Dolly Parton Might Play the Super Bowl Halftime Show Someday, After All

Dolly Parton has turned down a performance slot during the Super Bowl halftime show on multiple occasions, and for a few different reasons.

In 2015, show organizers wanted her to join Katy Perry’s performance (which is now-infamous for its “left shark” antics), but Parton said no, because her husband was ill.

That’s not the only reason she’s turned down the prime time slot, though.

“I couldn’t do it because of other things, or I just didn’t think I was big enough to do it — to do that big of a production,” Parton explains in a new interview with the Hollywood Reporter.

“When you think about those shows, those are big, big productions,” she continues. “I’ve never done anything with that big of a production. I don’t know if I could have. I think at the time that’s what I was thinking.”

Now, she just might be changing her mind. A recent inductee into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Parton’s got her very own rock album — called Rockstar — coming out later this month. Not only does that project feature an array of star guests, from Beatles bandmates to Elton John and Stevie Nicks, but it also gives her a chance to put out music that’s a little bit flashier, and that might fit well with that level of onstage production.

“It would make more sense,” Parton says, regarding the idea of taking the Super Bowl halftime stage with her Rockstar material. “That might change. I might be able to do a production show.”

Grammy-winning R&B legend Usher has been confirmed as the headlining act for the 2024 Super Bowl halftime show, meaning that if Parton is going to star in the slot, she’ll likely have to wait until at least 2025 to do it.

The 2024 Super Bowl will take place at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Feb. 11, 2024, and air on CBS.

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