Beyoncé has revealed Stevie Wonder played harmonica on her ‘Jolene’ cover.
The singer appeared at the iHeartRadio Awards on Monday (April 1) to accept the Innovator Award, where she thanked the musician during her speech, after he had presented the award to her himself.
“Thank you so much Stevie, I love you. I love you and I honour you. I want to thank you for making a way for all of us,” she said.
“I’m honored to receive this recognition from you, Stevie Wonder. Whenever anyone asks me if there’s anyone I can listen to for the rest of my life, it’s always you. So thank you, God bless you.”
In response, Wonder said: “I want to thank you for motivating the world to be a better place.”
Beyoncé then added to the crowd’s surprise: “And thank you for playing the harmonica on ‘Jolene’.” Watch the moment below:
Beyoncé receiving the Innovator Award at the #iHeartAwards2024 🏆
— Beyoncé Press. (@beyoncepress) April 2, 2024
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The popstar has just released her new album ‘Cowboy Carter‘, although the presence of the ‘Jolene’ cover had been accidentally revealed by Parton herself.
But fans were in for a shock when the album dropped and Beyoncé had rewritten most of the lyrics to reference husband Jay-Z’s cheating scandal. ‘Jolene’ now refers to someone trying to “come between a family and a happy man”, with Beyoncé singing in the chorus: “Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene / I’m warnin’ you, don’t come for my man / Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene / Don’t take the chance because you think you can”.
In response, Parton took to Instagram to give her verdict, saying: “Wow, I just heard Jolene. Beyoncé is giving that girl some trouble and she deserves it! Love, Dolly P.”
Beyoncé has also given Parton the sole songwriting credit for ‘Jolene’.
Elsewhere, Jon Batiste has applauded Beyoncé for “dismantling genres” on ‘Cowboy Carter’: “Let’s liberate ourselves from genre and break the barriers that marginalise who we are and the art that we create.”