Heart's Nancy Wilson praises 'class act' Dolly Parton for Rock Hall snub
She also calls for the Rock Hall to be divided by genre
Heart guitarist Nancy Wilson has praised Dolly Parton for withdrawing from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame shortlist yesterday (14th March).
Six weeks after making the shortlist for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s Class of 2022, country icon Dolly Parton issued a statement saying she was going to “respectably bow out” of the nominations.
Parton explained she does not “feel that I have earned (the) right” to be included on the list and she does not “want votes to be split because of me.”
The 76-year-old music legend added that she still plans to make a “great rock 'n' roll album” after first mooting the idea last month.
Nancy Wilson, who was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s in 2013 alongside sister Ann Wilson as members of Heart, was last night asked about Dolly Parton’s decision to snub the Rock Hall.
She told Marci Wiser of the 95.5 KLOS radio station that Parton was a “class act” and she also called on the Rock Hall to split their inductees into genres.
"How classy… It's really cool for her to step down like that, because the category is so broad,” Wilson said. “Like, Dionne Warwick is not a rock performer, and a lot of them are not, and they should make different categories under the bigger Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame moniker.
“They should have a Country Hall Of Fame and a Pop Hall Of Fame and a Rap Hall Of Fame and a Rock Hall Of Fame. I think that would be really smart, if they started to do that. 'Cause I've gotta vote for it, like, tomorrow.
"It's really tough because Lionel Richie is in there. If you try to narrow it to what really is rock, it excludes too many others. So I think she's really a class act to have done that.”
Wilson went on to say that she would like to record the potential rock album with Dolly Parton: “It makes me wanna write a rock record with her… I should give her a call. She can do anything. She's written some of the best songs in our history. She can do it."
When Dolly Parton first confirmed she plans to record a rock album, she namechecked Heart as among the artists she will take influence from.
The final artists inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Class of 2022 will be revealed in May and the ceremony will take place in the autumn.