In 2012, Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah squared off in the musical comedy-drama film, Joyful Noise – which forced the two divas to form an unlikely partnership in order to save their small-town church gospel choir. The music-filled movie featured a mix of both gospel and pop songs – as well as three new songs by Dolly Parton. This includes “He’s Everything,” which she actually sang with her co-stars.
In addition to Queen Latifah, Keke Palmer, Jeremy Jordan, Andy Karl, and DeQuina Moore performed the song and starred alongside the two music icons. The other two songs Parton wrote for the film are “Not Enough” and “From Here To The Moon and Back.”
The Song Became One of The Movie Highlights
Written by Dolly Parton herself, “He’s Everything” is a song about praising God and how he’s always been the center of all things – playing a part and leaving His mark.
“The God of hope and change. So let us sing and raise our voices. Let us make a joyful noise. Rejoice and praise His name,” the song goes.
For You
In her 2020 book, Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics, the country icon wrote about “He’s Everything” and how it moved so many people. She referred to the gospel ballad as “one of my better songs.”
She went on recalling filming Joyful Noise, where she and Queen Latifah performed “He’s Everything” in a church along with the other casts and the many extras. While people in the movie were never told to react in any certain way, Parton was beyond amazed at how evident it was in their faces the moment the song touched their hearts. “That made me just want to ‘high-five’ God for giving me the inspiration to write something like that,” she said.
You can listen to “He’s Everything” by Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah in the video below.
