U2 released their first full-length album since 2017’s Songs of Experience and the last track on the project includes a duet with Dolly Parton that turned out to be her last recorded vocal performance.
The duet, titled Torn, is featured on the album Carnaval De Luz, and was co-written by U2, Parton and singer-songwriter Johnny McDaid.
Torn is described as a “tender country song detailing broken family ties that holds wider resonances,” according to Parton’s website.
The late country superstar recorded the song in Nashville, Tenn. in June this year, making it her final recorded vocal performance prior to Parton’s Aug. 25 death.
The song is produced by Jacknife Lee and also features Daniel Lanois playing pedal steel.
“I can’t deny this passion and desire / But I know it has to burn me / Standing this close to the fire / What am I supposed to do? / And how am I supposed to choose? / I love ‘em both and I just feel so torn,” Parton sings on the duet.
“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,” the duo sings together.
Parton’s Instagram page teased the track in a post on social media, with a written message to Bono, dated June 2.
“Hey Bono, 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 wrote.
Bono told Rolling Stone that Parton “sang her heart out” for the new track.
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“I cannot believe that’s an 80-year-old woman,” he added.
Parton was able to approve the final mix of Torn before her passing.
“Dolly loved it,” the album’s producer Garret “Jacknife” Lee told the outlet. “She was so proud of her vocal and the recording. She was thrilled with it. We were very nervous that she might not approve, or would be uncomfortable with it, but she loved it.”
Bono said the loss of Parton is still settling in for him.
“It’s very moving to have had these intimacies with such a figure,” he said. “The fact that they’re not there now, in any way you can call back, other than through her songs, is very sobering.”
On Aug. 25, Parton’s nephew Bryan Seaver announced the singer’s death in a video, saying, “I am representing the Parton and Owens family today, announcing the passing of my Aunt Dolly Rebecca Parton Dean. Sister, sis, Aunt Granny to one generation and Gigi to the next. This video announcement is something Dolly asked of me years ago, before I fully absorbed it as a future reality.”
“As her head of security for more than two decades, a role my father Larry held before me, I have imagined the heaviness of this moment, but haven’t truly felt it until now. It is an honour, an honour that is mixed with absolute pride and great sadness. But sadness lies with us, not with Dolly.”
“Our family and the team she has entrusted with her legacy will work diligently to ensure her spirit will live with us forever,” Seaver added.
It was later revealed that the county music icon died after “a brief battle with cancer,” her representatives said.
In a statement to People, Parton’s team wrote: “Our beloved Dolly Parton spent her life and career bringing joy, laughter, hope and integrity into everything she touched. Her unmatched generosity reached the lives of countless people whom she would never meet, yet she was always there to offer a helping hand.”
“Whether it be the hundreds of millions of books donated through her invaluable Imagination Library or funding research that helped create a lifesaving vaccine used around the world, Dolly’s unconditional love for all people was the guiding force for her lasting impact.
“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 type of cancer Parton was diagnosed with was not disclosed.
—With a file from The Associated Press
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