U2 Announce Carnaval de Luz With Dolly Parton’s Final Vocal

U2 have announced Carnaval de Luz, their 16th studio album and first album of new material in nearly a decade. The 12-track record will be released by Interscope Records on 13 November 2026. Variety reported that the album closes with “Torn”, a duet between Bono and Dolly Parton that is said to contain Parton’s final recorded performance, recorded in June before her death aged 80 on 25 August 2026.

Field	Detail
Album	Carnaval de Luz
Artist	U2
Release date	13 November 2026
Label	Interscope Records
Tracks	12
Closing track	“Torn”, a duet by Bono and Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton’s final recorded performance closes the album

Rolling Stone said “Torn” is being presented as Parton’s final recorded performance. The band’s press materials describe the song as “a tender country song detailing broken family ties, that holds wider resonances”. Bono and Parton share the duet, while Daniel Lanois plays pedal steel on the track.

Bono described the circumstances around Parton’s recording in stark terms: “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.” Parton recorded the duet in June, before her death aged 80 on 25 August 2026.

Billboard also reported the collaboration as a central part of the new record. Rather than appearing separately from the album, Parton’s vocal sits at the end of U2’s new 12-song studio release, making “Torn” the final track on Carnaval de Luz.

U2 describe Carnaval de Luz as loud, joyful and provocative

The Edge called the album “a messy, provocative, sacred collection of songs”. Bono, meanwhile, promised “loud guitars, deep bass, some ecstatic rhythms ... the same imagination that brings us our creativity can also bring us monsters. So we make the drums louder. We build a bigger fire. We make our stories wilder and funnier. We make the melodies sweeter and the songs, they better shine, because if the world is in darkness we better not be.”

That emphasis on energy follows comments Bono made when the Days of Ash EP appeared in February. The Guardian reported that he said the coming album would have “a carnival vibe ... a more defiantly joyful feel” than the EP, which reflected on ICE, Iran, Ukraine and the Israel-Palestine conflict.

The band have released two EPs in 2026: Days of Ash and Easter Lily. Reviewing Days of Ash, the Guardian’s Alexis Petridis wrote that the “zeal, purpose and belief” associated with U2’s peak years “has been recaptured here”.

Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois reunite with U2

Carnaval de Luz brings U2 back together with producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. The pair previously produced The Unforgettable Fire, The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby.

According to Variety, Eno also has a direct musical and writing role on the new record, co-writing and playing synthesisers on three tracks. Lanois contributes pedal steel to “Torn”, connecting the production reunion directly to the Dolly Parton duet that closes the album.

The album also includes other collaborators. EDM artist Martin Garrix co-wrote “Glorify”, while Ryan Tedder co-produced “Silencio”. Those credits put Eno and Lanois alongside Garrix and Tedder across the 12-track project.

Silencio and Street of Dreams introduce the new album

“Silencio”, described as a raucous rock’n’roll song, was released alongside the album announcement. It follows “Street of Dreams”, the first track issued from Carnaval de Luz, which came out in July.

The release sequence means listeners have heard two tracks from the album before its 13 November release. Billboard reported the album announcement alongside the arrival of “Silencio”, while “Street of Dreams” had already appeared earlier in the year.

2026 release	Timing	Role
Days of Ash	February	EP
Street of Dreams	July	First track released from Carnaval de Luz
Silencio	24 September	Released with the album announcement
Carnaval de Luz	13 November	16th U2 studio album

The announcement arrives 50 years after U2’s first meeting

The timing of the announcement adds a career anniversary to the new-album news. The Guardian noted that it comes 50 years, to the week, after drummer Larry Mullen Jr, then 14, pinned a note to the noticeboard at Dublin’s Mount Temple Comprehensive School reading “drummer seeks musicians to form band”.

Bono, the Edge and bassist Adam Clayton were all at that first meeting. Fifty years later, the album announcement also reconnects U2 with Eno and Lanois and includes collaborations with Parton, Garrix and Tedder.

The anniversary places the new record alongside a career that includes The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby, as well as three consecutive UK No 1 albums: All That You Can't Leave Behind, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb and No Line on the Horizon.

Carnaval de Luz follows the Songs trilogy

U2’s most recent album releases were the trilogy Songs of Innocence from 2014, Songs of Experience and Songs of Surrender from 2023. The last of those was a collection of reworked back-catalogue material, making Carnaval de Luz the band’s first album of new material in nearly a decade.

That distinction is central to the announcement. The 12-track album contains new recordings, with “Street of Dreams” and “Silencio” already released and “Torn” positioned as the closing track.

With a 13 November release date set through Interscope Records, the album follows Bono’s earlier contrast between the subject matter of Days of Ash and the new record’s “more defiantly joyful feel”. Carnaval de Luz also reunites U2 with Eno and Lanois while bringing Parton’s final recorded performance to the album’s closing song.

Frequently asked questions

When is U2’s Carnaval de Luz album released?

Carnaval de Luz will be released on 13 November 2026 through Interscope Records. It is U2’s 16th studio album and contains 12 tracks. The record is the band’s first album of new material in nearly a decade, following their more recent Songs trilogy and two EP releases earlier in 2026.

Is Torn really Dolly Parton’s final recorded performance?

Dolly Parton appears on “Torn”, the final track on Carnaval de Luz, as a duet partner with Bono. The song is said to be her final recorded performance. Parton recorded the vocal in June and died aged 80 on 25 August 2026. Daniel Lanois plays pedal steel on the track.

Which songs from Carnaval de Luz have already been released?

Two tracks from Carnaval de Luz have been released. “Street of Dreams” arrived in July as the first track from the album. “Silencio”, described as a raucous rock’n’roll song, was released alongside the album announcement on 24 September. Ryan Tedder co-produced “Silencio”.

Who produced and collaborated on U2’s Carnaval de Luz?

Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois reunite with U2 on Carnaval de Luz after producing The Unforgettable Fire, The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby. Eno co-writes and plays synthesisers on three tracks, while Lanois plays pedal steel on “Torn”. Martin Garrix co-wrote “Glorify”, and Ryan Tedder co-produced “Silencio”.