Dolly Parton Named Ed Sheeran as the Modern Star She Wants to Collaborate With
Many young artists can only dream about working with Dolly Parton. Parton shares the same admiration for a few young stars and has several in mind who she would want to work with. However, when asked who she has thought about collaborating with, Parton chose Ed Sheeran and believes they could make beautiful music together.
Dolly Parton regrets not working with a few classic singers
In an interview with Amazon’s Country Heat podcast, Parton discussed who she would want to record with now and who she wanted to work with but never had the chance to. For the latter, the “Jolene” singer shared regret that she never made an album with George Jones —her favorite singer of all time — and Merle Haggard.
“I have a big heartache over the fact that I never did an album with George Jones, who was my favorite singer, and with Merle Haggard,” Parton explained. “Those two guys I really, really wish, and I had a few opportunities to do it, but it just never worked out for somebody’s schedule til it was too late, so I hate that.”
Parton did record a duet with Jones. The two sang “The Blues Man” together for Jones’ 2005 album Hits I Missed…And One I Didn’t.
Dolly Parton said Ed Sheeran is the modern star she wants to work with
Jones and Haggard are classic country legends, so it makes sense that another country legend like Dolly would want to work with them. When discussing modern stars she wants to collaborate with, Dolly Parton went more the pop route with Ed Sheeran.
Sheeran is one of the most successful pop stars in the world with hit songs, such as “Shape of You,” “Perfect,” “Thinking Out Loud,” and “Bad Habits.” Parton said that when she first heard him, she believed they could “sing something beautiful together.”
“Right now, there’s a lot of great people out there. I love Ed Sheeran. I’ve always thought in his early days when I would hear his little voice, or his big little voice, his emotional, wonderful voice, I used to think, ‘Boy, I bet we could sing something beautiful together.’ Like to pick the right song that really has the way that we both can sing with emotion ‘cause we feel it. Maybe someday I could do something with him, I’d like to.”
Parton is making a rock album with help from several rock stars
Dolly Parton doesn’t have plans to work with Ed Sheeran soon, but she will be collaborating with several classic rock stars. After being recently inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Parton is making a rock album consisting of covers of classic rock songs. In an interview with The View, she revealed a few musicians joining her, including Paul McCartney, Stevie Nicks, and Steven Tyler.
“We got great artists. Paul McCartney is singing with me. And we got a lot of wonderful… Stevie Nicks, we just finished our song last night,” Parton shared. “We got John Fogerty, and we’ve got Steve Perry, and Steven Tyler. We got a lot of great artists, iconic singers that are gonna actually be on with us so I’m really looking forward to it.”
