U2 have revealed that Dolly Parton believed their music was "too Irish" before agreeing to collaborate on what became her final recording. The late country legend teamed up with the Irish rock band for the song "Torn," taken from their new album, Carnaval De Luz, which was co-written by the band, Dolly, and Snow Patrol's Johnny McDaid.
Parton died in August at the age of 80 following what her representatives described as a "brief battle with cancer." The track, recorded two months before her death, marked her last-ever studio recording.
How the collaboration came together
Speaking on BBC Radio 2's Track Of My Years With Vernon Kay, U2 frontman Bono – real name Paul David Hewson – explained how the collaboration began. He said the band were looking for something to unify their album, noting that the song could help the characters in the album deal with what is going on in the outside world.
Bono described Parton as "the penicillin" and "the antidote" to a fractious time where everyone has a point of view. He explained that Parton had started a song called Torn and invited the band to take it wherever they wanted, adding that they took it "quite a ways away from where she started," resulting in a "sci-fi country soundscape."
Parton's 'too Irish' comment
Guitarist The Edge, real name David Howell Evans, recalled Parton saying: "Your songs are too Irish for me. So, what about this one?" Bono suggested the folk album they were making "didn't hit her voice," which may have prompted her to want changes to the track – a song about two brothers who do not talk.
Bono added: "Or she was just being really smart and getting us to finish off one of her old songs. Whatever way I'll take it. And this is one of the greatest songwriters who ever lived."
Bono's emotional response
Bono previously told Rolling Stone that he almost found the track too difficult to listen to. "When she got ill, she got out of her bed to sing this song. And you can hear that. And I can't even listen to it now," he said. "She sang her heart out, and I cannot believe that's an 80-year-old woman."
Parton's death was announced by her nephew, Bryan, on August 25. He said in a video that his aunt had specifically asked for him to be the one to share the news. At the time, TMZ reported that the singer had been hospitalised with "autoimmune and kidney problems." Her health deteriorated over the coming days, and she died four days later. Her representatives later confirmed she had been fighting cancer.
