Jack White Revives “Jolene” Cover In Tribute To Dolly Parton

Way back in 2000, the White Stripes released their powerful, unhinged cover of the 1974 Dolly Parton classic "Jolene" as the B-side to their "Hello Operator" single. That song was a regular highlight of the White Stripes' live sets, and they performed it hundreds of times — way more times, as it happens, than Parton herself ever did. Jack White stopped performing that song after the White Stripes broke up, and he never played it live as a solo artist until last night.

Yesterday, when the news of Parton's passing shook the world, White was getting ready to play a solo set at London's Eventim Apollo. White took the stage a few hours after Parton's death was announced, and he played a fiery version of that "Jolene" cover for the first time in 19 years, playing a verse of it in the middle of his version of the White Stripes' "Dead Leaves On The Dirty Ground." The last time he performed that song was a White Stripes show at Madison Square Garden in 2007. (As it happens, I was at that show, and the opening act was Parton's onetime mentor and frequent duet partner Porter Wagoner.) White posted video of his cover on Instagram, as well as a separate photo of Parton with the caption "INSTANT SAINTHOOD."

We'll probably see many, many more Dolly Parton covers in the days ahead; she was already probably one of the most covered artists in history. And White certainly wasn't the only towering artist who took to social media to honor Parton. For instance, there's the case of Beyoncé, another artist who famously covered "Jolene," though she controversially changed the lyrics and arguably missed the whole point of the song. Parton also made a spoken-word appearance on Beyoncé's 2024 album Cowboy Carter. On her website yesterday, Beyoncé wrote:

Dolly, you were the barometer. The north star. Bold and brilliant. Talented and tenacious. You taught so many lessons on how to be uniquely oneself. I am grateful for your art, your heart, your generosity, your humor, your entrepreneurship. I’m honored that I had the privilege to work with you. I will treasure that forever. Thank you for your profound impact on the world. You are an angel who has made this world a happier place because of your joyful art. You are truly one of one. Rest peacefully

Jack White's fellow Detroit icon Eminem shared an incredibly sweet note that Parton sent him after both of them were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, Taylor Swift wrote:

A world without Dolly doesn’t feel possible, real, or right. But because of the eternally generous way she spent her time on this earth and the countless lives she changed for the better, her legacy will be an everlasting one.

She was truly the gift that kept on giving. Dolly gave us someone to look up to while encouraging us to be who we are as individuals. Somehow she was able to give us her lessons about the world gently and honestly, simultaneously, and oftentimes hilariously. She managed to give the world the ultimate mystery and fantasy in some corners of her life, but to give full transparency in the ways that counted. Somehow she was true grace and true grit, all in one dazzling person. She possessed the softest heart when it came to the struggles of others, and a backbone of steel to defend her own self worth as an artist.

Along with her other fans, I am so grateful for all of it. For the melodies and lyrics she wrote that thawed even the coldest hearts. For the millions of books she provided children all over the world so that they might fall in love with stories the way she did. For the tightropes she walked so that young girls like me could grow up dreaming of joining the circus too. Dolly, I’ll think of you each step of the way.

Paul McCartney reflected on the moment that he and his late wife Linda first met Parton and Porter Wagoner at the Grand Ole Opry and posted some photos of them together.

Mick Jagger also posted an old photo of himself with Parton.

As you might expect, later generations of country stars had a lot to say about the loss. Here, for example, is Reba McEntire:

And here's Shania Twain, posting a video of the time that she performed Parton's classic "Coat Of Many Colors" with Parton.

Last year, Parton appeared on a version of Sabrina Carpenter's hit "Please Please Please," and Carpenter shared some photos from the video shoot.

The Magnetic Fields' Stephen Merritt shared a memory of Parton's longtime solidarity with her queer fanbase.

Parton's 9 To 5 co-stars Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda posted their own tributes.

It feels shitty to even mention this, but Donald Trump posted his own tribute and ordered American flags to be lowered for a one-week mourning period.

As Billboard points out, Parton chose her own funeral song more than a decade ago. It's the hymn "If We Never Meet Again," a favorite of her father, which she performed at his funeral. In 2015, Parton also wrote and recorded a song called "My Place In History," and the only CD copy is in a locked chestnut box at her Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. She left instructions for the box to be opened on Jan. 19, 2046, which would've been her 100th birthday. In her 2020 memoir Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics, she wrote, "There’s no telling what music is going to be by then. Hopefully, it will play and the whole thing ain’t rotted."