Dolly Parton just dropped her first song from her forthcoming Rockstar album. The Country Music Hall of Fame member released “World on Fire,” one of the 30 songs on the record,
“World on Fire” is one of only three songs on Rockstar that Parton performs completely by herself. It’s a message that she says the world desperately needs to hear. Parton will perform the song at the end of the ACM Awards, which she is hosting alongside Garth Brooks.
“At the end of the show, I am going to debut the first single off of my rock album,” Parton previously shared on Good Morning America. “The rock album is called Rockstar, and we’ve got a lot of wonderful, great celebrities, a lot of the older, rock artists, in addition to all these iconic, wonderful songs.”
“This is a song I felt very inspired to write,” she added. “I think it speaks about everything and to everyone this day and time. I hope it is something that will touch you and maybe touch enough people to want to make a change for the better.”
The 77-year-old is joined on Rockstar by an impressive list of opening acts, including Elton John, Paul McCartney, Steven Tyler, Stevie Nicks, John Fogerty, Chris Stapleton, Michael McDonald, Peter Frampton, Brandi Carlile, Sting, Richie Sambora and more. The record includes nine original songs, plus covers of 21 iconic rock songs, many of them sung with the song’s original performer.
“I’m so excited to finally present my first Rock and Roll album Rockstar!” Parton said when the project was announced. “I am very honored and privileged to have worked with some of the greatest iconic singers and musicians of all time and to be able to sing all the iconic songs throughout the album was a joy beyond measure. I hope everybody enjoys the album as much as I’ve enjoyed putting it together!”
Last year, Parton announced that she was working on a rock album, when she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
“I thought, ‘Well, if I’m gonna be in (it), I’m gonna have to do a rock album,’ because my husband of 56 years is a huge rock fan,” Parton told Pollstar. “And all through the house, he has music louder than this going on at all times. He’s always said, ‘You should do a rock album.’ And I thought about it a few times, but timing is everything. And then when this all came up… I thought, well, since I am gonna be in the (hall), I’m gonna write a song for tonight.”
Rockstar will be released on November 17 via Butterfly Records with distribution by Big Machine Label Group. The project will be available as a four-LP set, a 2-CD set, a digital download, and on all streaming services. Pre-order Rockstar here.