Dolly Parton Dresses as a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader for Revealing Halftime Performance

Joseph Hudak
·2 min read
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GettyImages-1810325811-2 - Credit: Richard Rodriguez/GettyImagesSport
GettyImages-1810325811-2 - Credit: Richard Rodriguez/GettyImagesSport

Dolly Parton’s promotional push behind her new album Rockstar has been as well-planned as a military operation. The country music superstar has been everywhere, from an hourlong interview on ABC earlier this month to the field at the University of Tennessee’s Neyland Stadium last weekend, where she sang the Volunteers’ rally song “Rocky Top.” On Thanksgiving Day, Parton continued her campaign, showing up in Arlington, Texas, to perform at AT&T Stadium during halftime of the Dallas Cowboys – Washington Commanders NFL game.

And, wow, did she make an entrance.

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Parton, at 77 years old, donned the iconic blue-and-white vest and short shorts of the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders to perform songs from Rockstar, her rock-influenced album that includes an army of guest stars: Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Lizzo, Elton John, Chris Stapleton, Pink, and Brandi Carlile, among them. With the entire cheerleaders troupe dancing below her, Parton performed her classics “Jolene” and “9 to 5,” along with a cover of Queen’s “We Are the Champions” and “We Will Rock You.”

Parton is at home on the biggest of stages, including during NFL halftime. But she recently told The Hollywood Reporter that she’s turned down offers to perform at the Super Bowl halftime show. “I’ve been offered that many times,” she said. “I couldn’t do it because of other things, or I just didn’t think I was big enough to do it — to do that big of a production…. I’ve never done anything with that big of a production. I don’t know if I could have. I think at the time that’s what I was thinking.”

The Country Music Hall of Fame member, who was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year, released Rockstar on Nov. 17. On Monday, she dropped two bonus tracks to the already 30-song album: a new version of her classic “Jolene” with Måneskin and a cover of “Two Tickets to Paradise,” the 1977 Eddie Money hit.

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