Watch: Singer celebrates Dolly Parton’s birthday with beautiful Cymraeg cover

Ella Groves

In honour of Dolly Parton’s 80th birthday a Welsh singer has shared her cover of Dolly’s infamous ‘I Will Always Love You’ – but this time it’s in Welsh!

From humble beginnings in Tennessee, USA, Dolly Parton has become one of the most celebrated country singers of all time.

She has won eleven Grammy Awards and three Emmy Awards, and has sold more than 100 million records worldwide.

Rising to prominence in the late 1960s, Dolly Parton has had an incredible career spanning across decades giving us timeless classics such as ‘Jolene.’

Now, thanks to Bronwen Lewis, we can enjoy one of these iconic songs in Welsh.

Radio presenter and coach on Y Llais/The Voice, Bronwen Lewis rose to social media stardom for her covers of famous pop songs in Welsh.

With nearly 60,000 followers on her TikTok alone there is clearly an audience for Welsh language music.

Most recently Bronwen has translated Dolly’s ‘I Will Always Love You’ into Welsh and shared it on her social media just in time for Dolly’s birthday.

Describing Dolly as the “Queen of Country” Bronwen wished her a “Penblwydd Hapus iawn” alongside the cover.

Performed on the piano the cover is a beautiful example of the Welsh language in song.

Less than 24 hours since its posting the cover has nearly 1,000 likes on Facebook alone, with commenters describing the cover as “absolutely beautiful.”

But this is not the first time Bronwen has covered one of Dolly’s songs.

Her rendition of ‘Jolene’ in Welsh went viral after she shared it on TikTok in February 2024 racking up over 250,000 views.

@bronwenlewismusic If Dolly Parton grew up in Cymru 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 The classic ‘Jolene’ in Welsh! Enjoy ❤️ #dollyparton #country #welshtiktok #cymraeg #piano #fyp @Dolly Parton ♬ original sound – Bronwen Lewis Music

Commenters delighted in the Welsh cover with one even going so far as to say it had made them “want to learn Welsh now.”

You can see more of Bronwen’s covers on her TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook.

She also hosts a radio show on BBC Radio Wales, you can find it here.