Dolly Parton does not feel rock ’n’ roll enough for the Rock & Roll Hall
of Fame.
The country singer, known for crossover hits like
“Jolene,” “I Will Always Love You” and “9 to 5,” said Monday that she wished to
be removed from consideration for the annual honor after earning her first
nomination in February.
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“Even though I am extremely flattered and grateful
to be nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, I don’t feel that I have
earned that right,” Parton, 76, wrote in a statement posted to social media. “I
really do not want votes to be split because of me, so I must respectfully bow
out.”
The Rock Hall did not immediately respond to a
request for comment. Selection was underway as of last month, and it was
unclear what would happen to any possible votes already cast for Parton.
Among the 17 nominees eligible for inclusion
alongside Parton were others who stretch the traditional definition of rock
music: Eminem, A Tribe Called Quest, Lionel Richie, Carly Simon, Dionne
Warwick, and Kate Bush were selected for the ballot along with bands like Judas
Priest, MC5, Rage Against the Machine, and New York Dolls.
Ballots were sent in February to the more than 1,000
artists, historians, and music industry professionals who choose their top five
inductees each year, with the winners — typically between five and seven in
total — scheduled to be announced in May. This year’s induction ceremony was
slated for the fall.
The Rock Hall asks its voters to consider an act’s
music influence and the “length and depth” of its career, in addition to
“innovation and superiority in style and technique.” After complaints about its
treatment of female and Black musicians over the years, the Rock Hall has
recently expanded its tent to include artists from rap, pop, R&B, and
beyond, including Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, Jay-Z, and the Notorious
B.I.G.
Artists in both the Country Music Hall of Fame and
the Rock Hall include Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, and Brenda Lee, among others.
Parton was inducted into the Country Hall of Fame in 1999.
On its website, the Rock Hall praised Parton as a
“living legend and a paragon of female empowerment,” adding that her
“unapologetic femininity belied her shrewd business acumen, an asset in the
male-dominated music industry.”
A 2019 look at the organization’s nearly 900
inductees found that only 7.7 percent were women.
Other artists have balked at inclusion in the club
before: John Lydon, better known as Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols, thumbed
his nose at the band’s induction in 2006, with the band opting not to show. In
2012, when Guns ’n Roses made it, Axl Rose said he would decline to participate
and asked that he not be inducted in absentia. Both acts were inducted anyway.
In her statement, however, Parton left the door open. She
wrote that she hoped the Rock Hall would “be willing to consider me again — if
I’m ever worthy,” noting that she had been inspired by the recognition to “put
out a hopefully great rock ’n’ roll album at some point in the future.”
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