Parton unleashes her inner rock star, Mellencamp declares ‘f*** antisemitism,’

Back in March of this year, just a little over a month after it was announced that Dolly Parton was among the 17 nominees on the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s Class of 2022 ballot, the 76-year-old country legend made the shocking and unprecedented announcement that she was “respectfully” withdrawing from nominations — because she didn’t feel “worthy” of the honor. However, two-thirds of the ballots had already been mailed out to Hall voters, so she remained in the running — and while Parton’s issue with her eligibility seemed to stem from her concern that she wasn’t “rock ‘n’ roll” enough, many of those voters thought otherwise. Parton was voted into the Hall anyway, and so, when she appeared at Saturday’s induction ceremony, she wanted to make sure she truly qualified — announcing plans for a rock album and even debuting a new rock song.

“I’m sure a lot of you know that back when they said they were going to put me in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, I didn’t really feel like I had done enough to deserve that and I didn’t understand it at the time,” Parton told the audience (shortly after being inducted by Pink, who praised Parton’s “sheer genius”). “When I always thought about the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, I thought that was just for people in rock ‘n’ roll. And I thought, ‘Well, if I’m going to be in the Rock & Roll Hall Fame, I’m gonna have to do a rock album — because my husband of 56 years is a huge rock fan… and he’s always said, ‘You should do a rock album.’ And I thought about it a few times, but timing is everything. And then when this all came up… I thought, ‘Well, since I am gonna be in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, I’m gonna write a song for tonight’ — which I’m gonna sing in a minute.”

With that, Parton excused herself to change out of her sequined minidress, almost leaving her trophy behind at the podium and joking, “See what this means to me? I almost forgot it!” But when she returned to the stage, she was in serious rocker mode, looking like she’d borrowed an outfit from Rob Halford of fellow Class of 2022 inductees Judas Priest. “I’m a rock star now!” she declared, rocking a figure-hugging, bellbottomed, black patent leather catsuit dripping with metal chains. “I figure if I’m gonna be in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, I have to earn it,” she explained.

Accompanied by Kent Wells (who Parton said will be producing her rock record) and the Zac Brown Band, Parton proceeded to debut her new rock single, simply and aptly titled “Rockin’,” which shouted out many of the rock ‘n’ roll architects who entered the Hall via the inaugural Class of ’86. “I grew up lovin’ Elvis, and wild-man Jerry Lee/Chuck Berry, Little Richard/They all cast a spell on me/Carl Perkins and those blue suede shoes had no place on the farm… I was just a child, but I went hog-wild/For the rhythm and the beat,” she sang. “I’ve been rockin’, rockin’, rockin’ since the day I was born/I’ll be rockin’ till the day I’m gone/I still got rock ‘n’ roll down in my country soul/And I’ll be rockin’ till the cows come home.”

“And you thought I couldn’t rock!” she quipped, punctuating her statement with a Pete Townshend-like windmill strum across her electric guitar.

Parton’s Rock Hall tribute, which closed Saturday’s ceremony, also included Pink and Brandi Carlile dueting on “Coat of Many Colors” and Sheryl Crow and Brown singing “9 to 5.” But the epic closer was a group number of “Jolene” — certainly a bona fide rock classic, considering that it has been covered by the White Stripes, Miley Cyrus, and even post-punk/gothic bands the Sisters of Mercy and Strawberry Switchblade. The all-star performance featured Brown, Carlile, Crow, and fellow 2022 inductees Eurythmics (with Annie Lennox in a red cowboy hat), Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran, and Halford. (Halford seemed especially delighted to share the stage with Parton, as he cuddled up to the country legend, beaming.) “That was fun!” Parton gushed enthusiastically, hardly seeming like an artist who just announced that she’s retiring from touring.

“We’ve got a star-studded stage! I feel like a hillbilly in the city,” Parton giggled. Earlier, during her acceptance speech, she asked the A-list audience, “Any of you rock stars gonna help me out on [my rock album]? Well, good — ‘cause I’m gonna hold you to it!” Surely everyone who shared the stage with her Saturday would be eager to volunteer their services.

Saturday’s ceremony…