| Rockin' Years | |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Dolly Parton and Ricky Van Shelton |
| Album: | Eagle When She Flies and Backroads |
| B-Side: | "What a Heartache"[1] |
| Released: | February 4, 1991 |
| Recorded: | November 8, 1990 |
| Genre: | Country |
| Length: | 3:25 |
| Label: | Columbia/TriStar |
| Producer: | Steve Buckingham, Gary Smith, Dolly Parton[2] |
| Chronology: | Dolly Parton |
| Prev Title: | Take Me Back to the Country |
| Prev Year: | 1990 |
| Next Title: | Silver and Gold |
| Next Year: | 1991 |
"Rockin' Years" is a song written by Floyd Parton, and recorded as a duet by American country music artists Dolly Parton and Ricky Van Shelton. it was released in February 1991 as the lead-off single to both Parton's album Eagle When She Flies and Shelton's album Backroads, and on both albums, it is track #2 on each of the albums track lists. The song reached the top of the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) chart, giving Parton her twenty-fourth number one and Shelton his eighth. The song would be Parton's last chart-topper until 2006.
The song is a mid-tempo country waltz in which two narrators — a male and a female — promise to love each other until their "rockin' years"; i.e., when they are old and sitting in rocking chairs together.
| Chart (1991) | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Canada Country Tracks (RPM)[3] | 33 | |
| US Country Songs (Billboard)[4] | 29 |
An unreleased duet between George Jones and Parton was recorded in 1988 but remained unreleased until the release of his 2008 album Burn Your Playhouse Down - The Unreleased Duets.