Bono surprised Dolly Parton by sending a bagpiper to play for her on her 80th birthday. Watch footage of the moment below.
The country icon celebrated reaching the milestone age yesterday (Monday January 19), with her home state Tennessee declaring it ‘Dolly Parton Day’.
Later, Parton shared a video of herself being serenaded by Nashville-based Irish musician Patrick D’Arcy – who hails from Dublin. He performed the tune of ‘Happy Birthday’ on the bagpipes as the legendary artist was presented with a cake.
The cake featured the message “Love… Bono” in iced lettering, as well as some candles. “Wow, this is from Bono!” Parton said, before blowing out the candles. “I did it!”
She continued, telling D’Arcy: “Well, thank you. I saw that cake said, ‘From Bono’, so he must have sent you as a present to me? Well, thank you guys. I appreciate all of you.”
He replied: “It’s an absolute delight to be here on behalf of the whole band.”
Parton added: “And Bono, I know him personally. Well, good to see you. And thank you. That’s a surprise.” She then joked: “Are you calling me an old bag?”
In the caption, the singer wrote: “Now that’s what you call a surprise! This old bag sure feels the love! 😉💖 Thank you, Bono and @u2 for making my birthday extra special.”
D’Arcy posted a pair of images of himself and Parton, revealing that he had played “a few tunes, on behalf of Bono and the boys, for Dolly Parton for her 80th birthday”.
He also said he’d “presented her with a pint of Guinness”, writing: “There was even time for a nice chat. She was exactly who you’d hope she’d be. Happy 80th Birthday Dolly! 🎂.” See the post below.
Ahead of Parton marking her 80th birthday, she released a new version of 1977’s ‘Light Of A Clear Blue Morning’ last Friday (January 16), featuring Queen Latifah, Reba McEntire, Lainey Wilson and her goddaughter Miley Cyrus to honour the song’s 50th anniversary.
The singer said she would donate proceeds from the single to the paediatric cancer research program at a children’s hospital in Nashville.
“I wrote ‘Light Of A Clear Blue Morning’ during a season when I was searching for hope, and 50 years later that message still feels just as true,” Parton said in a statement (via The Independent). “As I celebrate my 80th birthday, this new version is my way of using what I’ve been blessed with to shine a little light forward, especially by sharing it with some truly incredible women.”
Last March, Parton’s husband Carl Thomas Dean died at the age of 82. Following his passing, the country star said that she had put working on new songs “on hold” to cope with the loss.
She told fans earlier that she’d been “doing better than I thought I would”, and subsequently shared the poignant single ‘If You Hadn’t Been There’ in Dean’s honour.
In other news, Bono recently called for the release of Palestinian prisoner Marwan Barghouti, who is imprisoned in an Israeli jail. He said that “both sides must be represented by leaders seen as legitimate in their own communities”.