Dolly Parton, the country music icon, died Tuesday (Aug. 25) at age 80 after a brief battle with cancer, as reported by Billboard and Live 5 News WCSC. In the wake of her death, details have emerged about the careful planning she put into her musical legacy, including an unreleased song she left for future listeners and a funeral song she selected years in advance.
A Song Held for the Future
At Dollywood's DreamMore Resort in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, a locked chestnut box contains an unreleased Parton song called "My Place in History," which she wrote and recorded in 2015, the same year the resort opened, according to Billboard. The box also holds a CD and a CD player, with Parton joking in her 2020 book "Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics" about whether the technology would still work.
Reports differ on when the box is to be opened. Billboard states it is to be unveiled on Jan. 19, 2046, what would have been Parton's 100th birthday. Live 5 News WCSC, citing a 2022 People report, says the box won't be opened until 2045, in time for the resort's 30th anniversary. Parton referred to the timeline during an interview quoted by Live 5 News, saying, "They weren't expecting me to be there at all, and I probably won't be." She also expressed concern that the recording might disintegrate before anyone hears it.
Parton was 69 when she wrote and recorded "My Place in History," Billboard reports.
A Funeral Song Chosen Early
Parton had already decided what she wanted played at her funeral more than a decade before her death. In a 2014 interview with Entertainment Weekly, she said she wanted "If We Never Meet Again" rather than her famous "I Will Always Love You." The song was her father's favorite and had been performed at his funeral, making it a personal choice with a message about separation and hope for reunion in the afterlife, Billboard explained.
Parton's representatives confirmed she requested a small, private service for immediate family, and her nephew Bryan Seaver (who also served as head of security) shared that she wanted to be laid to rest in a "beautiful bed of plush cotton," according to Billboard.
Final Days and Family Support
In what was described as her final interview on Aug. 21, Parton told People about dealing with "some health issues" that had forced her to cancel an appearance at her Dollywood theme park the previous week. She attributed her most recent health struggles to "not paying attention" to herself while caring for her late husband, Carl Thomas Dean, who died in March 2025 at age 82, according to Live 5 News.
Her death was revealed by her nephew Bryan Seaver in a Facebook video, in which he said, "It is an honor, an honor that is mixed with absolute pride and great sadness. But sadness lies with us, not with Dolly," as reported by Live 5 News.
A Career Spanning Decades
Parton's music career spanned seven decades, with her first No. 1 country album released in 1977 and a Guinness World Record for the longest span of No. 1 hits on the U.S. Top Country Albums chart, as noted by Live 5 News.