The music icon, who died this week at the age of 80, once revealed in a 2014 interview with Entertainment Weekly that she would prefer a performance of “If We Never Meet Again,” a song written by southern gospel songwriter Albert Brumley in the 1940s.
Dolly Parton has penned some of country music’s most moving songs, but the one she knew she wanted to be sung at her own funeral wasn’t among them.
“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,’” Parton told Entertainment Weekly, reciting some of the lyrics.
“That was my daddy’s favorite. We did sing it at his funeral, and I would like it to be sung at mine.”
The song, also frequently known as “If We Never Meet Again (This Side of Heaven),” has been recorded by dozens of country and gospel artists, including Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Parton’s former recording partner, Porter Wagoner. Parton never officially released her own version, but she performed it several times on television, including once on her ABC variety series “Dolly,” where she sang the song alongside Loretta Swit.
Parton, in her 2014 interview with EW, acknowledged that “I Will Always Love You,” one of her most popular songs, would likely also be played at her funeral service as well.
“I’m sure they’ll be playing ‘I Will Always Love You’ when I die, just like they did with Whitney Houston,” Parton said. “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.”
Fittingly, Parton’s nephew, Bryan Seaver — who announced his aunt’s death on Tuesday in a video message at her request — also paraphrased Parton’s hit song at the end of his remarks.
“Dolly opened doors, not just for me, but for her entire family to reach the potential we didn’t even know was possible,” Seaver said. “May God bless Dolly Parton, and may God bless you all. She will always love you.”