Bad Wolves Officially Release Dolly Parton ‘Jolene’ Cover After Guitarist Quits

Bad Wolves have officially released their cover of Dolly Parton's "Jolene" after their guitarist AJ Rebollo quit over its release.

The band shared in a press release that they'd recorded a cover of the hit weeks prior to Parton's death last week, further revealing that the country icon actually intended to appear on the track with them.

The song was released today (Aug. 31), which was the release date mentioned in the press release last week.

"Our new singer [Sara "Killboy" Skinner] is a big fan of Dolly and had posted a bunch of videos of her covering 'Jolene.' So we decided to make a heavy metal cover version for our next album," drummer John Boecklin said in the press release.

"On hearing our version, our label CEO Dan Waite sent the finished demo to Dolly's manager Danny Nozell with a request for Dolly to guest feature on our version. We heard back that Danny had played the track to Dolly and that Dolly loved our version and that Dolly was going to go into the studio and add her vocals very soon."

Boecklin added that the band was "devastated" over Parton's death and noted that proceeds from their cover of "Jolene" will go to the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, which gifts books to children in need.

Check out Bad Wolves' cover below and keep reading for a breakdown on what happened with Rebollo.

Bad Wolves, 'Jolene' (Dolly Parton Cover)

Parton's manager issued a quote on Bad Wolves' cover, which was provided to Loudwire:

Dolly was a champion of artists pushing musical boundaries. She listened to the Bad Wolves arrangement of 'Jolene' weeks ago, gave it her full blessing and was incredibly excited to collaborate on it. Releasing this track on Monday as a tribute - with proceeds directly supporting her beloved Imagination Library - is exactly what Dolly and her team wanted.

Why Did AJ Rebollo Quit Bad Wolves?

Rebollo shared a statement on social media on Aug. 28 announcing his departure from Bad Wolves.

He wrote, "I can no longer in good faith remain a member and co-sign the decisions constantly being made FOR this band by the label, among other issues I have with the inner workings of the business."

The guitarist admitted that he's been "at odds" with a lot of decisions that have been made for the band and that releasing the Parton cover was the final straw because the group had apparently expressed their desire not to release the song after her death.

READ MORE: Best Rock + Metal Covers of Dolly Parton's 'Jolene'

"We, as an entity, told the label we had no interest in releasing the cover after learning of Dolly's unfortunate passing as her collaboration on the song was no longer a possibility and we felt it would (understandably) be interpreted as somewhat of a capitalization on her passing from an outside perspective," he continued, adding he feels there was "ill intent" behind the song's release.

Former Bad Wolves vocalist Tommy Vext expressed support for Rebollo's decision in a comment on the post that reads, "This took a lot of balls to stand up against this label.
No one should be forced to go through this PR humiliation for the sake of a cash grab or attention. Much respect."

See the full post below.

See the most-played cover songs in rock and metal in the gallery below.