Dolly Parton Joins For King & Country for a Powerful Rendition of ‘God Only Knows’ [Watch]
Dolly Parton is lending her voice to a powerful song. The country legend teamed up with the Christian duo For King & Country for a collaboration on their hit song, "God Only Knows."
Released to radio in January 2019, the song reached the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Christian Airplay and Christian AC charts and peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Christian Songs chart. In the collaborative video, Parton and the duo each act as guardian angels, singing to troubled versions of themselves.
Joel Smallbone plays a man who is an addict and has spells of blind rage, while Luke Smallbone is confined to a hospital room due to a debilitating disease. Parton's alter ego is a hooker, the singer watching over her as she sits solemnly on a motel bed.
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"God only knows what you've been through / God only knows what they say about you / God only knows how it's killing you / But there's a kind of love that God only knows," the three sing in harmony, Parton's voice adding even more power and grace to the meaningful words. The video culminates with the three singers joining hands and singing as the camera spins around them with a single spotlight shining above.
In an interview with the Tennessean, the duo share that they became interested in collaborating with the icon after watching her Netflix film, Dumplin'. Their decision to reach out to Parton with the idea of collaborating was serendipitous, as Parton had recently expressed a desire to work on more "faith-based" projects.
“It was like God spoke. I thought so many people with all their problems … I just felt like this song touched everything people struggle with," Parton says. "There’s just such a peace and love and sweetness about it, and I really think this song says what we need to be hearing right now.”
"When you hear her sing the song, there’s a weight to the way she sings it that few people could actually do,” Luke Smallbone says of Parton's performance.
It was recently announced that Parton will join forces with Carrie Underwood and Reba McEntire to co-host the 2019 CMA Awards, airing live from Nashville on Nov. 13.
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