Photo: Hoda Davaine / Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images
Country music legend Dolly Parton died at age 80 after a brief battle with cancer, but her music legacy includes one last, unheard surprise for fans. An unreleased song titled My Place in History is locked in a chestnut box at Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
Parton wrote and recorded the song in 2015, the year the resort opened. The recording, stored on a CD along with a CD player, is sealed inside what’s called the “Dream Box,” which sits in the lower-level lobby of the resort. The box will remain closed until January 19, 2046—what would have been Parton’s 100th birthday—fulfilling her wish that the track be heard by future generations rather than immediately after her death.
In her 2020 book, Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics, Parton wrote, "I don’t know if I want to live to be 100 or not. But you never know. I might, and if I do, I’m going to be at that opening.” She also joked about the uncertainty of future music technology and whether the CD and player would still work by then, saying, "Hopefully, it will play and the whole thing ain’t rotted."
The Dream Box itself also pays tribute to Parton's uncle and mentor, Bill Owens, who helped preserve the American Chestnut tree. The box’s plaque explains that only Parton knew the song’s melody and content, and no one else will until the box is opened in 2046.
Clay Travis spoke about Dolly's legacy during the The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show, calling her "one of the true legends of country music, one of the true entertainers of her era, period."
He then praised her for all her charity, Imagination Library, which started in Tennessee and sends children's books to the homes of families to ensure their kids would be develop a love of reading.
Listen to his tribute below: