Heart’s Nancy Wilson Wants to Write a Rock Album With Dolly Parton
This week, Heart rocker Nancy Wilson offered her collaboration to Dolly Parton after the country music legend declined a 2022 artist nomination to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
It was on Monday (March 14) that Parton announced she "must respectfully bow out." But she said the Rock Hall nom encouraged her to "put out a hopefully great rock 'n' roll album at some point in the future."
The country singer and actress added that she had "always wanted" to do one.
Wilson, the Heart guitarist and co-vocalist who's already in the Rock Hall with the hard rock band, is up for the challenge. That's what she told the Los Angeles rock radio station 95.5 KLOS on Monday. (Listen to the interview down toward the bottom of this post.)
"How classy," Wilson remarked of Parton's decision. "It's really cool for her to step down like that because the category is so broad. 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." (via Blabbermouth)
The Heart member continued, "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."
Wilson also said, "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. 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."
Heart, who reunited in 2019 after two stints totaling over 40 years together, currently aren't performing live. Wilson's now focusing on her solo band, which she calls Nancy Wilson's Heart. Ann Wilson, Nancy's sister and the main lead singer in Heart, will release the solo album Fierce Bliss on April 29, followed by her own tour starting the next month.
Fan voting for Rock Hall 2022 nominees is open now until April 29. Click here to vote. Excluding Parton, nominees are Richie, Rage Against the Machine, New York Dolls, Pat Benatar, MC5, Eminem, Beck, Kate Bush, DEVO, Duran Duran, Eurythmics, Fela Kuti, Carly Simon, A Tribe Called Quest and Dionne Warwick.
The Rock Hall's Class of 2021 performer inductees were Foo Fighters, The Go-Go's, Jay-Z, Carole King, Todd Rundgren and Tina Turner.