Dolly Parton once shared that she wanted the gospel hymn “If We Never Meet Again” to be sung at her funeral.
The country music icon died Tuesday at the age of 80, but she had already thought about the music that she would be playing at her funeral in a Q&A with Entertainment Weekly back in May 2014.
“There’s a song called ‘If We Never Meet Again,’” she shared at the time. “It’s an old country-gospel church song that talks about if we never meet again this side of heaven, I will meet you on that beautiful shore. ‘Where the charming roses bloom forever and where separations come no more.’”
“That was my daddy’s favorite,” she continued. “We did sing it at his funeral, and I would like it to be sung at mine.”
The legendary singer-songwriter also surmised that they would play her 1973 song, “I Will Always Love You,” which became a massive hit when Whitney Houston released her own version of it nearly 20 years later for her 1992 film, “The Bodyguard.”
Sadly, Houston died in February 2012 at the age of 48.
Parton said, “I’m sure they’ll be playing ‘I Will Always Love You’ when I die, just like they did with Whitney Houston. When they picked her coffin up and started in on that song, I started to cry, and I thought, ‘Oh my Lord.’”
“That’s when it hit me that she was really gone,” she added.
“If We Never Meet Again (This Side of Heaven)” was written by composer Albert E. Brumley in 1945. The hymn has been covered multiple times by major artists, including by Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash.
Parton’s publicity team shared with Page Six that at Parton’s “request,” her funeral will consist of “a small, private service for immediate family.”
The intimate ceremony is being planned in Nashville, Tennessee, “in the coming days,” with her closest family and loved ones expected to be in attendance, TMZ reported.
The outlet also reported that Parton will be laid to rest beside her late husband, Carl Dean, at Woodlawn Memorial Park and Mausoleum in her signature high heels.
The latest news on music icon Dolly Parton’s death at 80
In an emotional video announcing Parton’s death, her nephew and head of security, Bryan Seaver, shared the “Jolene” singer’s request to be laid to rest in a “beautiful bed of plush cotton.”
“After a life wearing heavy rhinestones, she finally deserves to be comfortable and have some rest,” he explained.
Parton’s reps told us that “in lieu of flowers the family asks for donations to be made to Imagination Library,” her free book-gifting program.
