2023-11-28 21:00:08
Singer Dolly Parton, in New York (United States), October 13, 2022. ANDRES KUDACKI/AP
“I am sometimes told that less is more. This is bullshit! More is always better. » Queen of country music, American icon, Dolly Parton, known for her punchlines, this time applies her maximalist philosophy to rock. On the occasion of her induction, in 2022, into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, this pantheon of popular music based in Cleveland (Ohio), the “Mae West of Nashville” wanted to justify this honor by releasing, at 77 years old, her career as a rocker with an album, Rockstar (published November 17), as XXL as his wigs, his false nails or his legendary repertoire.
No less than thirty pieces, often drawn from classic rock standards and which do not skimp on grandiose effects and guitars as exuberant as his new outfits – studded leather and leopard fur. A flamboyance that sometimes drips in FM mode from the 1980s (covers of Magic Manthe Heart, Open Armsfrom Journey, or Heartbreakerby Pat Benatar, a formidable version of Purple Rainby Prince), but who also has impulses not lacking in panache (Long As I Can See the Lightby and with John Fogerty), humor (I Hate Myself for Loving Youby and with Joan Jett), nor emotions (Night Movesby Bob Seger, with Chris Stapleton).
This riot of energy carried by an incredible cast of duos – also featuring Elton John, Sting, his goddaughter Miley Cyrus, Simon Le Bon (from Duran Duran), Lizzo, Stevie Nicks (from Fleetwood Mac), Peter Frampton, Pink, Steven Tyler (from Aerosmith)… or Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, who accompany him on an edifying version of Let It Be – testifies to the respect that the lady inspires in several generations of Anglo-Saxons.
Anything but a brainless blonde
American idol, Dolly Parton has long been perceived in France as the caricatured incarnation of country music, itself often misunderstood or even despised, seen as a reactionary symbol and of bad taste. Even by those who hum with pleasure I Will Always Love You or who shake their heads to the sound of Joleneignoring that Whitney Houston’s mega-soul hit or the White Stripes’ indie rock blast had been written and recorded in 1974 and 1973 by the self-proclaimed “Backwoods Barbie” (“Ploucville Barbie”).
Read also (in 2023): Article reserved for our subscribers “Jolene”, the lament of broken hearts by Dolly Parton, in 1973, and The White Stripes, in 2000
Richer and more complex than these clichés, Dolly Parton’s personality is filled with multiple paradoxes, which have made her a heroine of deep America, viscerally attached to her native Appalachia, but also a feminist model, a woman of business philanthropist, a queer icon… “The magic thing about me is that I seem completely OCD when I’m completely real”, likes to repeat the one whose repartee is listed in the United States under the heading « Dollyisms » (« dollycisms »).
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