U2's Carnaval De Luz: what we know, including Dolly Parton's final recording

U2 announced their 16th studio album, Carnaval De Luz, on 24 September 2026. It is out on 13 November through Island Records, and it is the band's first studio album in nine years. The announcement landed in the band's 50th anniversary month: U2 formed in Dublin in September 1976.

The record closes with "Torn," a duet between Bono and Dolly Parton. In the band's own words, it is "what has sadly turned out to be her last recorded vocal performance." Parton died in Nashville on 25 August 2026, aged 80.

Dolly Parton's final recording

According to U2's announcement, "Torn" is a country song about broken family ties, co-written by U2, Parton and Snow Patrol's Johnny McDaid, with Daniel Lanois on pedal steel. Rolling Stone's Brian Hiatt, in a story Rolling Stone India also ran, reported that the song began with Parton and that she recorded her vocal in June.

Bono recalled her offering it to the band: "She said, 'I got this song. It's called "Torn," and do you wanna see where you can take it somewhere else, maybe?'" On the performance itself, he told Rolling Stone: "She sang her heart out, and I cannot believe that's an 80-year-old woman." And, more painfully: "When she got ill, she got out of her bed to sing this song. And you can hear that. And I can't even listen to it now."

Producer Jacknife Lee told the magazine that Parton heard the finished track: "Dolly loved it. She was so proud of her vocal and the recording."

The record

Carnaval De Luz has 12 songs, as listed on U2.com:

1. Go (Carnaval De Luz)
2. La Reina
3. Street Of Dreams
4. The Mirror Maker (Rosalía)
5. Superficiality
6. If The World Is At War We Better Not Be
7. Silencio
8. The Greatest Show On Earth
9. Glorify
10. Midnight Sunshine
11. Can't Stop Us Now
12. Torn (feat. Dolly Parton)

Jacknife Lee produced. Brian Eno co-wrote and played synthesizers on "Go (Carnaval De Luz)," "The Greatest Show On Earth" and "Can't Stop Us Now," and Ryan Tedder worked on "Silencio." Track four is not a feature: in Rolling Stone's cover story, Bono described "The Mirror Maker" as a song celebrating Rosalía as an artist.

In the announcement, The Edge called it a "messy, provocative, sacred collection of songs," adding that it features "the first-ever use of flat-wound strings on a U2 recording." U2 say the album explores spirituality, friendship, freedom and endurance. Its roots go back to the two surprise six-track EPs the band put out earlier this year, Days Of Ash and Easter Lily.

The singles

"Street Of Dreams" arrived on 7 July as the first taste. Its video was shot in Mexico City by the directing duo Cliqua, Pasqual Gutiérrez and Raúl "RJ" Sanchez, who also directed the clip for "Silencio," released alongside the album announcement on 24 September.

Why it matters here

Rolling Stone India ran the magazine's U2 cover story this month, and Indian fans will remember that U2 made their India debut at DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai in December 2019. No new India dates have been announced. For now, the date to circle is 13 November, and the song most people will reach for first is the last one on the record.