The late Grease star Olivia Newton-John is trending on YouTube as a clip of her singing with Dolly Parton, recorded a year before the actress’ death, has been released. We have the scoop on how the duet came about and what Dolly Parton said about it.

Olivia Newton-John’s Posthumous album

On May 5th, just months before her passing, Olivia Newton-John released her last album Just the Two of Us. The album, which contains 17 tracks, features collaborations with other singers and artists, including Michael McDonald, John Travolta, his daughter Chloe Rose Lattanzi, and Mariah Carey.

The “Jolene” Duet with Dolly Parton

The aforementioned album also pays homage to Olivia Newton-John’s friendship with the Nashville country singer, Dolly Parton. The two sang Parton’s iconic song, “Jolene”, together in a music video that is just recently released to the public.

Newton-John and Parton’s friendship began in 1974 when Newton-John won the Country Music Association Awards for Female Vocalist of the Year for her song “If You Love Me (Let Me Know)”, becoming the first non-American-born artist to win the trophy. In her acceptance speech, Newton-John named Parton as one of the people who inspired her. In 1976, she launched her own cover and rendition of “Jolene”. The new 2022 version of her singing, with Parton this time, is a testament to that sweet memory of hers as “Jolene” was among her favorite of Parton’s songs.

Dolly Parton Fondly Remembers Olivia Newton-John

Dolly Parton clearly adores and admires Olivia Newton-John. When she shared the video of them singing “Jolene” to her followers on Instagram, she captioned it “I love you, and thanks for shining your light on us”. Parton has also said that she and Newton-John “stayed close through the years” and she is proud to be working on the duet project. In the music video, Dolly Parton sang the opening verse first before Olivia Newton-John followed and then the song builds up with them harmonizing the repeated chorus together.

Published by HOLR Magazine