In 2019, Parton said she was asked to work on the Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus song, “Old Town Road,” but decided to pass on the opportunity.
“I had an opportunity to be part of that [song],” she told Elle. “But it had done so well with so many people. I thought, ‘Well, I’ll wait and do something later on. No point in going down that same old town road. We got other roads to travel.’”
Still, the country music icon was thrilled for Lil Nas X when she saw the success of the song.
“I was so happy for him,” she said. “The fact that that was such a country song, I mean, that’s as corny as any country song could be. I don’t mean corny in a bad way. I don’t care how we present country music or keep it alive. I hope it stays alive forever. The fact that all these other people in other fields of music want to be part of that, are able to be part of that—I’m all about acceptance.”
