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AJ Rebollo has stepped down from Bad Wolves. In a lengthy statement issued Friday evening, the guitarist said he could no longer in good faith co-sign decisions being made for the band by their label — and named the specific one that ended it: Better Noise moving ahead with the release of a cover of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” days after her death, despite the band telling them they didn’t want it out. His words: they blatantly expressed their opposition, and the label posted that it was coming anyway.
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The sequence is short and it all took place inside twelve hours.
Bad Wolves had recorded a cover of “Jolene” and were waiting on Dolly Parton herself to lay down a guest vocal. She died this week, which made that impossible.
On Friday morning, the band announced the cover was coming out anyway, with proceeds going to the Dolly Parton Imagination Library — her book-gifting foundation. Founder John Boecklin fronted that announcement in a press release.
By Friday evening, Rebollo was gone.
His account is that the decision came from the label rather than the band. He says they told Better Noise, as a group, that they had no interest in releasing the cover once Parton’s collaboration was off the table, because they felt it would understandably be read from the outside as capitalising on her death. More than one member pushed back. The label announced it regardless.
His phrasing on the outcome is the line that will travel: while donating to the Imagination Library is an incredible thing to do with the profits, he can’t help feeling there’s ill intent behind the decision to release the song.
LIVE & LOUD: Stream the World’s Hardest Radio Station 24/7Here’s the part nobody else covering this is going to lead with, and it reframes everything.
Bad Wolves’ entire career exists because of this exact scenario.
In 2018 the band recorded a cover of The Cranberries’ “Zombie.” It was scheduled to feature guest vocals from Dolores O’Riordan. She died before she could track her parts. The band released the cover shortly after her death, and donated roughly $250,000 in profits to her family.
It went multi-platinum. It made them. It is, without much argument, the single reason most people know who Bad Wolves are.
So when Better Noise looked at a Dolly Parton cover with an unrecorded guest vocal and a recently deceased icon, they were looking at a template that had already worked once — spectacularly.
And the band said no.
That’s what makes this genuinely interesting rather than just another lineup change. These are the people who lived through that scenario, benefited enormously from it, and have now decided they don’t want to do it again. Whatever you think of the decision, it isn’t naive. They know precisely what the upside would be.
Rebollo has walked away from his job rather than be part of it.
Worth reading properly, because his statement is far more measured than the headline suggests.
He opens by saying he can no longer in good faith remain a member and co-sign decisions constantly being made for the band by the label, among other issues with the inner workings of the business. He’d been at odds with too many of those decisions for some time — the Parton cover was the final nail.
Then the section that explains why this got to him. He describes the amount of hate, negativity and harassment the band receives daily, over decisions made outside their control, as having taken a massive toll on their sanity. Anyone who watched what happened to Bad Wolves this week over the Skillet tour will recognise that this isn’t hypothetical.
He draws a comparison to his previous band, Issues, where he says the label cared about them not just as musicians but as people — trusted their vision, never pushed anything on them, and behaved like team members rather than bosses. That’s the dynamic he’s been trying to establish at Bad Wolves.
And crucially, he doesn’t burn the building down on the way out. He acknowledges there are undeniably incredible people at Better Noise. He thanks the label and John Boecklin specifically for helping him sustain a living while off the road, and says that level of care is not lost on him. He states plainly that this isn’t a call to arms and that he wishes no ill will on anyone involved.
He also says he loves every member, old and new, and that the album they’ve just made together is a genuinely incredible piece of art.
The last part is the one that lands hardest. He calls stepping away absolutely terrifying, says he’s sacrificing what little stability he has left in the music world, and admits he doesn’t know what the future holds.
That’s not a man posturing. That’s a man quitting a job he needs.
Better Noise have not responded. As of publication there’s been no statement from the label addressing Rebollo’s account of how the decision was made.
The rest of Bad Wolves haven’t commented either. Boecklin’s morning press release framed the release as a tribute with charitable proceeds and made no reference to internal disagreement — which, if Rebollo’s version is accurate, is a fairly significant omission.
And former vocalist Tommy Vext, whose 2021 exit was followed by a lengthy public feud and legal battle, weighed in on social media with a short jab suggesting that maybe he wasn’t the problem after all. Make of that what you like — nothing in Rebollo’s statement addresses Vext or his departure.
Maybe I wasn’t the problem after all
— Tommy Vext (@TVext) August 29, 2026https://t.co/WMZJH6OvSx
Some context for how much has landed on this band inside a fortnight.
August 18: Bad Wolves are announced on Skillet’s autumn US tour with Escape The Fate. August 25: They’re removed from it. Vocalist Sara “KILLBOY” Skinner says publicly that Skillet’s fanbase investigated her background and the band came off the bill, and that only one of the two conclusions those fans reached is true — declining to say which. August 28, morning: The label announces the “Jolene” cover is coming. August 28, evening: Rebollo quits.
The current lineup was already the product of substantial turnover — Skinner is the band’s third vocalist after Vext and Daniel “DL” Laskiewicz, and Rebollo himself only joined in 2023, initially as a touring member.
They also have a new album finished. Rebollo says he loved making it and rates it highly. He just won’t be in the band when it comes out.
For a group who broke enormous almost immediately in 2018 and have spent the years since in near-constant upheaval, this is a rough chapter even by their standards — and it’s happening at a moment when heavy music generally is having its biggest mainstream run in decades.
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He said he could no longer in good faith co-sign decisions being made for the band by their label. The specific trigger was Better Noise proceeding with the release of the band’s cover of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” following her death, which Rebollo says the members opposed because they felt it would be perceived as capitalising on her passing. He also cited ongoing harassment directed at the band over decisions made outside their control.
Yes. The band announced on August 28, 2026 that their cover of “Jolene” will be released, with proceeds benefiting the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. Parton had originally been set to guest on the track before her death this week.
In a sense. Their 2018 cover of “Zombie” was scheduled to feature guest vocals from Cranberries frontwoman Dolores O’Riordan, who died before recording her parts. The band released the cover after her death and donated approximately $250,000 in profits to her family. It became their biggest and most commercially successful song.
No. As of publication the label has not issued any statement addressing Rebollo’s account of how the decision to release the cover was made. The remaining members of Bad Wolves have also not commented.
Following Rebollo’s departure, the band comprises founder and drummer John Boecklin and vocalist Sara “KILLBOY” Skinner. Rebollo joined in 2023, initially as a touring member. Skinner is the band’s third vocalist, following founding singer Tommy Vext and Daniel “DL” Laskiewicz.
A band who built a career on exactly this scenario, refusing to do it again — and a guitarist walking away rather than be part of it. Where do you land on it? Tell us below. And keep it locked on the Loaded Radio stream — follow Loaded Radio for daily rock and metal news.
The post Bad Wolves Guitarist AJ Rebollo Abruptly Quits Band Over Label’s Controversial Decision to Release Dolly Parton Cover Following Her Death appeared first on Loaded Radio.
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