WHAT THEY SAID
"This is something that was unknown to me, which inadvertently made my statement regarding the band being a united front in opposing the release, frankly false." * That's AJ Rebollo, the guitarist who just left Bad Wolves, walking back the core of his own complaint about the band's Dolly Parton "Jolene" cover in a follow-up Instagram statement *†.
THE DETAILS
- Rebollo originally called the cover's release the final straw in his exit, after news broke Bad Wolves would put it out following Parton's death at 80 *.
- He now says Parton's team blessed the release, and that founding drummer John Boecklin — the band's business head and contractual owner — signed off *.
- He blamed longstanding bad communication in the band but took responsibility for not checking with management before posting *.
- Boecklin says new singer Sara "Killboy" Skinner is a Dolly fan who'd posted "Jolene" covers, sparking the metal version for the next album *.
- The cover dropped Monday, Aug. 31, with proceeds going to Parton's Imagination Library; Better Noise chairman Allen Kovac praised Rebollo for correcting the record, per Loudwire (Sept. 2) *.
WHO IS RIGHT
Rebollo was wrong on the facts and he's the one who said so — the band, the label and Parton's manager all had the approval he claimed didn't exist. Credit where it's due: he owned it publicly instead of quietly deleting.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
Rebollo isn't reversing his departure, so Bad Wolves move forward without him and the "Jolene" cover lands on their next album *.