Beloved country music star Dolly Parton has been officially inducted into the 2022 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame after previously withdrawing herself from contention for the prestigious honour.
Parton received the esteemed honour during a ceremony in Los Angeles on Saturday, November 5 where she enthusiastically declared to the crowd: “I’m a rock star now.”
“This is a very special night for me. I’m sure a lot of you knew that back when they said they were gonna put me in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I didn’t feel like I had done enough to deserve that. And I didn’t understand at the time that it’s about more than that. But I’m just so honored and so proud to be here tonight.”
During the ceremony, Parton performed her new song Rockin, declaring “if I’m going to go in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I’m going to have to earn it.”
“And you thought I couldn’t rock and roll,” she said.
The 9 to 5 hitmaker originally turned down the induction, issuing a statement to social media on Monday, March 14, telling fans she “must respectfully bow out”.
Although Parton was “extremely flattered and grateful” for the nomination she felt that she hadn’t “earned that right” to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and hoped the organisation would consider her in the future if she’s “ever worthy”, hinting that she has never released a straight rock and roll album.
“This has, however, inspired me to put out a hopefully great rock ‘n’ roll album at some point in the future, which I have always wanted to do!” she said at the time.
“My husband is a total rock ‘n’ roll freak, and has always encouraged me to do one.”
In a later interview with NPR the country music star seemed to soften her stance in regard to being inducted, claiming she would “accept gracefully”.
“I would just say thanks and I’ll accept it because the fans vote. But when I said that, it was always my belief that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame was for the people in rock music, and I have found out lately that it’s not necessarily that,” she said.
“But if they can’t go there to be recognized, where do they go? So I just felt like I would be taking away from someone that maybe deserved it, certainly more than me, because I never considered myself a rock artist. But obviously, there’s more to it than that.”