U2’s upcoming release includes a collaboration featuring Bono performing alongside Dolly Parton.
The Irish rock icon and the famed late country star deliver a duet on Torn, a ballad about fractured family ties.
This country-leaning track appears on U2’s sixteenth studio album, Carnaval De Luz, and was co-authored by the band, Parton and Snow Patrol’s Johnny McDaid.
In a conversation with Rolling Stone, Bono explained that the song was recorded in June, just two months before Parton passed away on August 25 at age 80 after a brief cancer battle.
“When she fell ill, she dragged herself out of bed to sing this song. And you can hear that,” he told the publication. “And I can’t even listen to it now.”
The Irish star said he had tried to enlist Parton’s involvement in a different project inspired by Irish folk music, but she felt it was “a little too Irish” for her taste.
Instead, she offered Torn and asked if he’d be willing to listen and steer it in the direction he wanted. Bono reworked the lyrics with Snow Patrol’s Johnny McDaid, and Parton agreed to lend her vocals.
“She sang her heart out, and I cannot believe that’s an 80-year-old woman,” he said.
Garret “Jacknife” Lee, the producer behind Carnaval De Luz, told Rolling Stone that Parton loved the song and was able to approve the final mix before she died.
“She was so proud of her vocal and the recording. She was thrilled with it,” he shared. “We were very nervous that she might not approve, or would be uncomfortable with it, but she loved it.”
Bono and Parton have long shared a friendship. When she turned 80 in January, Parton posted a Facebook video of the band surprising her with a birthday cake and bagpipe players.
“Now that’s what you call a surprise! This old bag sure feels the love!” she quipped. “Thank you, Bono and U2 for making my birthday extra special.”
