Heart‘s Nancy Wilson took time out to salute country legend Dolly Parton for asking to be pulled out of the running for induction into this year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Wilson, along with the rest of Heart, was finally inducted into the Hall of Fame back in 2013 and while appearing on L.A. radio station KLOS, she commended Parton for opting out of the honor. Blabbermouth transcribed some of the chat, which had Wilson saying, “How classy. . . It’s really cool for her to step down like that, because the category is so broad. Like, Dionne Warwick is not a rock performer, and a lot of them are not, and they should make different categories under the bigger Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame moniker. They should have a Country Hall Of Fame and a Pop Hall Of Fame and a Rap Hall Of Fame and a Rock Hall Of Fame. I think that would be really smart, if they started to do that. ‘Cause I’ve gotta vote for it, like, tomorrow.”

Regarding the blending of the genres that seem to comprise what “rock n’ roll” is considered, Wilson admitted, “It’s really tough because Lionel Richie is in there. If you try to narrow it to what really is rock, it excludes too many others. So I think she’s really a class act to have done that. It makes me wanna write a rock record with her. . . I should give her a call. She can do anything. She’s written some of the best songs in our history. She can do it.”

YOUR TURN

  • Has the Rock Hall strayed too far away from the definition of “rock n’ roll” with some of the more recent inductees???
  • Do you feel that rock artists that were overlooked for decades should be voted in before some others — clearly from another genre — are allowed to enter — e.g. the Monkees, or Boston, or Iron Maiden before, say, 2020 inductee Whitney Houston???
  • Is the Rock Hall’s need to include as many sub-genres and other types of music in the Hall based more on artistic inclusion or simply a financial bottom line for the televised event and the Cleveland museum???

CHECK IT OUT: Dolly Parton in 2002 performing Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway To Heaven”: