One of Dolly Parton’s final recordings is a Welsh cover of Jolene

When Bronwen Lewis first started covering Dolly Parton’s songs in Welsh, she never dreamed she would one day record a song with the queen of country herself.

The singer-songwriter from Wales started covering Parton’s songs and sharing them online about two years ago.

Her rendition of Jolene caught the attention of Parton’s niece, singer Jada Star, and eventually, the country legend herself, who agreed to collaborate on a recording.

“It was a pinch-me moment,” Lewis told As It Happens guest host Dave Seglins.

The new Welsh cover of Jolene was recorded in studio by Lewis and Star, and features vocals, some in Welsh, from Parton. Released on Friday on all major streaming platforms, it is Parton’s second posthumous song release and was one of the last things she recorded before she died in August at the age of 80.

“I’m so thankful to her that she believed in the project and in Bronwen and myself,” Star said. “I really hope that people feel that when they hear it, and that they love it as much as we do.”

Lewis says she’s a lifelong fan of country music, and of Parton in particular.

“Three chords and the truth is what Dolly did best. Authentically herself. And I just thought that that sort of message fit with the Welsh language perfectly,” she said. 

Lewis remembers the moment she first heard Parton’s vocals, recorded in both English and Welsh.

“Immediate tears,” she said. “And I think that’s what a lot of the response has been since we’ve released the track. Immediate tears.”

Parton is believed to have Welsh ancestry on her mother’s side.

Bronwen Lewis, left, and Jada Star record a Welsh cover of Dolly Parton’s Jolene. (Owepar Entertainment)

Thankful for the opportunity

Star says Lewis’s Jolene cover made an impression on her and her cousins, Parton’s nieces and nephews. 

“We were all just fascinated by it and by her. And she was so talented and so sweet and so beautiful,” she said. “And so we reached out to her and decided to kind of invite her to be a cousin with us.”

Star and Lewis decided to collaborate on a studio recording of the song, and invited Parton to participate. 

“She said yes immediately,” Star said. “She loved the idea.”

Lewis says she was blown over by the news. 

“I bet there were thousands, if not millions, of people that wish they could have had a chance to collaborate with Dolly,” she said, adding that perhaps her niece’s involvement swayed her.

“And she chose our collaboration, and I can never ever thank her enough for that.”

Star pushed back on the idea that Parton was just doing her niece a favour. 

“The fact that you had taken the time to honour her song in the way that you did … I think she saw that as such a beautiful sign of respect for her music and also for where you were from,” she said, addressing Lewis directly. “I think that resonated with her.”

Singer Jada Star, left, says it was an honour to collaborate with Bronwen Lewis on a Welsh cover of Dolly Parton’s Jolene. (Owepar Entertainment)

‘We are incredibly proud of our language’

The Welsh language dates back to before the Roman Empire, surviving centuries of British efforts to suppress it.

Britain banned Welsh for hundreds of years until the Welsh Language Act 1967. In the 19th century, teachers would beat children who spoke Welsh in class with a wooden board known as the Welsh Not.

Today, about 17.8 per cent of people in Wales speak Welsh, according to the country’s 2021 census.

“We are incredibly proud of our language. And to have this sort of global platform and with the blessing of Dolly and her family on this, I mean, it’s going to do wonders for the Welsh culture and Welsh language,” Lewis said.

“I really hope people take from it that heartbreak can sound the same in any language … and that we are more similar than we give ourselves credit for, that we can actually open our hearts and minds to people around us, even if they seem different to us.”