Dolly Parton is so cool. I mean, she's 70 years old, has written thousands of songs, has the voice of an angel, and very well may keep a plastic surgeon on her payroll.
Dolly's big break came in 1967 when she became a regular on Porter Wagoner's syndicated country music TV show. She then went on to record dozens of country chart toppers before becoming a big crossover star in the mid-1970s. She hosted her own syndicated television variety show, "Dolly," in 1976-1977; won a ton of country music awards; starred in the movie "9 to 5" in 1980 - - and wrote and recorded the the song "9 to 5" which reached number 1 on the country charts, pop charts and adult comtemporary charts; had her song "I Will Always Love You" covered for a huge hit by Whitney Houston in 1992; recorded hits with Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt, Ricky Van Shelton, Kenny Rogers, Loretta Lynn, and Tammy Wynette, among many others; recorded award winning bluegrass albums; and has toured world wide for close to 50 years. In short, she's an iconic American treasure.
Pentatonix is an a capella group. A very cool a capella group. They formed in 2011, the year that they won season three of "The Sing Off." The five member group includes three high school classmates from Arlington, Texas, along with a couple of other guys (a bass singer and a beatboxer). They've released a number of albums, including a new Christmas album that was just released on October 21 of this year.
I'm not sure how Dolly and Pentatonix met. And I don't know who came up with the idea for Dolly to join Pentatonix to re-record "Jolene" for about the zillionth time. But what a great idea is was. The result is a beautiful a capella rendition of "Jolene," which has been viewed on YouTube over 14 million times, and which reached number 1 on the country charts. And for good reason. Because it's simply amazing.
So here it is: Song 21: Dolly Parton and Pentatonix singing an a capella version of "Jolene." And, just for good measure here is a early verson of "Jolene" sung by Dolly Parton in the mid 1970s.