Bad Wolves guitarist AJ Rebollo has announced his departure from the band following a dispute over the planned release of a heavy metal version of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene”, claiming the decision was pushed forward by the band’s record label despite opposition from multiple members.
The disagreement emerged after Bad Wolves announced that their version of “Jolene” would be released on August 31, 2026. What makes the story particularly unusual is that the recording had originally been intended to become a collaboration with Dolly Parton herself.
According to Bad Wolves founder John Boecklin, the project began after the band decided to record a heavier interpretation of the country classic for an upcoming album.
Boecklin said Better Noise Music CEO Dan Waite subsequently sent the completed demo to Parton’s longtime manager Danny Nozell to ask whether Dolly might be interested in appearing on the recording.
The response appeared to be extremely positive.
Boecklin said Parton had heard the band’s version, liked what she heard and was preparing to add her own vocals. The band had even sent the individual recording stems to Parton’s studio engineers so work on the collaboration could continue.
The planned appearance never happened following Parton’s death.
The full background to the planned collaboration and subsequent release has been reported by Kerrang, which reported that proceeds from the new version will be donated to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
But behind the public announcement, there was apparently significant disagreement about whether the recording should be released at all.
AJ Rebollo says band members opposed the release
Rebollo announced on August 28 that he was leaving Bad Wolves and directly identified the “Jolene” situation as the final issue behind his decision.
In his statement, Rebollo claimed the band had told its label that it did not want to release the recording after Parton’s death because the planned collaboration could no longer happen.
His concern was how the timing could appear to people outside the band.
Rebollo said they feared releasing the cover immediately after Parton’s death could be interpreted as an attempt to capitalise on the attention surrounding her passing.
His account of the dispute has been published in full by ThePRP.
Rebollo claimed that despite objections from more than one member, the announcement confirming the release went ahead.
He described the situation as the “final nail in the coffin” after what he characterised as a longer-running disagreement about decisions being made on behalf of Bad Wolves.
Importantly, these remain Rebollo’s allegations about the internal relationship between the band and its label. They should not be presented as independently established facts about Better Noise Music’s motives.
Rebollo went further, however, saying he could no longer remain in the group while continuing to support decisions with which he fundamentally disagreed.
The label announcement presents a very different picture
The public announcement surrounding “Jolene” presents the release as a tribute rather than a commercial attempt to exploit Parton’s death.
Bad Wolves confirmed that proceeds from the recording will benefit Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, the children’s literacy programme Parton founded in 1995.
The programme provides books to young children and has distributed hundreds of millions of books since its creation.
Boecklin explained that using the release to generate money for the organisation provided a way for the band to contribute to Parton’s work after the collaboration they had planned could no longer be completed.
The details of the charity commitment and Parton’s involvement before her death can also be read in the original release coverage.
Boecklin said the band had been devastated by the news of Parton’s passing and confirmed that proceeds would be directed towards the Imagination Library.
That creates an important distinction in the story.
There is no dispute that money from the release is intended to benefit Parton’s charitable work. The disagreement concerns whether the recording should have been released at this particular moment in the first place and, according to Rebollo, who ultimately made that decision.
Rebollo says the problem goes beyond “Jolene”
Rebollo’s departure statement makes clear that his concerns were not limited to one recording.
He described a wider frustration with what he says were decisions repeatedly being made “for” Bad Wolves rather than by the musicians themselves.
Rebollo said the resulting criticism from fans was particularly difficult because the musicians themselves remained the public faces of those decisions.
He also contrasted his experience in Bad Wolves with his previous time in Issues, saying he valued the greater level of artistic autonomy he experienced with his former band.
However, he did not attack everyone associated with Better Noise Music.
Rebollo acknowledged that there were people at the label whom he respected and thanked both the label and Boecklin for helping him financially while the group was away from touring.
His objection, he said, was ultimately about maintaining control over his involvement in music and not publicly standing behind decisions he personally opposed.
Rebollo also stressed that his departure was not intended as a campaign against the label or other members of Bad Wolves.
He said he continued to care about his current and former bandmates and remained proud of the music they had created together.
An extraordinary parallel with “Zombie”
The situation has also attracted attention because Bad Wolves have been here before under remarkably similar circumstances.
The band’s breakthrough came with its 2018 cover of The Cranberries’ “Zombie”.
Dolores O’Riordan had been expected to contribute vocals to the Bad Wolves recording. She died unexpectedly on January 15, 2018, the same day she had been scheduled to record her part.
Bad Wolves subsequently released their version without O’Riordan.
The recording became an enormous commercial success and ultimately achieved multi-platinum status in the United States. The band later presented O’Riordan’s family with approximately $250,000 generated from proceeds connected with the song.
The similarities between the two situations have inevitably become part of the discussion surrounding “Jolene”, although the circumstances and decisions surrounding each recording should be considered separately.
The connection is explained further in ThePRP’s coverage of the planned Dolly Parton collaboration.
What happens next?
Bad Wolves’ version of “Jolene” is currently scheduled for release on Monday, August 31.
The proceeds are set to benefit Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, while Rebollo has now stepped away from the group.
The situation has consequently developed from what was originally intended to be an unusual collaboration between a heavy metal band and one of country music’s biggest names into a wider dispute about artistic control, record-label relationships and who has the final say over how an artist’s work is released.
Rebollo’s account provides one side of that internal disagreement. The public announcement from Bad Wolves and Better Noise presents the recording as a charitable tribute designed to support a cause closely associated with Parton’s legacy.
Unless further statements are issued by the label or remaining band members addressing Rebollo’s specific allegations, it is not possible to establish the full internal decision-making process from outside the organisation.
What is confirmed is that the original plan was significantly different.
Dolly Parton was expected to sing on the recording.
The stems had been sent for her team to work with.
Her contribution was never completed.
The song is now scheduled to arrive without her vocals, its proceeds are being directed towards the Imagination Library, and one of the musicians involved in Bad Wolves has left the band after publicly opposing the decision to release it.
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