Dolly Parton On The Explosive Popularity Of Country Music: “They’re Still Calling It Country Music, Even If It Sounds More Rock & Pop”

Always keeping it real.

Dolly Parton is gearing up to release a new album called Smoky Mountain DNA next month, in the midst of launching new business ventures like her wine company Dolly Wines, and a new makeup line Dolly Beauty.

The woman hasn’t stopped working in decades, and she shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. In a recent wide-ranging interview with Elle, the country superstar was asked about her opinions on the current state of country music and the popularity of it.

Of course, back when Dolly was young, icons like Hank Williams were putting out songs like “Lost Highway,” and it was a very different genre overall. Now stars like Morgan Wallen, Luke Combs, Billy Strings, Miranda Lambert, Sierra Ferrell, Zach Top, Lainey Wilson, Riley Green and so many others are making music that is way more “country” than what we had on the radio during the (dark) era of bro-country in the 2010’s.

It’s really cool to see so many people discover good country music once again, though generally speaking, over the last several decades even, country itself has become decidedly more pop and rock influenced, which in my opinion is a sign of the times and the way music has evolved.

When asked about her opinions on the current state of the genre, specifically what’s good about it and what could still change, Dolly talked about her love for the legends like Hank Williams, George Jones and Merle Haggard and how amazing they were.

She also acknowledged that things inevitably change in terms of the sound, like the aforementioned pop and rock influence, though she’s “proud to say” there are artists who love those icons too and still want to make music like them:

“I will always love country music. I love all the days of Hank Williams, and all the early, early days. George Jones, and of course Merle Haggard, all those wonderful, wonderful artists of that day.

Everything has to change, and country music has changed a lot, but there’s going to always be those young people that latch on to Hank Williams and go back and do some of that. Country music used to be thought of as an old hokey kind of music. I love the fact that now, it is one of the most loved musics in the whole wide world.

I’m just proud to say that we’ve still got country music, we still love it, and they’re still calling it country music, even if it sounds more rock and pop. Country music’s going to always exist in one form or another. I’m going to see to it as long as I live.”

I think she’s certainly right about that, and Dolly has obviously seen, and been a large part of, the evolution of the genre and the everlasting popularity (though it certainly fluxes at times).

It’s interesting to hear from her perspective on the current state, considering she’s one of those icons she named too, and I think we’re actually in really good hands with the aforementioned artists who are so popular right now across the board of all genres of music.

The queen has spoken, and Dolly nailed it…

Smoky Mountain DNA is due out everywhere on November 15th.

“Smoky Mountain DNA”

_{Images are for reference only.Images and contents gathered automatic from google or 3rd party sources.All rights on the images and contents are with their legal original owners.}