Lyrics of Dolly Parton's Welsh version of Jolene were mistakenly uploaded to Spotify in the Irish language

Error in song lyrics on Spotify

The lyrics of the Welsh version of Dolly Parton's hit Jolene were mistakenly uploaded to Spotify in the Irish language. The song, recorded with Welsh singer and songwriter Bronwen Lewis from Neath as well as Parton's niece Jada Star, contains verses in English and Welsh, but the streaming service listed the lyrics language as Irish. Spotify removed the incorrect lyrics after the BBC approached the company for comment. The service did not answer questions about when the single and lyrics were uploaded, when the error was noticed, and when it would be fixed.

Posthumous release and the song's history

The single was released on 9 October and became Parton's second posthumous release, who had Welsh roots. The singer, who died on 25 August, over a career spanning seven decades won ten Grammy Awards, sold more than 100 million records and wrote more than 3,000 songs. The original Jolene was released in 1973 and, according to Parton herself, was about the fear of losing her husband Carl Dean to a red-haired bank employee who, early in their marriage, flirted with him. In 1974 the song was nominated for a Grammy, became Parton's second number-one single on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart and her first entry on the all-genre Hot 100 chart — at number 60. Since then, the track has been streamed more than a billion times on Spotify.

How the Welsh version came about

The idea for the Welsh version arose after Lewis translated the classic country song and posted the translation on social media. Star, Parton's niece, then contacted her and suggested recording Jolene in Welsh — and Parton herself joined the project. Lewis and Star recorded their parts in the UK, while Parton recorded hers in her studio in Nashville. In 2008, at a concert at Cardiff International Arena, Parton, reportedly told the audience about her Welsh ancestors. According to Star, it was believed that the singer's maternal relatives, through her mother Avie Lee Owens, came from Conwy, but after the singer's death, research by staff at the Conwy council archive showed that Parton's ancestors were from Machynlleth in Powys, not from Conwy as previously thought.

Why it matters

Spotify's error affected one of Parton's most high-profile posthumous releases and a project promoting the Welsh language in global music: the incorrect language tagging deprived the track of proper representation on a platform with a billion-strong audience. In practical terms, this means that listeners searching for the song by its Welsh lyrics could not find it, and the fix depends on the service re-uploading the metadata — Spotify gave no timeline.

Image source, Bronwen Lewis