{"id":12048,"date":"2026-08-26T00:48:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T23:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/26\/dolly-parton-revealed-which-song-she-wanted-played-at-her-funeral-before-her-death\/"},"modified":"2026-08-26T00:48:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T23:48:00","slug":"dolly-parton-revealed-which-song-she-wanted-played-at-her-funeral-before-her-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/26\/dolly-parton-revealed-which-song-she-wanted-played-at-her-funeral-before-her-death\/","title":{"rendered":"Dolly Parton revealed which song she wanted played at her funeral before her death"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Dolly Parton once shared that she wanted the gospel hymn \u201cIf We Never Meet Again\u201d to be sung <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2026\/08\/25\/celebrity-news\/dolly-partons-funeral-plans-revealed-after-her-death-at-age-80\/\">at her funeral.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The country music icon<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2026\/08\/25\/celebrity-news\/country-music-icon-dolly-parton-dead\/\"> died Tuesday at the age of 80<\/a>, but she had already thought about the music that she would be playing at her funeral in a Q&amp;A <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/article\/2014\/05\/09\/dolly-parton-soundtrack-my-life\/?_gl=1*153qr2b*_ga*ODE3MzQ0NTcyLjE3NTAwOTE4NjU.*_ga_DK3GDWHWJH*czE3ODc2OTQ2OTgkbzY3OSRnMSR0MTc4NzY5NTkxMSRqNTgkbDAkaDA.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">with Entertainment Weekly <\/a>back in May 2014.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a song called \u2018If We Never Meet Again,&#8217;\u201d she shared at the time. \u201cIt\u2019s 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. \u2018Where the charming roses bloom forever and where separations come no more.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat was my daddy\u2019s favorite,\u201d she continued. \u201cWe did sing it at his funeral, and I would like it to be sung at mine.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Dolly Parton shared back in 2014 that she wanted the gospel hymn \u201cIf We Never Meet Again\u201d to play at her funeral. She died Tuesday at the age of 80. <span class=\"credit\">Katherine Bomboy\/NBC via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>The singer-songwriter (pictured above in June 2014) said they played the song at her dad Robert Lee Parton\u2019s funeral and she wants it to be sung at hers as well. <span class=\"credit\">REUTERS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>The legendary singer-songwriter also surmised that they would play her 1973 song, \u201cI Will Always Love You,\u201d which became a massive hit when Whitney Houston released her own version of it nearly 20 years later for her 1992 film, \u201cThe Bodyguard.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sadly, Houston <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2012\/02\/12\/whitney-houston-dead-at-48-2\/\">died in February 2012 <\/a>at the age of 48.<\/p>\n<p>Parton said, \u201cI\u2019m sure they\u2019ll be playing \u2018I Will Always Love You\u2019 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, \u2018Oh my Lord.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s when it hit me that she was really gone,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>The country music icon also shared in 2014 that she thinks her song \u201cI Will Always Love You\u201d will play at her funeral, which became a massive hit in 1992 thanks to Whitney Houston\u2019s cover of it. <span class=\"credit\">Whitney Houston<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Parton shared that she cried when the song played at Houston\u2019s funeral in 2012. The two are seen here in 1994. <span class=\"credit\">YouTube\/GRAMMYs<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cIf We Never Meet Again (This Side of Heaven)\u201d 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.<\/p>\n<p>Parton\u2019s publicity team shared with Page Six that at Parton\u2019s \u201crequest,\u201d<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2026\/08\/25\/celebrity-news\/dolly-partons-funeral-plans-revealed-after-her-death-at-age-80\/\"> <\/a>her funeral will consist of \u201ca small, private service for immediate family.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The intimate ceremony is being planned in Nashville, Tennessee, \u201cin the coming days,\u201d with her closest family and loved ones expected to be in attendance, TMZ reported.<\/p>\n<p>The outlet\u00a0also reported that Parton will be laid to rest beside her\u00a0<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2025\/03\/03\/celebrity-news\/dolly-partons-longtime-husband-carl-dean-dead-at-age-82\/\">late husband, Carl Dean<\/a>, at Woodlawn Memorial Park and Mausoleum in her signature high heels.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The latest news on music icon Dolly Parton\u2019s death at 80<\/h2>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Parton\u2019s publicity team told Page Six Tuesday that per her request, her funeral will consist of \u201ca small, private service for immediate family.\u201d <span class=\"credit\">MediaPunch \/ BACKGRID<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>The \u201cJolene\u201d singer also requested to be laid to rest in a \u201cbeautiful bed of plush cotton,\u201d her nephew Bryan Seaver shared in an emotional video announcing her death. <span class=\"credit\">MediaPunch \/ BACKGRID<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2026\/08\/25\/celebrity-news\/read-dolly-partons-familys-emotional-message-on-her-death-in-full\/\">an emotional video announcing Parton\u2019s death,<\/a> her nephew and head of security, Bryan Seaver, <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2026\/08\/25\/celebrity-news\/dolly-parton-made-emotional-final-request-to-family-before-her-death\/\">shared the \u201cJolene\u201d singer\u2019s request <\/a>to be laid to rest in a \u201cbeautiful bed of plush cotton.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter a life wearing heavy rhinestones, she finally deserves to be comfortable and have some rest,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n<p>Parton\u2019s reps told us that \u201cin lieu of flowers the family asks\u00a0for donations to be made to Imagination Library,\u201d her free book-gifting program.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2026\/08\/25\/celebrity-news\/dolly-parton-revealed-which-song-she-wanted-played-at-her-funeral-before-her-death\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dolly Parton once shared that she wanted the gospel hymn \u201cIf We Never Meet Again\u201d 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&amp;A with Entertainment Weekly back [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12049,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/08\/138503593.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[2753,645,2054,4090,12791,1966,6517,10115,12792,4818,803,286,4684],"class_list":["post-12048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrity","tag-celebrity-deaths","tag-celebrity-news","tag-death","tag-dolly","tag-dolly-parton","tag-funeral","tag-funerals","tag-music","tag-parton","tag-played","tag-revealed","tag-song","tag-wanted"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12048\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}