August 27, 2026 — 5:00amLegendary country singer Dolly Parton recorded one final track before her death, but the song will not be released until the year 2046.The song, titled My Place in History, was originally recorded as part of a time capsule laid into a special box at the 80-year-old singer’s Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.Dolly Parton on stage at the Glastonbury Festival.AFPThe box in which it is stored, known as Dolly’s chestnut “Dream Box”, is a collection of Parton’s memories and wishes for the future.Not much is known about the song, only that it was written before 2015 and placed in the time capsule that year. On display at the DreamMore Resort, part of the Dollywood park, it is scheduled to be opened on January, 19, 2046, on what would be Parton’s 100th birthday. (There is also some speculation that it will instead be released in 2045 to mark the 30th anniversary of DreamMore.)The plaque on the box explains it is Dolly’s “tribute to her original mentor and uncle, Bill Owens, who has worked tirelessly to preserve the American Chestnut tree”.Parton elaborated on the plan in her 2020 book, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics, where she said the process of writing and recording a song, and then locking it away, was “like burying one of my kids ... and I won’t be around to see it brought back to life. It’s just burning me up inside that I have to leave it in there.”In more recent interviews where the topic has come up, Parton expressed increasing regret that the song would be kept away from her fans for so long.“I don’t know whose damn idea that was,” she told singer and talk show host Kelly Clarkson in 2022. “You have no idea how that has bothered me. I wanna go dig that up so bad. It’s a really good song.”At the time, in a display of her trademark wit, she noted that she may not be around for the song’s unveiling. “I might be here, I might not be,” Parton said.“I figure it’ll probably disintegrate and nobody will ever hear it, that’s what bothers me,” Parton added. “If it rots in there before they open it.”Dolly Parton on stage.GettyThe topic was raised in another 2022 interview, with talk show host Jimmy Fallon.“They asked me if I would write a song that nobody would ever hear,” Parton told Fallon. “I’ll be dead and gone. Well I might not be, ’cause I’ll be 99. You know me, I might still be hoppin’ around.”In the Fallon interview, Parton reiterated her desire to dig up the track. “I keep wantin’ them to let me dig it up and put something else in it that isn’t as good,” she said.It is understood that a cassette and CD recording are in the box, along with a cassette player and a CD player, and instructions on how to operate the devices, presumably because at some point Parton realised the technology – and the recorded media – might be superseded.A wand with a star is placed over Dolly Parton’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.APIt is unclear how many songs Parton wrote in her life – the total is likely measured in the thousands – with only hundreds of them recorded and released in various forms, either studio, live or remixed performances. It is likely that many more unreleased songs are stored in various archives and, depending on the management of her estate, may eventually be released.In 2014, Parton told Entertainment Weekly magazine the song she wanted played at her funeral was If We Never Meet Again, an old country-gospel hymn of particular significance to her family.Written by Albert Brumley and released in 1945, the song was notably recorded by two country stars, Johnny Cash and Porter Wagoner. The song was also performed at Parton’s father’s funeral.“If we never meet again this side of heaven, as we struggle through this world and its strife,” the songs chorus goes, “there’s another meeting place somewhere in heaven, by the side of the river of life.”Parton would not be the first artist to have unreleased material released after their death.Prince notably had a climate-controlled vault at his Paisley Park estate containing thousands of unreleased, fully completed songs and alternate takes. Michael Jackson had a collection of unreleased, archival material released after his death on the Xscape album.Michael Idato is the culture editor-at-large of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.From our partners