Steve Perry, a former member of the band JOURNEY, is currently polishing his recording with Dolly Parton, a pioneer of country music.
In order to commemorate her induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Parton recently announced that she was recording a rock album. The album, tentatively named “Rock Star,” would cover legendary rock songs such as “Open Arms” by JOURNEY, “Purple Rain” by Prince, “Can’t Get No Satisfaction” by THE ROLLING STONES, “Stairway To Heaven” by LED ZEPPELIN, and “Freebird” by LYNYRD SKYNYRD.
In an Instagram post earlier (April 12), Chris Lord-Alge, a five-time Grammy-winning producer and engineer, was in the studio with Perry when Perry posted the following caption on an Instagram photo of the two of them: “Chris Lord-Alge @chrislordalge and I putting the final mix moves on my ‘Open Arms’ duet with the one and only Dolly Parton @dollyparton Sincerely, Steve Perry #dollyparton #duets #mixing”.
During her acceptance speech at the Rock Hall ceremony, Parton named a number of musicians she hoped to work with on her rock album. She also disclosed that she and Perry will be performing “Open Arms” together.
The song “Open Arms” was first released in 1981 on JOURNEY’s seventh album, “Escape”. The song was co-written by Perry and Jonathan Cain, the keyboardist for JOURNEY, and it was also included on the soundtrack for the science fiction movie “Heavy Metal.”
Numerous music artists, including Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Barry Manilow, R&B trio BOYZ II MEN, and Mariah Carey, recorded “Open Arms,” which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Rock performers Rob Halford of JUDAS PRIEST, who sang “Jolene” with Dolly Parton at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Nikki Sixx of MÖTLEY CRÜE, and guitarist John 5 are all anticipated to be included on the album.
In an interview with TotalRock, Rob explained, “After the show, her manager came up to me, Danny [Nozell], and he goes, ‘She’s doing a project, like a rock album. Would you be interested?’ I said, ‘Yeah. Here’s my number.’ And then, out of the blue, like four weeks later, and suddenly [there’s] ideas for some more work.”
Dolly Parton said during an interview on “The View” that she worked on the record with several legendary musicians, including Paul McCartney, Steven Tyler, Stevie Nicks, Steve Perry, John Fogerty, P!nk, and Brandi Carlile.
Parton said, “If I’m gonna be in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, I’m gonna have to do something to earn it. So I’m doing a rock and roll album, and I’m having a lot of the rock stars that I met that night be on the album with me.”
