Dolly Parton’s ‘Rockstar’ Album Review: Does the Icon Pull It Off?

Rocker Barbie is introduced in the Parton-penned title track. The song opens with a hokey sketch that finds Parton practicing electric guitar riffs as voices warn her against straying from what she knows, a reminder of the Nashville Music Row skeptics she faced down decades ago.

This time, the caution seems reasonable in light of Rockstar’s missteps. At two hours and 20 minutes, Rockstar is too long. Given Parton’s savvy songwriting skills, her tin ear for rock music is inexplicable. Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird” and Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” (which she also recorded for 2002’s Halos and Horns album) are clichés. Peter Frampton’s “Baby, I Love Your Way” is a Beavis and Butt-Head punch line. And the Queen medley “We Are the Champions/We Will Rock You,” modern-day half-time fare, comes across as pure camp. Parton deserves better.

And in fact, she delivers better on her own compositions. Her winking, lively “Bygones” is also a bit campy, but it’s solid pop metal beefed up by Rob Halford, 72, of Judas Priest and Nikki Sixx, 64, of Mötley Crüe.

Most of the covers are note-for-note facsimiles of the originals, which gives the project a marathon karaoke feel. Her shimmering trill and vibrato are distinctive stamps, but fresh arrangements would have added artistic oomph to Rockstar’s obvious commercial appeal.

When Parton accesses her inner rock banshee, she can be formidable, as in her charging version of the hit by Pat Benatar, 70, “Heartbreaker.” She can also overdo it. When she and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler take on “I Want You Back,” it sounds like a contest to determine who can wake up more neighbors.

On the plus side, Parton’s voice is as silvery and vital as ever, and she easily matches or eclipses the performances of her A-list guests. She and John Fogerty, 78, bring an elegiac beauty to the Creedence Clearwater Revival nugget “Long as I Can See the Light.” Parton and goddaughter Miley Cyrus turn in a vocally dazzling “Wrecking Ball,” a Cyrus hit. “Night Moves” by Bob Seger, 78, gets a steamy makeover with duet partner Chris Stapleton. And Stevie Nicks joins the country legend on a flip and frolicking “What Has Rock and Roll Ever Done for You.”

Parton especially shines on a soaring rendition of Prince’s “Purple Rain” and her own “My Blue Tears,” a gem from 1971’s Coat of Many Colors remade as a wistful power ballad with Simon Le Bon, 65.

One of the few surprises here is the Parton original “World on Fire,” an urgent, ireful slam at corrupt politicians and rare commentary from the usually apolitical singer. Released in May, the song topped Billboard’s rock digital sales chart, giving Parton her first number 1 in the rock realm. (She holds the record for most number 1 country songs — 25 — by a woman.)

Parton told Billboard, “Anybody with any gumption whatsoever should have a fire in their belly about what’s going on in this world today. We’re gonna destroy ourselves with our pride and our stupidity and our greed. I felt guided to write that song. I wasn’t trying to wax political. I was just trying to make a statement, light the world on fire. Are we so crazy and disrespectful and thoughtless and heartless that we can’t even see or care what we’re doing to not only each other, but to the world? Where are we going to go if we destroy everything?”

With its conjuring of Armageddon, “World on Fire” checks a box in rock music themes. So does “I Dreamed About Elvis,” a daffy Parton original punctuated by country singer Ronnie McDowell’s cornball King of Rock impression.

Parton deserves credit for outfitting herself in a style that isn’t a particularly good fit. Now that she’s done her twirl in the rock spotlight, she can go back to being a supersonic global celebrity beloved by all.

Vijat Mohindra/Courtesy of Butterfly Records

Rockstar is available as a two-CD set, four-LP set and digital download, and on streaming services.