U2 album to feature Dolly Parton’s final recorded vocal

U2’s 12-track album Carnaval De Luz is scheduled for release November 13 and will close with “Torn,” a song featuring what the band says is Dolly Parton’s final recorded vocal performance. The announcement comes as the Irish group marks its 50th anniversary year. Bono said Parton recorded her vocals after she became ill, and that she approved the completed mix before her death. Those details come from Bono’s account of the session; the available reports do not provide independent documentation of when or how it took place. Parton died at 80, according to reports, but the circumstances of the recording are chiefly described by Bono and producer Garret “Jacknife” Lee. Bono said he had initially approached Parton about a separate project inspired by Irish folk music. She considered the material too Irish and instead offered him “Torn,” which she had written. Bono and Snow Patrol songwriter Johnny McDaid reworked the song, with the album describing it as a duet between Bono and Parton about fractured family relationships. Lee said Parton was proud of her vocal and pleased with the recording.