BAD WOLVES had a guest vocal from Dolly Parton lined up. It never got recorded.
The band cut a heavy metal version of "Jolene" a few weeks ago for their next album, after their singer had been posting videos of Parton performing it. Their label CEO, Dan Waite, sent the finished demo to Parton's manager, Danny Nozell, asking whether she would consider guesting on it.
"We heard back that Danny had played the track to Dolly, and that Dolly loved our version, and that Dolly was going to go into the studio and add her vocals very soon," founder, drummer and songwriter John Boecklin said. "We then sent over the stems for Dolly's studio engineers to work with. Like everyone, we were devastated of this week's news of Dolly's passing."
The band are releasing the track on Monday, August 31, and donating the proceeds to Dolly Parton's Imagination Library — the flagship program of the Dollywood Foundation, founded by Parton in 1995, which mails free age-appropriate books to registered children from birth to age five regardless of family income. It has given away more than 300 million books and currently sends out over three million a month.
"With 'Jolene', we are proud to help deliver critical funding to the Dolly Parton Imagination Library," Boecklin said. "We know that we can contribute to Dolly's vision of giving access to books and improving literacy." He added: "Our thoughts are with Dolly's extended family, manager Danny Nozell and all of the many thousands of people she touched in her extraordinary life who are grieving her passing."
The situation has an uncomfortable precedent in the band's own history. In January 2018, BAD WOLVES released their cover of THE CRANBERRIES' "Zombie" four days after the death of Dolores O'Riordan, who had been scheduled to record her vocals on it the day she died. Proceeds went to her three children. The surviving members of THE CRANBERRIES later said publicly that they did not like the version and felt it had come out too soon.
"Jolene" arrives during a rebuilding year. BAD WOLVES released "Paint It Red" at the start of the summer, their first output of 2026 and the debut of new vocalist Sara "Killboy" Skinner. "When we started looking for the next voice of BAD WOLVES, we weren't looking for someone to fill a spot; we were looking for someone who could help push this band into its next chapter," Boecklin said at the time. "Sara isn't here to recreate the past, she's here to help us build the future."
The 2026 lineup is Skinner on vocals, AJ Rebollo on guitar, Derek Bolman on bass and Boecklin on drums.