U2 release "Torn", a duet with Dolly Parton recorded before her death

Left · 2U2 released "Torn", a duet featuring Dolly Parton, on 13 November 2026 as the closing track of their album "Carnaval de Luz". 1 2 Left · 1ABC News (Australia) describes the album as U2's 16th studio album and first full-length since 2023. 1 Left · 2Both outlets report it as Parton's last recorded vocal; she died of cancer on 25 August 2026, aged 80. 2 1

Left · 1According to ABC, Parton co-wrote the track and recorded her vocal in Nashville, Tennessee, in June, less than three months before her death. 1 Left · 1Bono told the BBC the band knew Parton was ill but did not know it would be her last vocal. 1 Left · 1Bono said the collaboration began when he gave Parton a set of bagpipes as a birthday gift and she agreed to listen to his demos; she rejected one called "Lifelong" as "a little too Irish" but offered a song she had started, "Torn". 1

Left · 1Parton's original treatment concerned a woman choosing between two men; U2, with help from Jonny McDaid of Snow Patrol, rewrote it as a song about a family divided by political differences. 1 Left · 1Variety reads the lyrics as seemingly a metaphor for a politically divided country, quoting Parton's line "Nothing hurts a mother more than a family at war", and prints the full lyrics. 2 Left · 1In a note dated 2 June, Parton told Bono she hoped he liked what she had done, and wrote: "Thanks for including me in your life. I've always loved you and always will. Dolly". 1

Left · 1Two more versions of "Torn" were released the same day: one produced by Parton's long-time producer Kent Wells emphasising country instrumentation and pedal steel, and one by T Bone Burnett. 1 Left · 1Bono also told the BBC he was with R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe when they learned of her death, and that Stipe "fell down and started sobbing". 1