Dolly Parton’s Funeral Song Carries a Message That Reaches Far Beyond Country Music

Dolly PartonABC/Courtesy Everett Collection

Dolly Parton spent her life crossing boundaries — from a childhood in Tennessee’s Smoky Mountains to becoming a country music giant whose appeal stretched far beyond the genre. So it feels fitting that the song reportedly chosen for her funeral is not one of her own hits, but a gospel standard with a history almost as wide-ranging as her audience.

Parton chose “If We Never Meet Again (This Side of Heaven),” a gospel song written by Albert E. Brumley and recorded over the decades by artists including Jerry Lee Lewis, the Chuck Wagon Gang and the Brown’s Ferry Four.

The choice is deeply personal. Its message centers on separation, faith and the hope of reunion beyond this life — themes that carry added weight following the deaths of Parton’s parents and her husband, Carl Dean, who died in 2025. Parton herself died on August 25, 2026, at age 80 after a brief battle with cancer.

Yet the significance of the hymn extends beyond Parton’s personal story.

A gospel songwriter whose music crossed boundaries

The Five Blind Boys of Mississippivocalgroup.org

Albert E. Brumley came from Oklahoma and became one of the best-known composers in American gospel music. His catalog included “I’ll Meet You in the Morning,” “Turn Your Radio On,” “Rank Strangers” and perhaps his most enduring composition, “I’ll Fly Away.”

Brumley’s music did not remain confined to one region or one musical tradition.

“I’ll Fly Away,” in particular, became part of both white and Black gospel traditions. Groups including the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi, the Five Blind Boys of Alabama and the Pilgrim Jubilees embraced the song, while its reach eventually extended far beyond the communities in which Brumley began writing.

That history gives Parton’s funeral selection another layer of meaning. The music Brumley created moved across racial, regional and religious boundaries — much as Parton’s own career eventually did.

Even “If We Never Meet Again” has traveled far from its American gospel roots, with the All for Christ Singers blending the hymn with musical traditions from Zimbabwe.

Dolly Parton had her own connection to Brumley’s music

Parton was no stranger to Brumley’s catalog.

She performed “I’ll Fly Away” herself, bringing the gospel standard into concerts where audiences responded enthusiastically to its familiar message of faith and hope.

That ability to move comfortably between traditions became one of the defining characteristics of Parton’s career.

She emerged unmistakably from country music, but the songs she wrote often refused to remain there.

No example demonstrates that better than “I Will Always Love You.”

Parton originally released the song in 1974. Nearly two decades later, Whitney Houston transformed it into a worldwide phenomenon after recording it for The Bodyguard soundtrack. Houston’s version spent 14 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female at the 1994 Grammy Awards.

The moment also created an unforgettable connection between the two singers.

Parton personally presented Houston with the Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female. Standing onstage, Houston thanked Parton for writing the song and praised her songwriting.

It was a striking example of how a song written by a country artist from rural Tennessee could be reinterpreted by one of the most celebrated voices to emerge from the Black church tradition and become a global pop landmark.

Part of a much larger American musical tradition

Albert E. Brumleynashvillesongwritersfoundation.com

Parton’s funeral choice also fits into a long history of prominent Americans turning to spiritual music at moments of farewell.

Martin Luther King Jr. famously loved “Take My Hand, Precious Lord,” written by Thomas A. Dorsey. The gospel standard became associated with voices including Mahalia Jackson and Elvis Presley, another example of American music moving between communities and traditions.

At Aretha Franklin’s funeral, Gladys Knight performed Paul Simon’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” another song whose musical lineage and interpretations stretched across genres.

In each case, the music became bigger than its original context.

Parton spent decades doing something similar.

Country remained the foundation of her identity, but her songwriting, acting, philanthropy and public persona allowed her to reach audiences who might otherwise have shared little culturally or politically. Her career eventually encompassed more than 100 million records sold, major Hollywood roles, Dollywood and her Imagination Library literacy program.

A final song that reflects the life she built

Dolly Parton performs with the Ladysmith Black Mambazo Band at the grand opening of Dollywood’s 2018 season in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., on March 16, 2018.Curtis Hilbun / AFF-USA.com / MEGA

That helps explain why “If We Never Meet Again” feels like more than simply a funeral selection.

Parton could easily have chosen one of the songs that made her famous. Her catalog offered plenty of obvious possibilities, from “Coat of Many Colors” to “I Will Always Love You.”

Instead, she turned to an older gospel hymn rooted in faith, remembrance and reunion.

And the history behind that song mirrors something important about Parton herself.

She began life in rural Tennessee and became an artist embraced by people across generations, regions and musical traditions. Her songs were sung by country performers, pop stars and gospel singers alike.

In an increasingly divided American culture, Parton managed something comparatively rare: she remained a figure whom very different groups of people could claim as their own.

Her reported choice of “If We Never Meet Again (This Side of Heaven)” therefore feels less like a departure from her musical legacy than one final expression of it — a simple gospel song carrying a message capable of traveling far beyond the place where it began.