It’s Dolly Parton’s birthday, but she’s the one that’s doing the gifting.
LISTEN NOW: Dolly Parton celebrates release of 'Rockstar'
In honor of her 78th birthday, the Country icon has released a deluxe version of her recent album, Rockstar, featuring nine fresh tracks in addition to the original album’s whopping 30.
“It's my Birthday so I'm going to give you a present,” Dolly wrote to fans. “I'm releasing four never released songs for my birthday, to go with the Rockstar album, and a few others that you may have heard before that were not on the album. I hope you enjoy them, and I hope you all have a happy birthday for me! LOL.”
Parton was originally inspired to create her Rockstar album after being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in November 2022.
“If I’m gonna be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I’m gonna have to earn it,” she expressed during her acceptance speech. In the months following, Parton got together with some of the biggest names in the Rock genre to re-record big hits, while also recording nine original songs which would soon make up the 30-track album, Rockstar.
“I just want people to really enjoy this Rock album [and] to say it’s really some good music and that I did OK singing it… I really busted a gut tryin’,” Dolly told Katie Neal during a recent Audacy Check In. “It was fun for me. It was a challenge, but it was fun to get to sing these songs. I usually sing so many of my own songs, it’s great to get to sing something else like some classic songs.”
Rockstar (Deluxe) is available now.