Dolly Parton’s voice is being heard again. Just two weeks after her death on August 25, the country music icon’s first posthumous song has been released. “Bound to Ride,” a traditional bluegrass track recorded with the First Ladies of Bluegrass, arrived on September 9 as the lead single from Where the Soul Never Dies: Celebrating 80 Years of The Stanley Brothers.
The Dolly Parton posthumous song was recorded in 2022 during a COVID-19 surge. Rather than gather with the musicians in person, Parton worked alone from her own studio after the First Ladies of Bluegrass laid down the instrumental track separately. The song features Alison Brown on banjo, Becky Buller on fiddle, Sierra Hull on mandolin, Missy Raines on bass, and Molly Tuttle on guitar.
Despite the musicians recording their contributions apart, the finished product captures the energy of a live performance. Parton encourages the players with ad-libs such as “pick it, girls!” and introduces individual members by name before their solos.
Garry West, bassist and owner of Compass Records, told Rolling Stone the tune is “full Dolly.” He added: “We didn’t know what we would get back, and she really did over-deliver. We were shocked. We couldn’t have gotten anything better.”
The traditional song was popularized by The Stanley Brothers with their 1964 recording. The bluegrass duo were posthumously inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame this year, and the tribute album arrives October 16 through Compass Records.
Parton’s foresight made the release possible. She had said years earlier that she was purposely recording material that could be used long after she was gone. “There’s enough stuff to go on forever with my music, to do compilation albums, to do new and original stuff,” she said. “I am purposely trying to put songs down for that very purpose, to have a click track and my vocals where any arrangement could be done. So I think ahead.”
The Dolly Parton posthumous song is just the first of what may be many releases to come. Parton died at 80 after a brief battle with cancer. The full tribute album, which also features Willie Nelson, Dierks Bentley, and others, arrives October 16.
