Dolly Parton‘s final song is coming, and the story behind it is already incredibly moving.
Parton recorded “Torn” with U2 frontman Bono for the band’s upcoming album Carnaval de Luz just two months before her death at 80.
According to Bono, Parton was so determined to make the recording happen that she got out of bed to record the song, despite being seriously ill.
The result is a collaboration Bono says he can’t even listen to now.
Dolly Parton’s Final Recording With Bono
Bono recalled the emotional recording session in an interview with Rolling Stone, explaining that he initially approached Parton about collaborating on a side project inspired by Irish folk music.
Parton apparently wasn’t sold on that idea.
“She said, ‘That’s a little too Irish for me,’” Bono recalled. But she had another idea: her song “Torn.”
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“Do you wanna see where you can take it somewhere else, maybe?” she asked him.
Bono and Snow Patrol’s Johnny McDaid then worked on the song together, rewriting the lyrics around a mother watching her family split apart.
When Parton recorded her vocals, she was already seriously ill.
“When she got ill, she got out of her bed to sing this song,” Bono added. “And you can hear that.”
Bono Can’t Listen to Dolly’s Final Song
Bono said Parton’s performance was unlike anything he’d expected, saying, “She sang her heart out, and I cannot believe that’s an 80-year-old woman.”
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The album’s producer, Garret “Jacknife” Lee, said Parton loved the finished recording and was particularly proud of her vocals.
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.
For Bono, though, hearing the song now carries a different weight.
“And I can’t even listen to it now. It’s very moving to have had these intimacies with such a figure,” Bono added. “The fact that they’re not there now, in any way you can call back, other than through her songs, is very sobering.”
Carnaval de Luz will be released Nov. 13.
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