This America's Got Talent act is Dolly Parton-approved.
Not only did country music girl group Chapel Hart win over the AGT judges and the audience on the NBC series' July 19 episode, but also the queen of country music herself. Parton took to Twitter after the show to praise the act for their original song "You Can Have Him, Jolene," inspired by her classic hit.
"What a fun new take on my song, @ChapelHartBand!" the 76-year-old tweeted on July 20. "Carl's birthday is today so I think I'll hang on to him, and I'm not notifying Jolene that today is his birthday."
Parton's husband, Carl Dean, served as her inspiration for "Jolene," as she based the character of Jolene on a flirtatious redhead who tried to steal her man.
Before their performance, Chapel Hart—which consists of Trea Swindle, Danica Hart and Devynn Hart—gushed about their love for country music and Parton to the judges, along with sharing the inspiration behind the tune.
"We were so inspired by the song 'Jolene' and we just love the storyline," said Danica. "And we figured, though, from 1973 to 2022, we could not still be fighting over the same man. So, we decided to tell her, 'You can just have him, Jolene.'"
The group also opened up about their struggle to break into the Nashville music scene, especially as Black women in country music. "You've just got to break down that door," judge Simon Cowell told the women, "and you may have just broken down the door with that performance, trust me."
Cowell then stated he would have used his Golden Buzzer on them if he hadn't already. And after some deliberation with his fellow judges—Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum and Sofía Vergara—and host Terry Crews, the panel pulled a surprising move and hit the Golden Buzzer in unison, sending Chapel Hart straight through to the season 17 live shows.
Check out their performance in the clip below.
America's Got Talent airs Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. on NBC.
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