Dolly Parton reverses course, says she would accept Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction

Country music star Dolly Parton has reversed course in an interview with NPR’s Morning Edition and says she would “gracefully” accept an induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame after saying that month she would be withdrawing her name.

“Well, I’ll accept gracefully. I would just say thanks and I’ll accept it because the fans vote,” Parton said in the interview that aired Friday, when asked what she would do if she was inducted given her previous statement on the matter. 

“But when I said that, it was always my belief that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame was for the people in rock music, and I have found out lately that it’s not necessarily that,” she continued. “But if they can’t go there to be recognized, where do they go? So I just felt like I would be taking away from someone that maybe deserved it, certainly more than me, because I never considered myself a rock artist. But obviously, there’s more to it than that.”

Parton said in a statement shared through Twitter last month that she did not believe she had “earned that right” to be inducted in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame but said she was “extremely flattered and grateful to be nominated.”

But she said that the nomination encouraged her to work on a rock and roll album for the future and said she hoped she could be considered again for a nomination “if I’m ever worthy.”

Seventeen artists are being considered this year for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, including Eminem, A Tribe Called Quest, Rage Against the Machine, Duran Duran and Lionel Richie, among others. 

Friday is the last day for fans to vote for the artist they want inducted into rock and roll’s highest honor, and the inductees will be announced next month.