Even before her death at age 80, country music icon Dolly Parton had carefully planned for her music to outlive her. In interviews over the years, Parton said she had "hundreds, hundreds, even thousands" of songs that had never been recorded and revealed that she was intentionally creating recordings that could be turned into new releases long after she was gone. After her death this week, there’s been renewed interest in a mysterious unreleased song locked inside a Dollywood time capsule that is not scheduled to be opened until 2045.
Parton was one of the most prolific songwriters in music history, writing thousands of songs across her career that spanned more than six decades. And based on Parton’s prior comments, fans may be able to hear previously unreleased songs for decades to come. Unlike other artists whose vaults contained unfinished recordings and uncertain ownership arrangements, Parton said she deliberately organized her music so future producers could continue releasing it in new forms.
Parton spoke extensively about her unreleased catalog during an interview for the podcast Dolly Parton's America. "I am a lucky person because I've got hundreds, hundreds, even thousands of songs and a big part of them have never even been recorded," she said. According to Parton, the archive contains enough material for future compilation albums as well as entirely new releases.
"There's enough stuff to go on forever with my music to do compilation albums, to do actually new and original stuff," Parton said. Parton said she also intentionally recorded guide versions of songs with click tracks and vocals that could later be expanded into a full production. "I am purposely trying to put songs down for that very purpose to have a click track and my vocals to where any arrangement can be done," she said.
When asked whether listeners could still be hearing new Dolly Parton albums 50 years into the future, she responded: "Yes. From now on, where my music is concerned." She went even further, suggesting future producers could completely reimagine her recordings. "Anybody could produce that.
Any producer, anywhere in the world, a hot producer, when I'm gone, they could take my songs, just the click track of my vocal and build a complete arrangement around that." Parton said she wanted to avoid leaving behind a complicated archive. "I'm one of those people that believe in being prepared," she said. "I don't want to ever leave my stuff in the same shape like Prince, or Aretha, or anybody that don't plan ahead with that." Adding to the intrigue is a previously unreleased song reportedly sealed inside a time capsule at Dollywood.
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