Dolly Parton's niece wants to learn Welsh after singing with Bronwen Lewis

Dolly Parton's niece wants to learn Welsh after recording a Welsh language version of one of her late aunt's most famous songs, Jolene.

Jada Star, a country singer from Tennessee, said: "I truly believe anyone can speak Welsh; it's such a lovely feeling to speak the language, it's a comfortable language."

The track was recorded before Parton's death on 25 August and features vocals from the legendary singer-songwriter herself, who sings alongside Star and singer Bronwen Lewis, from Blaendeulais.

Since the songs release, Star has said she would like to "roam every inch of Wales" and perhaps visit the Eisteddfod one day, as she enjoys learning more about Wales and the Welsh language.

With Star having started learning Welsh on Duolingo, she said that some of her favourite Welsh words so far are Draig (dragon) and Pilipala (butterfly).

"When I came to Wales to see Bronwen, I put a lot of effort into learning Welsh; I was on Duolingo all the time, though I need to pick it up again.

"The app puts sentences together in such a beautiful way, and they're full of dragons," she laughed. "It's fun."

Star explained that the first Welsh words she learned were shwmae and diolch, meaning hello and thank you, to allow her to "greet people in Welsh".

Lewis and Star became friends after she saw a video on TikTok of Lewis singing the song in Welsh.

After travelling to meet Lewis during Pride Cymru, she visited several places. She went from Cardiff to Caernarfon and Conwy, learning Welsh along the way.

Lewis said she was inspired by Star's attitude towards the language: "I never wanted to push singing in Welsh on Jada; the fact that she wanted to and was interested was heartening, she was full of questions about phonetics and pronunciation.

"Jada's attitude towards the language is so healthy; there are many Welsh artists who don't even release Welsh music, so the fact that Jada has done so is amazing."

The pair are currently receiving congratulations from both sides of the Atlantic after releasing their version of Jolene.

"I'm so proud of the track," said Star. "I've been emotional all day and have received messages from Wales that mean the world to me, too.

"I think people really like it; it's something they haven't heard before."

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