Watch Dolly Parton Sing “Jolene” With Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb on ‘Today’

From Prevention

In promotion of her Netflix series Heartstrings to release on Nov. 22, Dolly Parton took the #JoleneChallenge to Today. On Nov. 15, she asked fans on Twitter to share their best performance of her hit song using the hashtag, and Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb decided to give it their best shot—with Dolly’s help, of course.

Guthrie broke out the guitar and began strumming, and a crew member rushed out to secure Kotb’s Dolly-style towering blonde wig. “Can we get another shot of the control room?” Kotb said as her wig was being fitted. The cameras then panned to a room full of TV operators wearing wigs just like hers.

With the boost of a background track, the hosts asked Dolly to bring them in. “OK, when do we start?” Kotb said. Dolly did her best to cue them, and they sang a few bars before she interrupted. “I think you girls are behind,” she laughed. “You better stick to your hosting.”

They mustered out a few more “Jolene”s before ending the song with lots more laughter and a group hug. “Oh Dolly, you’re a good sport,” Guthrie told her. “We love you.”

In another segment, the three of them got to chat a little more about Heartstrings, the eight-episode anthology series in which each episode tells the story of one of Dolly’s hit songs. “I always thought my songs told stories,” Dolly said. “And ever since I was young, I thought, I’d love to see my songs on the screen.” The country music legend narrates all eight episodes and even acts in a few.

Kotb then asked her about writing her song “I Will Always Love You,” which led them to discussing how she kick-started the solo career she’s known for today. “I had to fight for it and I still fight for it like we all do,” Dolly said. “But I just knew that was my destiny.”

But how could she be so sure? “I just always had a feeling in my heart,” she said. She went on to give the Today hosts a glimpse into her songwriting process, explaining that she finds music and rhythm in all everyday sounds. And if there aren’t any sounds, she makes them.

“It’s in my head,” she said. “It comes to me. But I have my nails too, you know, my acrylic nails.” She rubbed them together rhythmically to mimic the sound of washboard percussion. “That’s how I wrote “9 to 5,” she said. “I make music out of anything.”

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