Skip to content

Song · Dolly Parton

“Jolene” by Dolly Parton

From the EP Jolene EP (1973)

“Jolene” by Dolly Parton appears on 19 radio countdowns from 9 stations between 2001 and 2026. It was first released in 1973 on the EP Jolene EP. Its best result is #4 on the 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of All Time. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #81 indie & aaa song of all time and #89 of the '70s.

19countdowns

9stations

#4best position

0#1 finishes

1top 10 finishes

2001–2026years charted

Watch

Dolly Parton - Jolene (Official Audio)

Video from YouTube (DollyPartonVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

Dolly Parton wrote "Jolene" and cut it at RCA Studio B in Nashville on May 22, 1973, with Bob Ferguson producing, and it came out that October 15. A roomful of Nashville players gives it a restless, driving pulse: Kenny Malone's drums and Bobby Dyson's bass underneath, guitars from Parton, Dave Kirby and Jimmy Colvard, Stu Basore's steel, Hargus "Pig" Robbins on piano, fiddles from Johnny Gimble and Mack Magaha and banjos from Bobby Thompson and Buck Trent, with Parton's voice aching over the top.

Critics count it among the songs that best sum up country music. Rolling Stone placed it at 217 on its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004 and moved it up to 63 in the 2021 revision, and it drew two Grammy nominations, in 1975 and in 1976, the second for a live version.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Indie & Adult Alternative

All Rock Formats

All-time and decade countdowns

Year	#	Station	Countdown	of
2001	74	WFPK	WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time	2000
2007	892	WTMD	WTMD Top 897 Songs of All Time	897
2009	328	WXPN	WXPN 885 Desert Island Songs (2009)	885
2012	298	WYEP	WYEP Top 500 Songs Countdown	500
2014	352	WXPN	WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2014)	885
2016	715	WYEP	WYEP 913 Countdown 2016	913
2018	75	The Current	The Current's 893 Essential Songs	892
2019	188	WYEP	WYEP Big Spring Countdown 2019	1017
2019	188	WYEP	WYEP Labor Day Weekend Countdown 2019	1099
2020	80	WXPN	WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time	2020
2021	38	WYEP	WYEP 2021 Labor Day Countdown	168
2022	89	90.9 The Bridge	90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '70s	908
2022	279	The Colorado Sound	The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Colorado Sound Songs of All Time	1055
2022	65	KEXP	KEXP Top Songs of the Last 50 Years (1972-2022)	491
2023	80	WYEP	WYEP Countdown to Fall 2023	1229
2023	4	90.9 The Bridge	90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of All Time	909
2024	154	KEXP	The Best Opening Tracks of All Time	738
2026	13	WYEP	WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time	1180
2026	821	KXT	KXT 917 Song Countdown	917

Comments

Log in or create a free account to join the conversation about "Jolene" by Dolly Parton.

No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.