Country music icon Dolly Parton has released her latest single from her upcoming album ‘Rockstar’. The track, ‘What’s Up?’ is a cover of the iconic song by 4 Non Blondes and features fellow musician Linda Perry.
Parton’s forthcoming album will feature nine original songs and 21 covers of classic rock songs, including Prince’s ‘Purple Rain’, The Rolling Stones’ ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’ and more. Her cover of The Beatles’ ‘Let It Be’ features Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Mick Fleetwood and Peter Frampton. Additionally, she recently shared a cover of Queen’s ‘We Are The Champions’.
The video for ‘What’s Up?’ was directed by Steve Summers and filmed at Eakin Elementary School in Nashville. The video features Parton asking the children, “If our children don’t make it, then what will?”.
Parton said of her collaboration with Linda Perry, “First of all, I love Linda Perry. Second of all, I love this song written by Linda. Third of all, I love being a part of this video to try to make people think about what’s going on in this world today. Shout out to the little children that helped with the video!” Perry added, “Her version of ‘What’s Up?’ is so good. Her spin on it made me feel like it was her song. No surprise there. Being on set making the video was a comfortable easy experience. The vibe on set was chill and Dolly and I got to catch up and laugh a lot. I could go on and on, obviously I’m a fan.”
Parton recently revealed why she never let Elvis Presley cover her hit song ‘I Will Always Love You’. She said in an interview with BBC Radio 2 that it was due to a conflict with his manager, Colonel Tom Parker. She said, “‘I wouldn’t let Colonel Tom Parker [have the rights to the song]. Elvis loved it. I talked to Priscilla not very long ago – she said, ‘Elvis sang it to me when we were on the courthouse steps after we got divorced’. He loved the song and wanted to do it. Had it worked up. They’d already called me to come down to the studio and to hear part of the song.” However, Parker asked for the publishing rights and when Parton refused, he said he couldn’t agree to her terms.
The song was popularized again when Whitney Houston recorded her own version for the movie The Bodyguard in 1992. Fans of Dolly Parton’s music can now enjoy her latest cover and look forward to the release of her album ‘Rockstar’ in November.
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