Dolly Parton Planned Her Final Song More Than a Decade Ago — But One Last Recording Will Stay Locked Away Until 2046

Dolly Parton spent her life writing songs about love, family, heartbreak, faith and the memories that shaped her. But even when she thought about the end of her own life, the country icon had already chosen the music she wanted to speak for her.

More than a decade before her death, Dolly had decided which song she wanted played at her funeral.

And that was only part of the legacy she carefully planned.

She also recorded a song that she specifically ordered to remain unheard until what would have been her 100th birthday in 2046.

The details offer another glimpse into the remarkable thought Dolly put into what she would leave behind.

The song Dolly wanted at her funeral

In a 2014 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Dolly was asked a question many artists might find difficult: What song would she want played at her funeral?

There was an obvious possibility.

Her iconic ballad “I Will Always Love You” had become one of the most famous songs in music history, particularly after Whitney Houston’s version became a global phenomenon.

Dolly knew that song would probably be heard when she died.

“I’m sure they’ll be playing ‘I Will Always Love You’ when I die, just like they did with Whitney Houston,” she said at the time.

But it wasn’t the song she personally chose.

Instead, Dolly selected “If We Never Meet Again,” an old country-gospel hymn with a deeply personal connection to her family.

The song had been her father’s favourite.

It was also performed at his funeral.

Dolly said she hoped it would one day be sung at hers, making the choice far more meaningful than simply selecting one of her biggest hits.

The hymn’s message — centred on separation and the hope of meeting again in the afterlife — also made it a fitting choice for the woman who had spoken so openly about faith and family throughout her career.

Dolly had already thought about her final farewell

Her funeral wishes were not merely something she mentioned in passing.

After Dolly died at the age of 80 on August 25 following a brief battle with cancer, her representatives confirmed that she had requested a small, private service for immediate family.

Her nephew and longtime head of security, Bryan Seaver, also revealed that Dolly wanted to be laid to rest in what he described as a “beautiful bed of plush cotton.”

It was a remarkably simple image for a woman whose public persona had always been anything but understated.

But Dolly’s planning did not stop with her funeral.

She had also thought about what she wanted future generations to hear from her.

The song locked away until 2046

At Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, there is a locked chestnut box containing something nobody is supposed to hear yet.

Inside is an unreleased Dolly Parton recording called “My Place in History.”

Dolly wrote the song in 2015, the same year the resort opened, and arranged for it to be unveiled on January 19, 2046 — the date that would have marked her 100th birthday.

The box was designed as a musical time capsule.

Inside sits a CD containing the recording, along with a CD player intended to ensure that people in the future can actually listen to Dolly’s voice when the time finally comes.

Even Dolly herself recognised how uncertain the future of technology could be.

In her 2020 book Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics, she joked about whether the equipment would still work decades later.

“There’s no telling what music is going to be by then,” she wrote. “Hopefully, it will play and the whole thing ain’t rotted.”

There was also something wonderfully Dolly about the fact that she hoped she might still be alive to hear the recording herself when the box was finally opened.

She was 69 years old when she wrote and recorded “My Place in History.”

She ultimately would not make it to 2046.

One final piece of Dolly’s story is still waiting

That makes the locked box at Dollywood even more poignant.

Dolly Parton spent decades making sure her music would outlive her. She wrote thousands of songs, transformed personal memories into country classics and built a legacy that reached far beyond the recording studio.

Yet one song remains deliberately beyond the reach of today’s listeners.

It is sitting inside a chestnut box in Tennessee, waiting for a date Dolly chose herself.

On January 19, 2046, when Dolly would have turned 100, someone will finally open it.

By then, another generation will know her music, her stories and the extraordinary life she built from humble beginnings.

And for the first time, they will hear a song Dolly Parton herself decided should wait for them.

Her final chapter may have ended in 2026. But one last song is still waiting to be heard.