Dolly Parton spent her life turning her own memories into music, and she kept planning for the songs that would come after her. The country icon, who died Tuesday at age 80 after a brief battle with cancer, had already decided what she wanted played at her funeral — and it wasn’t the obvious pick.
In a 2014 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Parton was asked what song she would want at her funeral. While many expected “I Will Always Love You,” the classic she watched become an even bigger hit through Whitney Houston’s rendition, Parton chose something more personal: “If We Never Meet Again,” an old country-gospel hymn that had been her father’s favorite and was performed at his funeral.
“I’m sure they’ll be playing ‘I Will Always Love You’ when I die, just like they did with Whitney Houston.” — Dolly Parton
The choice fits the song’s message about separation and the hope of being reunited in the afterlife. Her representatives confirmed Tuesday that Parton requested a small, private service for immediate family, and her nephew and head of security, Bryan Seaver, shared that she wanted to be laid to rest in a “beautiful bed of plush cotton.”
A Time Capsule for 2046
Parton’s musical planning went beyond her own funeral. At Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, sits a locked chestnut box containing a recording of an unreleased Parton song called “My Place in History.” Written in 2015, the song was specifically arranged to be unveiled on what would have been her 100th birthday: January 19, 2046.
Inside the box is a CD with the recording, plus a CD player so future generations can actually hear it. Parton even acknowledged the risk of trusting decades-old technology. “There’s no telling what music is going to be by then,” she wrote in her 2020 book, “Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics.” “Hopefully, it will play and the whole thing ain’t rotted.” She was 69 when she recorded it.
Parton died on August 25 at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville, four days after being admitted, with a cause her reps described as a “brief battle with cancer.”
Why It Matters
Even in how she left, Dolly Parton stayed true to the two things she did best: honoring her roots and giving fans something to look forward to. Choosing a hymn tied to her father over her own biggest hit is pure Dolly — a reminder that for all the rhinestones, she was sentimental at heart. And by locking away a song until 2046, she turned her legacy into a promise that her music, like her generosity, was built to outlast her. Twenty years from now, the box at Dollywood will open — and she’ll be the one still setting the date.
