An unlikely tribute to the late Dolly Parton rolled in from action star Vin Diesel, with the actor flooring fans by singing a haunting rendition of “I Will Always Love You.”
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In the wake of the Queen of Country’s death on Aug. 25, the 59-year-old Pitch Black star took to Instagram to pay a unique tribute. The post featured a poignant black-and-white photo of Parton. Meanwhile, audio of Diesel singing her iconic 1973 track “I Will Always Love You” played over the image.
Listen on paper; it shouldn’t work. But the burly actor’s baritone voice belting out what is traditionally a woman’s ballad, combined with him seemingly getting emotional during the “So, goodbye / Please, don’t cry” moment, is actually pretty moving in an uncanny-valley sort of way.
Plus, it’s yet another testament to just how many lives Parton touched.
Diesel captioned the heartfelt post with a simple praying hands emoji.
Fans React to Vin Diesel Singing Dolly Parton’s ‘I Will Always Love You’
While the comments section on Diesel’s tribute to Parton left fans a bit divided (there’s some serious gallows humor in there), most listeners were impressed by the Fast and the Furious star’s rendition.
“This is how I find out Vin Diesel can sing?💔,” one emotional fan wrote. “Oddly enough, this was comforting to me😭💔,” another fan added.
“One of the best covers of this song I’ve ever heard. Not because it’s musically perfect, but because it’s sung with the emotion that it should always be sung with,” a third fan wrote.
“Vin, there are some people whose absence is felt, but whose love never leaves us. 🤍 Seeing you honor Dolly with “I Will Always Love You” feels like more than a song—it feels like a promise to remember,” another thoughful fan wrote.
However, one onlooker probably summed it up best:
“Didn’t have ‘Crying to Vin Diesel singing’ on my list today but here we are,” they wrote.
Parton passed away on Tuesday after a private battle with cancer. The beloved singer, actress, and philanthropist was 80 years old.