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