'Touched Me On So Many Levels': '80s Star Nikki Sixx Loved Working With Dolly Parton

On the surface, Nikki Sixx and Dolly Parton could not be more different. As the longtime bassist of Los Angeles hair metal band Mötley Crüe, Sixx embodied the "sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll" lifestyle that came to define the 1980s. In contrast to the many '80s rockstars who are barely recognizable today, Sixx is still every inch the lovable hellraiser. Meanwhile, the Tennessee-born Parton has spent several decades as the widely beloved face of country music. And yet, Mötley Crüe has not only collaborated with Parton, but Sixx, in particular, found the experience deeply illuminating.

All the way back in 1985, the Crüe dropped their now-famous power ballad "Home Sweet Home" as the second single from third studio album "Theatre of Pain." In 2025, the iconic rock band commemorated its 40th anniversary by putting out a remixed version featuring Parton as a guest vocalist, with proceeds benefiting Covenant House, a charity supporting homeless youth. The revamped "Home Sweet Home" was released as a single that June, and later appeared alongside the original on the Mötley Crüe compilation album "From the Beginning," in September.

Sixx opened up about working with Parton, and her surprising insight into the song, during a July 2025 interview with Forbes. "Dolly looked at me and said, 'I really love these lyrics,'" he recalled. "This was one of her husband's Carl's favorite songs. And she goes, in her very sweet southern accent, 'When you're young, you want to get as far away from home as possible. You want to chase those dreams. [...] Once you get there, it's the journey getting back to your roots.' I was like, 'No one's ever explained my lyrics to me that clear.' That just touched me on so many levels."

"Home Sweet Home" being injected with a little bit of country was hardly unprecedented before Dolly Parton teamed up with Mötley Crüe in 2025. "American Idol" winner Carrie Underwood released a cover version of the song in 2009, and fellow country star Justin Moore collaborated with the Crüe's Vince Neil for his own version in 2014. Still, the Parton version felt especially unexpected. But she was more than happy to do it. "I was so pleased that they would ask me to sing on such a classic," the "9 to 5" hitmaker enthused on her website at the time of its release. Interestingly enough, though, providing guest vocals on "Home Sweet Home" was not Parton's first foray into rock music — nor was it even her first collaboration with members of Mötley Crüe. 

In 2023, the country legend put out an album called "Rockstar" in an effort to justify her recent induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The track "Bygones" features Nikki Sixx on bass, fellow Crüe member John 5 on guitar, and Rob Halford of Judas Priest on guest vocals. As Sixx confirmed, in his aforementioned interview with Forbes, he jumped at the chance to be involved, which further proves just how much he enjoys working with Parton. "I loved that moment when I saw online where she said if she's going to be in the Rock Hall she's got to make a rock record," Sixx shared. "And I remember I read that at like midnight or something online, and my very first phone call the second I could get a hold of my manager, was like, 'I want to play bass on that record.'"