Dolly Parton locked away her final song, to be released on her 100th birthday
Dolly Parton’s last song is locked away in a box and will not be released until what would have been her 100th birthday.
Parton put My Place in History in a chestnut box, which is on display at Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, with strict orders not to release it until January 2046.
During an appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show in 2022, Parton said: “You have no idea how that has bothered me. I wanna go dig that up so bad. It’s a really good song!”
A recording of the song is on a CD in the box alongside a player, Parton has said.
Parton co-opened Dollywood, a 66-ha theme park in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, in 1986. The park features a recreation of her childhood home and a museum documenting the star’s life.
Parton said in the 2022 interview she was not sure whether she would be around to hear My Place in History played.
“I might be here, I might not be,” she said.
Parton died aged 80 on Tuesday at a hospital in Nashville after a brief battle with cancer.
Taylor Swift hailed Parton’s “everlasting” legacy and said a world without her “doesn’t feel possible, real, or right”.
Beyoncé called the singer, who sold more than 100 million records during her 60-year career, a “treasure”. Sir Paul McCartney praised Parton’s “unrivalled” songwriting abilities.
Donald Trump ordered that flags be lowered to half-mast across the US in honour of her death.
The Band of the Coldstream Guards played her hit song 9 to 5 during the Changing of the Guard Ceremony outside Buckingham Palace.
The performance was shared by the Royal family’s official account on X, which added that Parton brought “joy, comfort and inspiration” to the world.
Among the others paying their respects was the singer Dionne Warwick.
Writing on X, she said: “I will certainly miss her laughter, jokes and her being. Rest well and in total peace my friend. My heart is heavy.”
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