U2’s upcoming new album features a duet between Bono and Dolly Parton that is said to be the last recorded vocal performance of the late country singer’s music career.

The Irish rock band announced this week that its first studio album in nine years, Carnaval De Luz, will be released on November 13, featuring 12 songs “exploring themes of spirituality, friendship, freedom and endurance in the face of dark, encroaching forces”.

It revealed that the final track, Torn, was a duet between the band’s lead vocalist, Bono, and “the late great Dolly Parton”, who died in August at the age of 80 after a brief battle with cancer.

“Co-written by U2, Parton and Johnny McDaid [of Snow Patrol], it’s a tender country song detailing broken family ties that holds wider resonances,” U2 said in a statement.

Torn was reportedly recorded in June, just a couple of months before Parton died and after she had been forced to cancel a number of live appearances due to ill health.

“When she got ill, she got out of her bed to sing this song,” Bono told Rolling Stone.

He had initially asked the country singer to collaborate on another project inspired by Irish music, according to the website. Apparently, Parton thought it was too far outside her wheelhouse, but instead offered up Torn, suggesting Bono could “see where you can take it”.

Bono and McDaid rewrote the lyrics, and Parton – known for hits such as 9 To 5, I Will Always Love You and Jolene – was able to approve the final mix before she passed away.

“She sang her heart out,” Bono told Rolling Stone, “and I cannot believe that’s an 80-year-old woman.”

 

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Carnaval De Luz is U2’s first album of new material since Songs Of Surrender (2017). Its first single, Street Of Dreams, was released in July.

U2 says the album’s roots can be traced to two six-track EPs released in early 2026, Days of Ash and Easter Lily, which were recorded during the same creative period.

“It’s a messy, provocative, sacred collection of songs – and features the first-ever use of flat-wound strings on a U2 recording. Just saying,” guitarist The Edge said of Carnaval De Luz.

Bono promised a “hall of mirrors”.

“There will be loud guitars, deep bass, some ecstatic rhythms and, yes, some silver tears will make an appearance!” he said.

“Because in the near distance just outside our carnival of light there are all kinds of creatures… the same imagination that brings us our creativity can also bring us monsters.”

Bono and Parton have reportedly been friends for years, with the country music star sharing a video on social media in January after the U2 singer sent a cake and bagpipe player to surprise her on her 80^th birthday.

She wrote: “This old bag sure feels the love! Thank you, Bono and U2 for making my birthday extra special.”

Parton’s death was announced on August 25 by her nephew and  security chief Brian Seaver.

In a disturbing turn of events, Seaver was this week accused by the singer’s estate of threatening to commit violence and destroy her legacy.

In a request for a temporary restraining order, She’s Alive – the entity that manages and protects Parton’s estate – claimed he had sent increasingly threatening messages in recent weeks.

However, in a social media post on Friday, Parton’s sister Stella insisted the family was “still intact and moving forward”.

“Regardless of what you may have seen on different news outlets, we are all doing what you would be doing under the same circumstances, we are living our lives one day at a time and being grateful for every blessing,” she wrote.

–with PA