Dolly Parton has left her fans one final parting gift — though they will have to wait 20 years to receive it. The beloved star passed away, leaving behind an unreleased song set to be unveiled on what would have been her 100th birthday in two decades' time.
It was announced on Tuesday that the music icon had died at the age of 80, with her death confirmed in an Instagram video posted by her nephew Bryan Seaver. As fans grieve the loss of the Jolene hitmaker, one final track awaits them, preserved on a CD inside a locked box at Dollywood's DreamMore Resort in Tennessee.
A Song Preserved for the Future
Titled My Place In History, Dolly penned the song in 2015, the same year she opened the Resort. The song is housed within a chestnut 'Dream Box' displayed in a glass case, which also contains a piece of timber from the front porch of her childhood home in Sevierville, Tennessee, where she grew up singing alongside her 11 siblings.
"I don't know if I want to live to be 100 or not. But you never know," Dolly wrote in her 2020 book, Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics. "I might, and if I do, I'm going to be at that opening."
She added: "There's no telling what music is going to be by then. Hopefully, it will play and the whole thing ain't rotted."
Final Days and Passing
The legendary country singer's passing shocked the world, coming after months of health troubles that forced her to withdraw from numerous public engagements, fuelling growing concerns among devoted fans.
The country music icon died at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Centre in Nashville after being hospitalised on August 21 with "autoimmune and kidney problems". As her condition worsened in the hospital, members of her family travelled to Nashville to be with her. Tragically, she died just four days later.
Dolly's representatives confirmed she passed away following a 'brief battle with cancer' in a statement to People magazine, though the specific type of cancer was not disclosed.
"Our beloved Dolly Parton spent her life and career bringing joy, laughter, hope and integrity into everything she touched," the statement read. "After bravely facing a brief battle with cancer, Dolly departed her Earthly life today at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Centre, surrounded by loved ones."
