Dolly Parton got out of bed rest to record her final song in June, just two months before her death, U2 frontman Bono revealed.
The country music legend, who died on Aug. 25 at age 80, delivered her final vocal performance on “Torn,” a track featured on U2’s upcoming album, “Carnaval De Luz.”
The album is set for release on Nov. 19, and Bono, 66, told Rolling Stone on Thursday that Parton’s contribution has become difficult for him to hear following her death, admitting he “can’t even listen” to her part.
In June, the late country music icon recorded “Torn,” a track from U2’s forthcoming album, “Carnaval De Luz.” (Pictured above: Bono in May 2015.)
Bono recalled that Parton was ill at the time but still made the effort to record the song.
“When she got ill, she got out of her bed to sing this song,” the U2 frontman told the outlet. “And you can hear that.”
“She sang her heart out,” he added, marveling at the strength of her performance at age 80.
Bono also revealed that he had hoped to collaborate with the “9 to 5” singer on the entire album, but Parton ultimately decided the project was “a little too Irish” for her.
The rocker (pictured above in May 2025) admitted that he “can’t even listen” to the emotional track following Parton’s death.
“But,” he recalled, “she said, ‘I got this song. It’s called ‘Torn,’ and do you wanna see where you can take it somewhere else, maybe?’”
Bono went on to describe how “very moving” it was to have shared such personal moments with the country music legend.
“The fact that they’re not there now, in any way you can call back, other than through her songs, is very sobering,” he said.
Parton was able to hear the finished song before losing her battle with cancer, and producer Garret “Jacknife” Lee said she “loved” the final mix.
“When she got ill, she got out of her bed to sing this song,” Bono told Rolling Stone. (Pictured above: Parton in August 2016.)
Producer Garret “Jacknife” Lee said Parton was delighted with how the recording turned out.
“She was so proud of her vocal and the recording,” Lee said Thursday. “She was thrilled with it. We were very nervous that she might not approve, or would be uncomfortable with it, but she loved it.”
Co-written by Snow Patrol’s Johnny McDaid, “Torn” was described in a press release as “a tender country song detailing broken family ties that holds wider resonances.”
The track won’t be the first posthumous release from Parton since her death. Her cover of “Bound to Ride” was released earlier this month, marking the first song to arrive following the country legend’s passing.
The songwriter (pictured above in August 2016) also famously placed an unreleased song in a vault that is set to be opened in 2045.
Meanwhile, “Bound to Ride” was recorded in 2022 for the star-studded tribute album “Where the Soul Never Dies: Celebrating 80 Years of the Stanley Brothers.”
Parton also locked away a never-before-heard song at her Dollywood theme park, with instructions for it to be released in 2045 — when she expected to be “dead and gone.”
“I won’t be around to hear it,” the actress predicted during a 2022 appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” before joking that she “might still be hoppin’ around” at age 99.
