When you got it, you got it. And Dolly Parton still has it.
The country legend and reluctant recent Rock & Roll Hall of Famer performed today at halftime of the NFL game between the Washington Commanders and host Dallas Cowboys and brought the billion-dollar house down with a three-song, six-minute concert.
Riding her just-released rock double album Rockstar, the veteran singer-songwriter began with a pitch for the Salvation Army before playing two of her signature hits and a newly revamped Queen classic. Parton began with “Jolene,” her iconic plea to a man-stealing, auburn-haired vixen that features the signature line “please don’t take him just because you can.” It’s the track’s golden anniversary this month, having first hit the country chart in November 1973 before going to No. 1.
She Grammy winner followed that with another big hit, “9 to 5,” from the 1980 comedy she starred in alongside Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. That song topped Billboard’s Hot 100 and Hot Country Songs charts, won two Grammys and was nominated for Song of the Year.
A stadium full of people was the perfect place to play the night’s closing track, her cover of Queen’s “We Will Rock You”/”We Are the Champions.” It’s the fourth and latest single from Rockstar, and the Texas crowd gobbled it up like post-turkey pumpkin pie.
Click here to see how it looked on CBS today. Trust us, it’s better than the game was.