Dolly Parton’s final recorded performance released on posthumous U2 collaboration ‘Torn’
The song was reportedly recorded in June, two months before Parton’s death at the age of 80 on August 25
Dolly Parton’s voice features on “Torn”, a posthumous collaboration with U2 that marks the country music legend’s final recorded vocal performance.
The track closes the Irish rock band’s latest studio album, Carnaval De Luz.
Co-written by U2, Parton and Snow Patrol songwriter Johnny McDaid, “Torn” brings together Parton and U2 frontman Bono.
The song was reportedly recorded in June, two months before Parton’s death at the age of 80 on August 25.
Bono reflected on the emotional recording in an interview with Rolling Stone, explaining that Parton had been unwell when she recorded her vocals.
“When she got ill, she got out of her bed to sing this song,” Bono remarked. “And you can hear that. And I can’t even listen to it now.”
He also praised her performance, saying: “She sang her heart out,” before adding, “and I cannot believe that’s an 80-year-old woman.”
Parton approved the final mix before her death. Bono described the experience of working with her as deeply moving, saying: “The fact that they’re not there now, in any way you can call back, other than through her songs, is very sobering.”
“Torn” appears on Carnaval De Luz, U2’s first album of new material in nine years. Island Records has also released several versions of the track, including the “Kent Wells Version” and “T Bone Burnett Take”.
The album is available alongside the band’s accompanying releases, Days of Ash and Easter Lily. U2 are also reportedly planning a world tour for 2027.
