Bono remembers Dolly Parton getting out of bed while ill to sing their duet, “Torn.” Reflecting on her performance in a September interview with Rolling Stone, the U2 frontman said, “And I can’t even listen to it now.”
The song arrived Friday, November 13, as the closing track on Carnaval De Luz, U2‘s 16th studio album. The 12-song collection is the band’s first album of new material in nine years.
Parton recorded her contribution in Nashville in June, before her death on August 25 at 80. An announcement on DollyParton.com identifies the session as her final recorded vocal performance, a distinction the band had not anticipated.
Bono told the BBC in an interview published November 6 that the news shocked them. He recalled being in a car with R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe, who began sobbing when they learned that Parton had died.
Dolly’s June Note to Bono Accompanied the Release
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On November 10, the official Parton and U2 Instagram accounts shared a carousel containing a personal note dated June 2, 2026. Typed on her letterhead and signed by hand, it described her enthusiasm for the work they had done together.
Parton explained that she had made several changes and invited Bono to use whichever parts he wanted. She believed the song could become something special, thanked him for including her in his life and added, “I’ve always loved you and always will.”
Producer Garret “Jacknife” Lee confirmed that Parton heard and approved the final mix. He told Rolling Stone that the team had been nervous about her response, but she was delighted with the recording and proud of her vocal.
An Irish Folk Project Led to a Song About Family Divisions
Bono originally approached Parton for a separate project inspired by Irish folk music. He sent her bagpipes as a birthday gift and played her demos over the telephone, including a song called “Lifelong,” according to his BBC interview.
Parton felt that material sounded too Irish for her and suggested something she had already begun writing. Her original “Torn” concerned a woman struggling to choose between two men. She invited Bono to develop it further.
Bono and Snow Patrol’s Johnny McDaid shifted the focus to a mother watching her family fracture over political disagreements. Parton agreed to sing the revised version.
Bono Gave Parton’s Voice Room on the Recording
Bono deliberately kept much of his own delivery close to spoken words, he explained to Rolling Stone UK. He wanted to leave space for Parton, whose performance grows more expansive toward the song’s ending.
Lee produced the track, with longtime U2 collaborator Daniel Lanois contributing pedal steel. Drummer Larry Mullen Jr. drew inspiration from Bob Dylan’s “Most of the Time,” another recording produced by Lanois, when developing his part.
Parton’s vocals were produced by Kent Wells and engineered by Joel McKenney. The accompanying official lyric video uses a collage of torn paper, photographs and landscapes, with Parton’s portrait appearing among the images as the words unfold.
A Country Version and a Fan Art Project Accompany ‘Torn’
“Torn (Kent Wells Version),” co-produced by Wells, premiered on country radio November 12. Big Machine Records is representing and promoting that arrangement, whose credits list additional acoustic and steel guitars and recording at Blackbird Studios in Nashville.
The three-track digital single on Qobuz includes the album recording, the country version and “Torn (T Bone Burnett Take).” Burnett is credited as a remixer on his treatment of the song.
The band launched The Torn Project on the album’s release day, inviting Parton’s fans to contribute original artwork. The tribute offers participants a way to help create new versions of the accompanying video through a signup on the band’s website.
