Music legend Dolly Parton has been offered the opportunity to perform the halftime show for the Super Bowl several times, but she’s repeatedly turned down the proposal. The 77-year-old icon told The Hollywood Reporter she didn’t see herself as big enough of a star to perform the highly produced show in the middle of the biggest sporting event of the year.
She told the magazine of the Super Bowl gig, “I’ve been offered that many times. 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. When you think about those shows, those are big, big productions. 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.”
According to Statista, 115 million Americans tuned into this year’s Super Bowl game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, making it the most-watched game in U.S. history. Now, however, Parton is poised to release her first-ever rock-and-roll record, “Rockstar.” And with the genre change in mind, the Tennessee native said she would consider doing a halftime show. She said, “It would make more sense. That might change. I might be able to do a production show.”
The Super Bowl isn’t the only thing Parton has said “no” to. In fact, she initially rejected an invitation to become part of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The 10-time Grammy winner didn’t feel she had earned the recognition. Parton explained, “They’re going to put me in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and somebody like Meat Loaf or some of these other great artists never even made it? I didn’t want to take away from somebody that has spent their life in that world like I had spent mine in country [music].”
Eventually, though, the renowned star came around to the idea. Parton said, “They told me all the ways that people’s music has influenced other people around the world … and told me about other people that were in it besides rock. Then I accepted it.” Parton continued, “But I still didn’t feel great about it. I still thought I needed to earn it. That’s why I thought, ‘Well, timing is perfect. There’s a real reason for me to do this rock ’n’ roll album. Here I am, a rock star at 77.’”