Dolly Parton's first posthumous song has been released

Dolly Parton ’s first posthumous recording was released Wednesday, just two weeks after the country music icon died at age 80.

The track, a rendition of the traditional song "Bound to Ride," serves as the featured single for an upcoming all-star tribute album honoring the Stanley Brothers.

The song appears on "Where the Soul Never Dies: Celebrating 80 Years of The Stanley Brothers," scheduled for release Oct. 16. Parton recorded her vocals alone at her own studio during a 2022 COVID-19 surge, with backing from the First Ladies of Bluegrass, an ensemble featuring Alison Brown on banjo, Becky Buller on fiddle, Sierra Hull on mandolin, Missy Raines on bass and Molly Tuttle on guitar.

Producers Garry West and Alison Brown of Compass Records said the "Jolene" singer’s performance stood out for calling out each of the First Ladies by name during the song. West described the recording as "the full Dolly" and said producers were surprised by the quality of the tracks she submitted.

"We didn’t know what we would get back, and she really did over-deliver," West said. "We were shocked. We couldn’t have gotten anything better."

Industry veteran J. Tayloe Emery and Ralph Stanley II, son of the late Ralph Stanley, conceived the project to coincide with the Stanley Brothers’ long-delayed induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame. The brothers and their band, the Clinch Mountain Boys, began performing in the mid-1940s and became foundational figures in country, bluegrass and Americana music.