Was tryna listen to the music and use that to guess but couldn't work it out. I had thought Fontaines but obvs this new announcement rules them out, although it does sound to be more indie/rock
I have no reason to believe it was made up. It seemed to be a credible rumour at the time and is still a possibility. Just seems to have lost a bit of traction with other rumours taking over for now.
For me it all comes down to sing-along-ability, Dolly has loads of bangers you can sing along to, same for Diana Ross, Kylie had massive crowds, Elton has loads.
Rod is a bit more chilled background music vibes for me. This is translates to really high listens on Spotify, same as SZA. Popular on paper from passive listening but I wouldn’t see them live unless there was absolutely nothing else on.