Spotify has published the lyrics to Dolly Parton's Welsh-language recording of "Jolene" in Irish, according to BBC Wales. The track mixes English and Welsh vocals, but the words displayed on the streaming platform were presented as Irish rather than Welsh.
The BBC asked Spotify when the single and its lyrics were uploaded, when the mistake came to light and when a correction would be made, but the company did not reply.
The recording was made before Parton died on 25 August and features the Welsh singer-songwriter Bronwen Lewis alongside Parton's niece, Jada Star. The single was released on 9 October and is the second posthumous release from Parton, who was of Welsh descent.
Why it matters
The error sits at the meeting point of two things streaming has made routine: near-instant global distribution and automated handling of lyrics and language data. A mislabelled language on a major platform is a small technical fault, but it lands on a release built specifically around Welsh identity — a language whose visibility online is a live concern for its speakers.
For listeners, the practical effect is that the on-screen text does not match what they hear. For the artists involved, the mistake briefly reframes a project that was conceived as a Welsh-language tribute. And because Spotify has not commented, there is no public account of how the mix-up happened or how widely it was seen before being noticed.
A translation that travelled from social media to a major release
The Welsh "Jolene" began with Lewis, who is from Neath. She translated the country standard and shared it on social media, according to the BBC. Star, Parton's niece, then got in touch and proposed that the two record a Welsh version together, and Parton joined the project as well.
Parton's connection to Wales was not a recent discovery for her fans. At a 2008 concert at the Cardiff International Arena, she is reported to have told the audience about her Welsh ancestry. Star said one branch of the family, traced through Parton's mother Avie Lee Owens, was at first believed to have come from Conwy. After Parton's death, archive staff at Conwy council carried out research suggesting her ancestors were in fact from Machynlleth, in Powys.
The song behind the translation
"Jolene" arrived in 1973 and dramatises Parton's fear of losing her husband, Carl Dean, to a red-haired bank clerk who had flirted with him early in their marriage. It earned a Grammy nomination in 1974, became her second number one on Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart and gave her a first appearance on the main Hot 100, at number 60.
The song has since passed one billion streams on Spotify, and a long list of well-known artists have recorded their own versions. Parton's career stretched across seven decades; she won 10 Grammy awards, sold more than 100 million records worldwide and wrote over 3,000 songs.
What to watch: whether Spotify replaces the Irish text with Welsh lyrics, and whether the company offers any explanation for how the language was mislabelled.
