Bono admits he had no clue Dolly Parton was near death when U2 were collaborating with her on what would become her final recording.
Parton features on the closing track Torn on U2’s Carnaval de Luz; since her death in August, that track stands as the country icon’s last vocal performance.
The Irish band’s frontman notes that while they were aware she was dealing with health issues, they didn’t grasp their gravity.
“We knew she was ill, but I had no idea it would be her last time singing,” Bono tells the BBC. “That was a real shock. A shock for us because we’d been working with her, but a shock for anyone who loves music.”
Reflecting on his reaction to the news of her death, the Elevation frontman adds: “I remember I was in a car with Michael Stipe when the news broke, and he collapsed and began sobbing. He just could not believe it.”
“Perhaps the one thing people across the globe can agree on at this moment is Dolly Parton. Whether you’re gay or straight or conservative or liberal, she was ready for you to fly at her show.”
On how the collaboration began, Bono reveals that he had sent her a bagpipe set for her birthday, and she agreed to hear their demos and contribute.
“We had some folk songs we were playing, there was one called Lifelong, and I remember her saying, ‘That’s a little too Irish for me.’ So she said, ‘Look, 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.”
They subsequently reworked the track with Snow Patrol’s Jonny McDaid to address the political divisions tearing families apart.
Carnaval de Luz is scheduled for release on 13 November.
