Dolly Parton’s final recorded vocal performance will appear on U2’s new album Carnaval De Luz, with the country music icon duetting with Bono on the closing track, “Torn”.
Parton recorded the song with Bono in June 2026, two months before her death on 25 August at the age of 80. U2’s 16th studio album is set for release on 13 November 2026.
“Torn” is a country-influenced song about broken family ties and was co-written by U2, Parton and Snow Patrol’s Johnny McDaid. It will close the album’s 12-track running order.
Dolly Parton recorded “Torn” while ill
Bono told Rolling Stone that Parton recorded her vocal while she was already unwell.
“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.”
Bono had originally approached Parton about collaborating on a separate project inspired by Irish folk music. She turned down the material, telling him it was “a little too Irish” for her taste.
Parton instead suggested her own song, “Torn”, and asked Bono to take the track in a new direction.
Bono then reworked the lyrics with McDaid, shaping the song around a mother watching her family split apart. Parton agreed to record the new version.
“She sang her heart out, and I cannot believe that’s an 80-year-old woman,”
The recording became Parton’s final vocal performance and the last track on Carnaval De Luz.
Parton approved the final mix
U2 producer Garret “Jacknife” Lee told Rolling Stone that Parton heard the finished version of “Torn” and approved the final mix before her death.
“She was so proud of her vocal and the recording. She was thrilled with it,”
Lee added:
“We were very nervous that she might not approve, or would be uncomfortable with it, but she loved it.”
The track also features longtime U2 collaborator Daniel Lanois on pedal steel guitar, while drummer Larry Mullen Jr. contributed a part inspired by Bob Dylan’s “Most of the Time”.
Bono and Dolly Parton shared a long friendship
The collaboration was part of a long friendship between Bono and Parton.
When Parton turned 80 in January 2026, she shared a video on Facebook showing U2 surprising her with a birthday cake and bagpipe players.
“Now that’s what you call a surprise! This old bag sure feels the love! Thank you, Bono and U2 for making my birthday extra special.”
Torn now gives that friendship a final musical chapter, with Parton’s last recorded vocal appearing on U2’s first album of new material in nine years.
U2’s Carnaval De Luz tracklist
Carnaval De Luz will be released on 13 November 2026 and contains 12 tracks:
- “Go (Carnaval De Luz)”
- “La Reina”
- “Street of Dreams”
- “The Mirror Maker (Rosalía)”
- “Superficiality”
- “If the World Is at War We Better Not Be”
- “Silencio”
- “The Greatest Show on Earth”
- “Glorify”
- “Midnight Sunshine”
- “Can’t Stop Us Now”
- “Torn” feat. Dolly Parton
The album is produced by Garret “Jacknife” Lee and marks U2’s first album of new material since Songs of Experience in 2017.
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