Dolly Parton’s Welsh-language ‘Jolene’ recording set for 9 October release

Dolly Parton’s Welsh-language recording of ‘Jolene’, made with Neath singer Bronwen Lewis and Parton’s niece Jada Star, is due for release on 9 October. The collaborators announced the plan on 2 October, after recording the song before Parton’s death on 25 August. The forthcoming single will let listeners hear Parton sing part of one of her best-known songs in Welsh.

BBC Wales and Nation.Cymru reported the planned release date following an announcement video from Lewis and Star. As of 2 October, the recording had been announced but had not yet been released. Both reports describe it as a posthumous release; BBC Wales says it will be Parton’s second. Neither report provides a final track length or detailed distribution information.

How Bronwen Lewis’s Welsh ‘Jolene’ reached Parton’s family

Lewis, a Welsh-speaking singer-songwriter from Neath, said she began translating songs she loved into Welsh. About two years ago, she posted a video of herself singing ‘Jolene’ in the language. She told BBC Wales she had not expected the video to spread widely, still less to attract the attention of Parton’s family and her niece Jada Star.

Star contacted Lewis, and the two formed a friendship that brought Star from Nashville to Wales. Star joined Lewis at Pride Cymru. In the announcement video quoted by Nation.Cymru, Star called performing there one of the highlights of her life and said the visit had taught her about her family heritage. Their meeting became the route to the new recording.

Where the Welsh-language recording was made

Parton recorded her contribution at her studio in Nashville after receiving guidance on the Welsh pronunciation, according to BBC Wales and Nation.Cymru. Lewis and Star recorded their parts in the UK. BBC Wales places Parton’s studio recording in early 2025, before her death in August 2026. The reports describe a collaboration assembled across the Atlantic rather than a joint studio session.

Lewis told BBC Wales that Star’s news that Parton wanted to participate overwhelmed her: she cried and called her mother immediately. Lewis also said hearing Parton sing in Welsh for the first time was ‘unbelievable’. Star and Lewis told the BBC that Parton was ‘proud’ to sing in Welsh. That description is the collaborators’ account of her feelings; the reports do not quote Parton using that word herself.

Lewis had hoped to meet Parton in person as part of the project, Nation.Cymru reported, but Parton died before the meeting could take place. In comments published by the outlet, Lewis spoke of the privilege of having recorded with her. BBC Wales quoted Star saying that she and Lewis decided to finish what they had started after Parton’s death.

Why ‘Jolene’ and the Welsh connection matter

The new version returns to a song central to Parton’s catalogue. Parton’s official website says her ‘Jolene’ album came out on 4 February 1974 and that its title track became her second number-one country single. The site describes the song as a wife’s plea to a woman she fears could take her husband. Lewis’s Welsh cover brought that established song to the attention of Parton’s family.

The Welsh setting also has a family connection for Star. Nation.Cymru reported that Parton had spoken of Welsh roots on her mother’s side, through the Owens family. Star said her visit with Lewis helped her learn about that heritage. The outlet said research by Conwy council archivists after Parton’s death suggested a possible link to Machynlleth rather than Conwy, which had previously been associated with the family.