Bad Wolves have put out their cover of Jolene, and the release has cost them a guitarist. AJ Rebollo announced his departure on the Friday before it appeared, objecting to the label's plan to issue the recording after Dolly Parton's death and saying he believed there was ill intent behind the decision.
Better Noise released it anyway. Drummer John Boecklin, who the band describe as founder and songwriter, set out the sequence in a press release: the singer was a Parton fan who had been posting videos of her performing Jolene, the band decided to record a rock version for their next album, and label chief executive Dan Waite sent the finished track to Parton's manager Danny Nozell with a request for her to guest.
The answer came back positive. Nozell played it to Parton, she liked it, and she was preparing to go into the studio to add her vocals. The band sent over stems for her engineers to work with. Then she died on August 25, and a collaboration became a posthumous tribute release.
Nozell has backed the release publicly. "She listened to the Bad Wolves arrangement of 'Jolene' weeks ago, gave it her full blessing," he said, adding that she had been excited about it and that putting the track out with proceeds going to her Imagination Library is what she and her team wanted.
The arrangement itself is heavier than the original by a wide margin, with Rebollo's chugging guitar work carrying over from his time in Issues and the vocal pushing the song somewhere Parton never took it. Whether releasing it within a week of her death was the right call is the question that has followed it around, and reasonable people have landed on both sides.
It caps a difficult fortnight for the band. They had already come off a tour with Skillet after sustained harassment from that band's fanbase, and Metal Injection, which covered both stories, later reported that Rebollo issued a statement praising the cover and the label after all.
The cover puts a metal band in the middle of a country mourning period, which is not a comfortable place to stand. Related coverage includes Bad Wolves losing their Skillet tour slot and Parton's death at 80, with new releases collected on the release calendar.
The facts
- Bad Wolves released their cover of Jolene on August 31
- Guitarist AJ Rebollo left the band days earlier over the release decision
- Dolly Parton had given the arrangement her blessing and planned to add vocals
- Label Better Noise sent the track to Parton's manager Danny Nozell
- All proceeds go to Parton's Imagination Library
- The band had recently come off a tour with Skillet
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