Dolly Parton, who died on Tuesday aged 80 following a brief battle with cancer, has left behind one final musical gift that the world will not hear for another two decades.
An unreleased track called My Place in History sits sealed inside a chestnut box at Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, with firm instructions that it must not be opened until January 19, 2046.
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This date is significant because it would have marked the country legend’s 100th birthday.
According to Ms Parton’s official website, the track will see the singer share her hopes and dreams for the future.
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Some reports indicate the song could be released in 2045, shortly ahead of the centenary, though others suggest the time capsule may stay shut until the precise anniversary of her birth on January 19, 2046.
The box contains a CD recording of the song along with a player, ensuring it can be heard when the time comes.
During a 2022 appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show, Ms Parton admitted she found the wait agonising.
“You have no idea how that has bothered me. I wanna go dig that up so bad. It’s a really good song!” she said.
In that same interview, the country music star acknowledged she might not live to witness the moment the track was finally played.
“I might be here, I might not be,” she reflected.
When the so-called Dream Box was originally sealed, Ms Parton described the items within it as “closely tied to special people who encouraged me and certain events in my life where that encouragement paid off.”
Beyond the song, the Dream Box holds several deeply personal artefacts.
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Among them is a copy of Ms Parton’s 2012 book Dream More: Celebrate the Dreamer in You, alongside a piece of timber taken from the front porch of the modest Tennessee home where she grew up.
The chestnut wood used for the sealed mystery box carries its own significance, serving as a tribute to the Jolene singer’s uncle Bill Owens, who played a pivotal role in launching her career.
Mr Owens was involved with the American Chestnut Foundation, an organisation that succeeded in cultivating a blight-resistant variety of the American chestnut tree and reintroducing it to eastern US woodlands.
Ms Parton’s last album, Rockstar, arrived in November 2023, featuring collaborations with Sir Elton John, Debbie Harry and Stevie Nicks.
Her most recent single, Son of Jolene, was a collaboration with country artist Belles released earlier this year.
Tributes have flooded in from across the globe since Ms Parton’s death at a Nashville hospital.
Taylor Swift described the singer’s legacy as “everlasting,” adding that a world without her “doesn’t feel possible, real, or right.”
Beyoncé hailed the artist, who shifted more than 100 million records across a six-decade career, as a “treasure.”
Sir Paul McCartney praised Ms Parton’s songwriting talents as “unrivalled.”
Donald Trump ordered flags to be flown at half-mast throughout the United States in her honour.
In London, the Band of the Coldstream Guards performed her signature hit 9 to 5 during the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace.
The Royal family’s official X account shared the moment, noting that Ms Parton had brought “joy, comfort and inspiration” to the world.
Dionne Warwick wrote on X: “I will certainly miss her laughter, jokes and her being. Rest well and in total peace, my friend. My heart is heavy.”
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