Dolly Parton on AI and not wanting to leave her soul ‘here on earth’

Dolly Parton has spoken of how she is concerned that using artificial intelligence (AI) technology will keep her soul “grounded” on earth.

The 77-year-old country music star was at a press conference in London on Thursday to talk about her new album Rockstar.

Her first rock and roll record has seen her collaborate with famous faces including Lizzo, Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Elton John.

When asked about living on in an artificial form in the future, Parton said: “I think I’ve left a great body of work behind.

“I have to decide how much of that high-tech stuff I want to be involved because I don’t want to leave my soul here on this earth.

“I think with some of this stuff I’ll be grounded here for ever … I’ll be around, we’ll find ways to keep me here.”

Abba last year launched a purpose-built stadium in London featuring four 3D digital versions of the group’s younger selves singing and dancing to 20 or so of their hits.

Sir Mick Jagger has said the virtual concert technology offers bands such as The Rolling Stones a “breakthrough” to secure their legacies.

Parton also joked that “any intelligence” she had and “everything” about her was artificial.

She has made numerous references in the past to cosmetic surgery she has had.

Parton also said she wanted Sir Mick in her new album “so bad” as her husband Carl Dean “loves” him.

She added: “I wanted him to sing on Satisfaction but he wanted something new and different, which I don’t blame him for that, so I wound up singing that with P!nk and Brandi Carlile.

“We kept looking for the right song and he was doing an album in LA, and he did some stuff in Nashville, and I kept missing him everywhere. I ran him around like a high-school girl.”

Parton also said Dean called her previous cover of Led Zeppelin’s Stairway To Heaven, “Stairway To Hell” but seemed to enjoy her more recent covers of rock songs.

She said: “I chose songs he loved and some of my favourites … I made him sit down and listen to the whole (album).

“So at the end, he said: ‘It’s really good’… To me, that was like somebody else jumping up and down saying ‘That’s the best thing I’ve heard’. So that made me feel good. I wanted to please him, to be honest more than anybody else.”

Parton also clarified whether the album was inspired by her 2022 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

She initially resisted the honour, saying she would “respectfully bow out” of the process, before later saying she would try to “live up to the honour”.

Speaking at the Four Seasons Hotel London on Thursday, Parton said: “I didn’t want to take (the honour) because I didn’t think I had earned it. That’s the main reason I went ahead (with rock music).”

Rockstar includes nine original songs and 21 well-known rock anthems.

The album is due for release on November 17 2023.