BELLES’ ‘Son Of Jolene’ Collaboration With Dolly Parton Impacts Radio

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BELLES and Dolly Parton. Photo: ashtronot

Rising country artist BELLES is climbing on the radio charts and seeing significant streaming growth on her collaboration with the late global icon, Dolly Parton, “Son of Jolene.”

The song is Parton’s last collaboration released prior to her passing, and marks her return to radio with an original track since her chart-topping 2006 duet with Brad Paisley, “When I Get Where I’m Going.”

“Son of Jolene” was written by Kelli Belles, Dan Harrison and Tyler Bank—with Parton receiving writing credit, as well. It takes the iconic story from her massive 1973 hit, “Jolene,” and as a continuation of the tale, with Jolene’s son taking his mother’s flirtatious traits.

In a PEOPLE interview, Parton shared, “When I heard ‘Son of Jolene,’ I thought it was very clever. No one had ever thought of it that way.”

“Dolly gave me one of the greatest gifts of my life when she believed in “Son of Jolene” and lent her voice to it. Hearing our voices together on country radio and to have Dolly’s last song on country radio is something I’ll never be able to fully put into words,” shares BELLES. “Country radio has always been such an important part of the music I grew up loving and knowing that Dolly helped me find my own place there makes every spin feel incredibly special. I’ll carry her belief in me, and the gift she gave this song, with me for the rest of my career.”

The track just made its Billboard Hot Shots Debut at No. 51, and climbed four spots on Mediabase to No. 60. Apple Music streams for “Son of Jolene” are up 1,794% week over week, while BELLES’ overall Apple Music streams are up 780%. On Spotify, BELLES gained 500,000 monthly listeners in just one week.

BELLES will release her debut album, Midwestern, on Oct. 16 via East Music Row Records. She is currently out on the road wrapping up her 45-city “Song & Stories Tour.”

LB Cantrell
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