Nancy Wilson Praises Dolly Parton For Hall Of Fame Withdrawal

Heart’s Nancy Wilson has praised Dolly Parton for withdrawing her name out of the running in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame’s 2022 class of inductees.

On Monday, the 76-year-old country music legend requested to withdraw her name from the 2022 ballot, saying:

“I don’t feel that I have earned the right. I really do not want votes to be split because of me, so I must respectfully bow out.”

Parton was one of 17 artists nominated for the Rock Hall class of 2022, along with Eminem, Lionel Richie, Rage Against the Machine, Judas Priest, and Beck, among others.

During an interview with Los Angeles radio station KLOS, Wilson salutes Parton for her decision, expressing:

“It’s really cool for her to step down like that because the category is so broad.”

Wilson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Heart in 2013. She noted the institution’s difficulties when it comes to recognizing artists from outside the rock world, saying:

“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.”

Wilson then suggested:

“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 [Parton is] really a class act to have done that. And it makes me wanna write a rock record with her.”

We can recall that Parton previously told Billboard that she’d wanted to record a rock album “for years,” suggesting such a release would be “like a Linda Ronstadt or Heart kind of thing.”

The idea of the two artists collaborating isn’t impossible. Wilson then said:

“I should give her a call. She could do anything. She’s written some of the best songs in our history. She could do it.”