The final six albums of Dolly Parton’s career epitomized her playfulness, versatility, and desire to experiment.

Those releases include a stripped-down country collection (2016’s Pure & Simple), a children’s album (2017’s I Believe in You), another Christmas album (2020’s A Holly Dolly Christmas), and a companion record to a suspense novel she co-wrote with James Patterson (2022’s Run, Rose, Run). Yes, you read that last one correctly.

In 2022, Parton was nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. She politely declined the honor at first, believing the Hall had a far more strict definition of rock-n-roll, but ultimately accepted.

Having sampled 56 years of Dolly Parton albums, which touched on plenty of genres other than country, I’d say she’s a slam dunk Hall of Famer no matter what criteria you use.

Dolly’s Rock Hall induction gave her an idea for an album — her first true rock release — that would end up being her last. Rockstar dropped in late 2023.

And what an album it is! Spanning 30 songs and 140+ minutes, Rockstar plays more like an event than a record. Parton assembled a team of collaborators that rivals We Are the World to tear through two dozen rock hits. She also penned a few of her own.

The list of guest artists is too long to present in full, but here’s a sample: Elton John, Paul McCartney, Debbie Harry, Stevie Nicks, Peter Frampton, Pat Benatar, Steve Perry, Michael McDonald, Joan Jett, Simon LeBon, Melissa Etheridge, Sting… ok, I’ll stop there.

Dolly’s voice is not at its finest (she was 77) but she gives her all to these recordings, whether its ‘Purple Rain,’ ‘Every Breath You Take,’ ‘Magic Man,’ ‘Stairway to Heaven’ (with Lizzo on flute!), or closing track — you guessed it — ‘Free Bird,’ accompanied by Lynyrd Skynyrd.

It’s bittersweet to hear her tackle ‘You’re No Good,’ a huge hit for her friend and collaborator Linda Ronstadt, with Emmylou Harris and Sheryl Crow in support. She, Harris, and Ronstadt recorded two albums together and could have had a lovely reunion were it not for Ronstadt’s neurological disorder.

Parton’s own contributions are sweet and funny throwbacks to a rock-n-roll sound that hasn’t been prevalent since the 80s. ‘I Dreamed About Elvis’ has country singer Ronnie McDowell portray the King, finally singing ‘I Will Always Love You’ while duetting with Dolly.

On ‘Wrecking Ball,’ performed with Dolly’s goddaughter Miley Cyrus, the duo changes one lyric from “I will always want you” to “I will always love you” and works in another tribute to Dolly’s signature song.

Only Dolly Parton could wrangle up more than 40 music legends of all ages to perform with her on a whim. The result is outrageous, corny, and thoroughly enjoyable. And somehow this bloated tribute to a fading genre is a fitting swan song for the country music legend.

This shallow dive gave me a new appreciation for Parton as an artist, from her wildly productive early 70s traditional country period (my favorite) through her pop-and-disco fueled late 70 and 80s, into the lovely bluegrass phase at the turn of the century, and the devil-may-care grab bag of releases that wrapped up her career.

Dolly Parton the icon has always meant so much more than her music, but her glorious spirit shines through every note.