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Remember When Dolly Parton Took a Bluegrass “Shine” to This Rock Anthem?

Jan 19, 2021

Remember When Dolly Parton Took a Bluegrass

The queen of country music is celebrating a milestone birthday on January 19. Her majesty, Dolly Parton, turns 75 this year, and to celebrate the music that has won awards and our hearts alike, weā€™re deep-diving back to the distant year of 2001. Like Dolly herself, “Shine” comes from a record that was born in mid-January — one that features a little bit of everything, from original compositions and old traditionals to cleverly reimagined cover tunes like this one. That diverse album, Little Sparrow, earned a pair of Grammy nominations and a win for her vocal performance on ā€œShine.ā€

Although this 1993 rock radio staple was originally recorded by Collective Soul and written by its lead singer Ed Roland, Dolly and the all-star backing band in the video give the song a fresh breath of bluegrass energy and acoustic attitude. It’s a seemingly unlikely cover, yet Parton pulls a unique bluegrass diamond out of what seems like a through-and-through rock and roll song. Upon Little Sparrowā€™s release in 2001, Parton stated, ā€œIā€™ve been trying to think of how I can sing it without all the rock stuff; it sounds spiritual and all that, and the melody lent itself well to some bluegrass harmonies. I figured weā€™d kick it around and if it didnā€™t work, we wouldnā€™t put it on. But it worked out great.ā€

As unbelievable as it may be, here is the TL;DR: Dolly won a Grammy for a cover of a Collective Soul hit. Watch the music video below and enjoy our Essential Dolly Parton Playlist in honor of her 75th birthday!


 

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Remember When Dolly Parton Took a Bluegrass
Remember When Dolly Parton Took a Bluegrass