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- Dolly Parton wrote an unreleased song that won’t be revealed until 2045.
- The song, recorded on a CD, is locked inside a box at Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
- Parton said the idea was originally pitched by someone on her team as a marketing idea, but she decided to go through with it.
- The song was created in 2015 when Parton first opened Dollywood DreamMore Resort.
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Dolly Parton released some of modern music’s most iconic songs, but fans will have to wait three decades to hear one secret track.
According to Taste of Country, Parton revealed in her new book that the unreleased and unheard song is hidden away at Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
Parton, who turns 75 years old this month, wrote in “Songteller: My Life in Lyrics” that the secret song was penned in 2015 when her resort debuted that July.
The idea came from a member of Parton’s team, who suggested a song vault could be an engaging marketing tool for Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort. The team member asked that she create a song specifically for the occasion, Taste of Country reported.
“It would be a song that will never be heard until 30 years from the time we opened the resort. They said, ‘You’ll be long dead,'” Parton wrote, referring to her team members.
"I said, 'Well, maybe not. I'll be 99. I've seen people live to be older than that," she added. "So I wrote this song, and I can't say what it is."
The song, which was recorded onto a CD, was nestled into a chestnut wood box built by her Uncle Bill. The locked box contains a CD player inside and currently sits behind a glass display case.
Parton was told to keep the song a secret and that the box couldn't be opened until 2045, Taste of Country reported.
"That's like burying one of my kids, putting it on ice or something, and I won't be around to see it brought back to life," wrote Parton.
"It's just burning me up inside that I have to leave it in there. Hopefully, it will play and the whole thing ain't rotted," added Parton, who is the godmother of Miley Cyrus.
Parton noted that the request was odd given the extended wait, but said she'd do everything in her power to be there.
"Anyway, it's kind of weird or strange that they would ask me to write this mystery song," she adds. "I don't know if I want to live to be 100 or not. But you never know. I might, and if I do, I'm going to be at that opening," wrote Parton.
Parton, whose marriage to Carl Dean has lasted 54 years, has made a reputation for being a masterful singer and artist.
Her songs "Jolene" and "9 to 5" emerged as country classics, while her songwriting skills helped create the legendary ballad, "And I Will Always Love You."
Her latest movie, "Christmas on the Square," debuted on Netflix in November.
Parton is also regarded as a philanthropist, and in November it was revealed she donated $1 million to COVID-19 research at Vanderbilt University.
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