Dolly Parton is working on a rock album at the moment (after her Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction), and she recently revealed that Paul McCartney, Stevie Nicks, John Fogerty, Steve Perry, and Steven Tyler are among the artists helping her bring the LP to life. On today’s (February 9) episode of the Totally 80s podcast, REO Speedwagon’s Kevin Cronin revealed that he has also worked with Parton on the upcoming project, and that Parton is covering REO’s first No. 1 hit, 1980’s “Keep On Loving You.”
He said, “I get a call from Dolly, literally the other day. […] She decides to make a rock and roll record and she’s contacting a number of different rock and roll artists to participate in this record with her. She decides she wants to cover ‘Keep On Loving You.’ […] The day after I did my vocal, Elton John was recording his.”
He added of what it’s been like collaborating with her, “Dolly is just… what you see is what you get. What was great is, when I was talking to her — there are artists who are kind of American Idol put together, like the producers and the managers and the agents all know what’s going on and the artist is just like, ‘I don’t know, I just do what I’m told’ — Dolly, I could tell just in talking to her, the way she talks about songs and lyrics and arrangements […] she talks like she’s the real thing. She’s been in studios all her life and she’s just another woman, talented, wants to make a good record.”
Listen to the full Totally 80s episode below or here, with Cronin starting to talk about Parton at around 9 minutes into the show.