Stay Alive for 20 More Years to Hear Dolly Parton’s Final Song

The world is reeling from the loss of country music legend Dolly Parton, who died on Tuesday at the age of 80 after a battle with cancer, her team now confirms. But even in death, Dolly keeps on giving.

As the many lives Parton touched paused to remember her life and legacy—a fraction of which includes Beyoncé, Paul McCartney, Jane Fonda, Carole Burnett, Taylor Swift, and just about every other living star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame—an interview was resurfaced about a time capsule Parton had buried back in 2015. In the capsule sits her final song, an unreleased gem burned onto a CD and buried somewhere in the bedrock of Dollywood, which is not to be unvaulted until January 19, 2046, the day Dolly would have turned 100.

She confirmed the rumors about the secret song, called “My Place in History,” in an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon in 2022: “I wrote a song, and I put it in the box to be opened,” she said. “I even put a CD player and said what we were doing with our music at the time, left all the instructions, and ‘here’s how you can play this.’”

“I don’t know what they will do with it, but I have regretted that because it was a really good song,” she joked. “I kept wanting them to let me dig it up and put something else in it that’s not as good.” Well, I guess we’ll all have to kick around for the next two decades, given the planet decides to last that long. Can we come together to save the planet (and maybe also CD players) for the sake of Dolly’s last song?

“I wanna go dig that up so bad. I don’t know whose damn idea that was,” she also said on the Kelly Clarkson show.

While Parton was battling cancer in the final year of her life, it didn’t stop her from dreaming bigger, even though she was forced to cancel several public appearances before her death, including some at the legendary theme park where her final song awaits. Tuesday night, as the Empire State Building emitted a hot-pink glow, it was hard not to keep reflecting on her impact—her musical genius, her philanthropic efforts, her innate goodness.

“If any of you are around when they open that box,” she said on Fallon. “I hope you enjoy my song.” God (she/her) willing, let’s make it through the next 20 years.

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