Dolly Parton to release sequel to Jolene 53 years after song's release

Country legend Dolly Parton has announced that she is working in collaboration with country star Kelli Rachel Belles for a fresh new sequel on her hit classic Jolene

Country legend Dolly Parton has confirmed that she is cooking up an all-new Jolene sequel, but this time with a twist.

Back in October 1973, Dolly dropped her iconic song Jolene, which has continued to be a hit for decades to follow. The song shot to the top of the country music charts at the time, as many female listeners could relate to the gut-wrenching feeling of comparing oneself to another beautiful woman.

The song Jolene is a song about a woman pleading with a red-headed bank teller named Jolene not to steal her husband. Inspired by a real-life experience Dolly had with her husband Carl Dean, the track expresses the feeling of deep insecurity, jealousy, and desperation. And now, sad country music lovers are being treated to a follow-up, but this time from the perspective of a young woman falling in love with the son of Jolene.

Dolly will be collaborating on the song 'Son of Jolene' with up-and-coming country music star Belles (legally Kelli Rachel Belles). After hearing the pitch from the ambitious 26-year-old singer, Dolly agreed to hop on the idea, gushing over the fresh take on her classic hit.

In an interview with People, the 80-year-old singer said, "When I heard 'Son of Jolene,' I thought it was very clever. No one had ever thought of it that way."

Sharing her journey to coming up with the idea, Belles told the news outlet, "It was kind of just random. I was on my headlining tour last year and my opening act, he's a great country artist, but his mom came out to a show one night and her name was Jolene."the-mirror-icon_entertainment_music_dolly-parton

She continued, "And then, I don't know what came over me, but I was in the van the next day driving to the next show, and I just turned to him and I was like, ‘You should write a song about being the son of Jolene. That would be a really interesting take. Maybe you have a messed-up love life because your mom's name is Jolene, or just an angle like that.’ And he was like, ‘I don't really know if that feels like me or something I would write about.’ And I was like, ‘That's totally fair, but I might write that song.’ And he was like, ‘Well, go for it.’"

Belles confessed that she was fearful to pitch the idea to the Queen of Country initially, and made sure she wanted to go about the idea in the right way. Belles admitted that she could not take full credit for the pitch, as her publishers took the reins on getting the idea into Dolly's hands.

She explained, "It was actually my publisher, Stephanie Greene, who got the song to Kent Wells, who's Dolly's producer. And he really loved it and was like, ‘Hey, I'm going to play this for Dolly, because I think she would really love it.'"

There has not yet been a release date for the song, but it has been slated for release sometime in 2026. It has also been confirmed that the pair recorded the track together at RCA Studio A in Nashville, Tennessee, which is the same studio where Dolly recorded the original Jolene.