U2 Recruited Dolly Parton for Torn, Her Final Recording
U2 recruited Dolly Parton for Torn, a duet on the band's new album Carnaval De Luz, released November 13, 2026. Parton recorded her vocal in Nashville in June, less than three months before she died aged 80. Bono described the collaboration and her last weeks.
U2 recruited Dolly Parton for a duet called Torn, the closing track on the band's new album Carnaval De Luz, released on November 13, 2026. It turned out to be the country star's final recording.
Parton recorded her vocal in Nashville, Tennessee, in June this year, less than three months before her death. She died on August 25, 2026, aged 80, after a brief battle with cancer.
Carnaval De Luz is U2's 16th studio album and its first full-length release since 2023. Torn is a tender country song, and Parton co-wrote it.
How the duet began
Bono, U2's frontman, said the collaboration started with a birthday present. He bought Parton a set of bagpipes, and she agreed to listen to his demo recordings.
She passed on one of them. "There was one called Lifelong, and I remember [Dolly] saying, 'You know, that's a little too Irish for me. [But] I've started a song called Torn. You can take it where you want, and I might like where you take it.' And she did," Bono said in a recent BBC interview.
Her original idea followed a woman trying to choose between two men. U2 rewrote it, with help from Jonny McDaid of Irish band Snow Patrol, into a story about a family divided by political differences.
"I love them both, and I just feel so torn," Parton sings on the finished track.
Her note to Bono
Parton sent Bono a note dated June 2. "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," she wrote.
She signed off: "Thanks for including me in your life. I've always loved you and always will. Dolly"
Bono said the band did not know the recording would be her last. "We knew she was ill, but we had no idea that it'd be her last vocal," he said. "That was a real shock. A shock for us because we'd been working with her, but a shock for anyone who loves music."
Two more versions
Two further versions of Torn are out today. Kent Wells, Parton's long-time producer, band leader and Grammy- and Oscar-winning collaborator, produced one that leans on country instrumentation and weepy pedal steel.
Musician and film music producer "T Bone" Burnett has also reworked the track.
Bono said he was with R.E.M. vocalist Michael Stipe when he learned of her death. "He actually fell down and started sobbing. He just could not believe it," Bono said.
"Probably the only thing that people can agree on in the entire world right now is Dolly Parton," he said. "Whether you're gay or straight or conservative or liberal, she was ready for you to fly at her show."
