AJ Rebollo has quit Bad Wolves after two years, saying a planned cover of Dolly Parton’s Jolene became “the final nail in the coffin” for him. He said he could no longer stay in the band and “co-sign” decisions being made for it after Better Noise Music moved ahead with the release.
That decision landed on a sensitive day. Parton died Tuesday at 80, and Bad Wolves had been preparing a heavy version of her 1973 hit with her expected to add vocals. By Friday afternoon, the band was still teasing the cover, but Rebollo said the mood inside the group had already turned.
Rebollo said the band told the label it had no interest in releasing the song after learning of Parton’s death, because the collaboration was no longer possible and the move could be seen as capitalization on her passing. Even so, he said Better Noise Music posted that the track would come out anyway, and he accused the label of “ill intent” in pushing ahead with a release planned for Monday.
The label also intended to direct proceeds to Parton’s Imagination Library, which provides free books to children from birth to age 5. Rebollo said that did not erase the problem for him. He said the band receives hate, negativity and harassment every day because of choices made outside its control, and that the constant pressure had worn it down.
The split also carries an uncomfortable echo. In 2018, Bad Wolves released a cover of “Zombie” after Dolores O’Riordan died the day she was meant to record vocals, and that version became the band’s breakout hit, spending three weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart and later going three-times platinum in the US. This time, though, the same kind of release has cost the band a guitarist before the song has even come out.
Rebollo said he was stepping away because he could not remain in good faith while outside decisions kept overriding the band’s own view. The question now is not whether Bad Wolves can turn another cover into a hit. It is whether it can keep its lineup together while the release goes ahead without the voice it was built around.
