Dolly Parton is arguably one of the best voices in music, of any genre. But even she can still get blown away by other people's talent. Parton recalls one moment, when she heard the voice of pop superstar Whitney Houston singing one of her songs, namely "I Will Always Love You," when she almost wrecked her car.
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"I was driving home in my car from my office, going through Brentwood, a little town by where I live in Nashville," Parton recalls, in a video she shared on Instagram. "I just heard this voice come on the radio. It kind of rang a bell, but it didn't hit because she was kind of talking it. Then, all of a sudden, it went into the 'I Will Always Love You' part, and I just about wrecked. I had to pull off the side of the road, seriously, to listen to it."
Houston recorded the song for the 1992 film, The Bodyguard. The song became a multi-week, diamond-certified hit for Houston, and one of the biggest songs of her career.
The Story Behind 'I Will Always Love You'
Parton wrote "I Will Always Love You" by herself, but not as a romantic tune. The song was written by Parton as a farewell to Porter Wagoner. Parton had been part of Wagoner's The Porter Wagoner Show, and was ready to go out on her own as a solo artist.
"I wrote that song to say, 'Here's how I feel. I will always love you, but I have to go,'" Parton shares (via Smooth Radio).
Parton bid farewell to Wagoner the only way she knew how, through song.
"I was trying to get away on my own because I had promised to stay with Porter's show for five years. I had been there for seven," Parton recalls (via The Boot). "And we fought a lot. We were very much alike. We were both stubborn. We both believed that we knew what was best for us. Well, he believed he knew what was best for me, too, and I believed that I knew more what was best for me at that time. So, needless to say, there was a lot of grief and heartache there, and he just wasn't listening to my reasoning for my going."
Numerous other artists have recorded "I Will Always Love You." But one artist who didn't is Elvis Presley, because he wanted half of the publishing.
