As fans continue to mourn the loss of Dolly Parton, news is emerging about music she recorded prior to her passing.
In addition to the treasure trove of unreleased tracks that will eventually be released posthumously, a music icon is revealing that she also contributed to a new rock song.
Recorded just two months prior to her death, this marks the final song that Parton ever recorded.
A New U2 Collab
SAMEER AL-DOUMY/AFP via Getty ImagesOn Thursday, September 24, Irish rock band U2 issued a press release announcing their upcoming album, “Carnaval de Luz,” arriving in November.
Per that release, the final track on the album, “Torn,” is a duet between Parton and U2 frontman Bono. Parton shares writing credit on the track with U2 and Snow Patrol’s Johnny McDaid.
As Bono told Rolling Stone in an interview for an upcoming feature, Parton recorded her vocals in June, just two months before she passed away at 80.
“When she got ill, she got out of her bed to sing this song,” Bono tells Rolling Stone. “And you can hear that. And I can’t even listen to it now.”
‘She Sang Her Heart Out’
According to Bono, he’d originally pitched Parton to collaborate on “a still-unreleased side project inspired by Irish folk music.”
“She said, ‘That’s a little too Irish for me,’” Bono recalls. “But she said, ‘I got this song. It’s called “Torn,” and do you wanna see where you can take it somewhere else, maybe?’”
Bono and McDaid took Parton’s song and rewrote the lyrics from the perspective of a mother observing her family fall apart around her. Parton loved it, and agreed to sing on that version.
“She sang her heart out,” says Bono of what became Parton’s final recorded vocal performance, “and I cannot believe that’s an 80-year-old woman.”
Longtime U2 collaborator Daniel Lanois plays pedal steel guitar on the song, and U2 drummer Larry Mullen Jr. added a drum part inspired by Dylan’s “Most of the Time,” which Lanois had produced.
Prior to her passing, Parton listened to the band’s final mix of “Torn” and gave the track her stamp of approval.
“Dolly loved it,” the album’s producer, Garret “Jacknife” Lee, tells Rolling Stone.
“She was so proud of her vocal and the recording. She was thrilled with it. We were very nervous that she might not approve, or would be uncomfortable with it, but she loved it,” he added.
A Birthday Surprise from U2
Bono had gotten to know Parton as both a musical kindred spirit and a dear friend. When she turned 80 in January 2026, Parton shared a video to Facebook of Bono and U2 surprising her with a birthday cake and bagpipe players.
“Now that’s what you call a surprise! This old bag sure feels the love! 😉💖,” she joked in the caption. “Thank you, Bono and U2 for making my birthday extra special.”
Now that she’s gone, Bono admitted he still hasn’t come to term with the loss.
“It’s very moving to have had these intimacies with such a figure,” Bono says.
“The fact that they’re not there now, in any way you can call back, other than through her songs, is very sobering,” the singer adds.
