Reba McEntire is singing the praises of Dolly Parton. The two country music superstars will join their talents, for the first time for a recording, to sing “Does He Love You,” as part of McEntire’s upcoming box set, REVIVED REMIXED REVISITED. While fans are eager to hear the new version, no one is more excited about the duet, which was originally released with Linda Davis in 1993, than McEntire.
“I can’t wait for everyone to hear that,” McEntire tells Variety. “Linda Davis did a great job on ‘Does He Love You,’ but Dolly, there’s just something about that woman that just slays me. She added empathy and sympathy and camaraderie in the way she sang this song. It’s about two women loving or wanting the same man, and you feel for both women on it, I’m so thankful she said yes when we asked her to be a part of this, because I’ve wanted to sing with Dolly forever.”
McEntire has long been a fan of Parton, ever since the 76-year-old started releasing music.
“One of my favorite albums of all time is My Blue Ridge Mountain Boy, one of her first albums out,” McEntire says of the record, which was released in 1969. “I could sit here and sing three or four of the songs off the album front to back; that’s how big of a fan I am of hers. And then we got to meet and know each other and hang out a little bit. There’s nobody in the world like Dolly, famous or unfamous.”
McEntire might be a fan of Parton, but the love between the two singers goes both ways. Parton previously praised McEntire, while speaking with Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live.
“We did a new version of it,” Parton boasted of the song. “It turned out really good. I’ve always wanted to sing with her, and don’t know why we never did it until now. But we really sounded good together. I think the fans are going to like.”
REVIVED REMIXED REVISITED was a chance for McEntire to look back at her legendary career, which spans more than 40 years, instead of looking solely towards the future.
“I’ve been continuing to make new albums, and we really haven’t spent the time to slow down enough to revisit and work the catalog and remind people of what we’ve done in the past,” McEntire reflected. “I’m really a forward thinker, so that was a little out of my realm. I wish I had thought of it, but Cindy Mabe (UMG Nashville’s President) came up with that idea along with the folks over there, and I was thrilled that they wanted to spend that much time and attention on my catalog.”
REVIVED REMIXED REVISITED will be released on October 8. It is available for pre-order at Reba.com.