Dolly Parton Joining Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame After Initially Saying She Isn’t ‘Worthy’

Topline

Dolly Parton is among the 2022 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees, the foundation announced Wednesday, after the country music superstar initially said she wouldn’t accept her nomination because she didn’t feel she was “worthy” of the honor.

Dolly Parton performs at Austin City Limits Live during Blockchain Creative Labs’ Dollyverse event … [+] during the South by Southwest Music Festival on Friday, March 18, 2022, in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Jack Plunkett/Invision/AP)

Jack Plunkett/Invision/AP

Key Facts

Parton, along with Eminem, Duran Duran, Eurythmics, Carly Simon, Lionel Richie and Pat Benatar, are set to join the Class of 2022 in the performers category, according to the Rock Hall.

Parton, 76, said in March she would decline her nomination to the Hall of Fame, saying that while she was “flattered and grateful,” she didn’t “feel that [she]

has earned that right.”

Days later, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame said in a statement Parton would remain in contention as the foundation had already sent out ballots with her name on it to 1,200 voters.

Parton reversed course in an interview with NPR last week, and said she would “gracefully accept” the honor, after she said she found out that the honor isn’t necessarily only for people in rock music.

Crucial Quote

“It was always my belief that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame was for people in rock music,” Parton told NPR. “I have found out lately it’s not necessarily that. But if they can’t go there to be recognized, where can they go? And so I felt like I was taking away from someone that maybe deserved it certainly more than me since I never considered myself a rock artist. But obviously, there’s more to it than that.”

What To Watch For

The induction ceremony is scheduled to take place on November 5 in Los Angeles, and will be available to stream on HBO Max on a later date.

Big Number

$350 million. That’s Parton’s net worth, according to Forbes’ estimates, adding her to Forbes’ Richest Self-Made Women list for the first time in 2021.

Tangent

This isn’t the first time Parton has tried to turn down an award—she said last year the Trump administration offered her two Presidential Medals of Freedom, but she didn’t accept them because her husband was ill, and then again when she could not travel because of Covid-19.