{"id":2111619,"date":"2026-08-26T01:55:29","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T22:55:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2111619"},"modified":"2026-08-26T01:55:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T22:55:29","slug":"dolly-parton-chose-her-funeral-song-more-than-a-decade-ago-left-an-unreleased-song-to-be-heard-in-2046","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2111619","title":{"rendered":"Dolly Parton Chose Her Funeral Song More Than a Decade Ago & Left an Unreleased Song to Be Heard in 2046"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/P115RDFM-e1768587197133.jpg?w=1024″]<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

\n\t\t\tTrending on Billboard\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tDolly Parton spent her life turning her own experiences, memories and emotions into music. Even after death, her songs will continue to tell her story \u2014 including two that show just how thoughtfully she considered her musical legacy.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe country music icon, who died Tuesday (Aug. 25) at age 80 after a brief battle with cancer, had already decided what song she wanted played at her funeral more than a decade before her death. And, in true Dolly fashion, she also left behind another song that she specifically instructed would not be heard until her 100th birthday in 2046.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\n

\t\t\t\t\tRelated\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\"Dolly<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

\n

\t\t\t\t\tDolly Parton, One of Country Music\u2019s Biggest & Brightest Icons, Dies at\u00a080\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\"Dolly<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

\n

\t\t\t\t\tDolly Parton\u2019s 25 Best Songs: Critics\u2019\u00a0Picks\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\"Dolly<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

\n

\t\t\t\t\tDolly Parton\u2019s Top Billboard Hot Country Songs\u00a0Hits\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tIn a 2014 interview with Entertainment Weekly<\/em>, Parton was asked what song she would want played at her funeral. While many might have expected \u201cI Will Always Love You\u201d \u2014 the song she famously wrote and recorded and then later watched become an even bigger hit through Whitney Houston\u2018s rendition \u2014 Parton had something more personal in mind.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019m sure they\u2019ll be playing \u2018I Will Always Love You\u2019 when I die, just like they did with Whitney Houston,\u201d she told the outlet at the time. But when it came to the song she actually wanted for her own funeral, she chose \u201cIf We Never Meet Again,\u201d an old country-gospel hymn with a particularly meaningful connection to her family.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe song had been her father\u2019s favorite, and it was performed at his funeral. Parton said she hoped the same song would one day be sung at hers.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe choice is fitting, given the song\u2019s message about separation and the hope of being reunited in the afterlife.<\/p>\n

\n\tHer funeral plans were indeed something Parton had considered in advance. Her representatives confirmed Tuesday that she requested a small, private service for immediate family. Her nephew and head of security, Bryan Seaver, also shared that Parton wanted to be laid to rest in a \u201cbeautiful bed of plush cotton.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBut Parton\u2019s planning for the music that would remain until after her death went beyond her funeral. At Dollywood\u2019s DreamMore Resort in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, sits a locked chestnut box containing a recording of an unreleased Parton song called \u201cMy Place in History.\u201d The song was written in 2015, the same year the resort opened, and Parton specifically arranged for it to be unveiled on what would have been her 100th birthday: Jan. 19, 2046.<\/p>\n

\n\tInside the box is a CD containing the recording, along with a CD player so that future generations will be able to hear it, outwardly a Dolly time capsule. The country legend even acknowledged the uncertainty of leaving technology from 2015 to be opened decades later.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThere\u2019s no telling what music is going to be by then,\u201d she wrote in her 2020 book, Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics<\/em>. \u201cHopefully, it will play and the whole thing ain\u2019t rotted.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tParton also joked that she hoped she would live long enough to hear the song herself when the box eventually opened. She was 69 when she wrote and recorded \u201cMy Place In History.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/country\/dolly-parton-funeral-song-unreleased-song-time-capsule-1236324683\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/P115RDFM-e1768587197133.jpg?w=1024″] Trending on Billboard Dolly Parton spent her life turning her own experiences, memories and emotions into music. Even after death, her songs will continue to tell her story \u2014 including two that show just how thoughtfully she considered her musical legacy. The country music icon, who died Tuesday (Aug. 25) at age […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,226],"class_list":["post-2111619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-billboard-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2111619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2111619"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2111619\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2111619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2111619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2111619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}