Dolly Parton’s final song she ever recorded, a collaboration with U2, will arrive on Friday (November 13).

Parton teamed up with Bono on “Torn,” a duet that serves as the final track of U2’s 16th studio record (and the band’s first new one in nearly a decade), Carnaval De Luz. U2, Parton and Johnny McDaid teamed up to write the ballad described as “a tender country song detailing broken family ties that holds wider resonances,” according to a press release issued Tuesday afternoon (November 10). The Jacknife Lee-produced track, with features Daniel Lanois on pedal steel, is Parton’s final recorded vocal performance. She recorded her vocals in June in Nashville, Tennessee, according to the release. The song will also be available as a special country version, titled “Torn” (Kent Wells Version).

“Torn apart these loving hearts/ That beat and break the same/ We share a house divided/ And the blood that fills our veins/ Brothers turn to strangers/ And sons deny their name/ Somebody loses either way/ And every heart is torn”

In September, Bono told Rolling Stone that Parton managed to record her vocals despite her illness. He said at the time, “When she got ill, she got out of her bed to sing this song. And you can hear that. And I can’t even listen to it now. …She sang her heart out and I cannot believe that’s an 80-year-old woman.”

“Hey Bono,” Parton wrote in a note dated June 2, 2026, which was shared on Instagram. “Hope you like what I did. I did quite a few things. Take from it what you want and what you need, but I love the song, and I think it could be something really special. Thanks for including me in your life. I’ve always loved you and always will.”

Parton “died peacefully” on August 25 in Nashville, according to an official announcement issued at the time. She was 80. Parton’s representatives said in a statement to PEOPLE later that day, “after bravely facing a brief battle with cancer, Dolly departed her Earthly life today at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center surrounded by loved ones.” The beloved country legend, who opted to keep her battle with cancer private, was laid to rest beside her husband of nearly six decades, Carl Dean. Parton's husband died in March 2025. He was 82.

Pat Lynch

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