NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE: 'I Will Always Love You' is one of Dolly Parton's most well-known songs, despite the fact that it didn't really catch on until Whitney Houston performed it in 'The Bodyguard' in 1992. Contrary to what the general public might think, the lyrics, however, focus on the ending of a professional relationship rather than a romantic one.
The singer, an American diva who launched her career on 'The Porter Wagoner' show in 1967, has retained her fame for more than 50 years. Before deciding to enter the music business by herself Dolly and Wagoner made a few records together when she was a cast member of the program. However, Wagoner didn't want Parton to quit, per Insider.
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Dolly Parton's inspiration for 'I Will Always Love You'
Parton appeared alongside her mentor Porter Wagoner on his self-titled TV show in the late 1960s and early 1970s. But when Parton was ready to take charge of her own career, Wagoner was unhappy, and a breach began to grow. Parton and Wagoner engaged in a kind of power struggle over the course of her career, which grew more intense the longer she appeared on the program. Wagoner began to feel a sense of ownership toward her.
Parton told CMT in 2011: "There was a lot of grief and heartache there, and he just wasn't listening to my reasoning for my going. I thought, 'Well, why don't you do what you do best? Why don't you just write this song?'" Later that day, Parton wrote 'I Will Always Love You' and sang it to Wagoner the following morning.
Although some fans might have thought the song was a love ballad composed for Parton's husband, Carl Thomas Dean, it was originally all about Wagoner. Instead, Thomas Dean refused to be a part of her life on the road, therefore the song was about her business partner rather than her reclusive husband.
Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner's rumored affair
Despite their age differences, people believed that Parton and Wagoner had a love chemistry. Although Parton recalls that there was passion between her and Wagoner, the majority of their interactions ended in heated disputes. In her 2020 book, 'Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics,' Parton claimed that whenever two people sing in a passionate duet, "People always think the singers are having an affair. Porter and I fought like cats and dogs," she wrote in her book. "My husband and I have never fought, and Porter and I did nothing but fight," as per Showbiz CheatSheet.
Even though Parton and Wagoner's relationship wasn't romantic, it was certainly serious. "Whether it’s a love affair or not, you’re all in, in the relationship," Parton wrote. "Whether it’s sexual or whether it’s just passionate, you are connected. It’s a love-hate relationship. It is a marriage, of a sort." Parton is also aware that these speculations promote record sales.
#One in Billboard’s Hot Country songs
Parton recalled: "I started singing I Will Always Love You, and he started crying. "When I finished, he said: ‘Well, hell! If you feel that strong about it, just go on- providing I get to produce that record, because that's the best song you ever wrote.’" Dolly eventually released the song as a single in 1974, and it immediately rose to the top of Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart, proving Wagoner's intuition was correct, as reported by Daily Express.
'I Will Always Love You' was re-recorded in 1982 for the soundtrack of the movie 'The Best Little Whorehouse' in Texas, which propelled it back to the top of the charts once more. Whitney Houston's recording of the song for the popular movie 'The Bodyguard' in 1992 gave Parton's smash even greater success. When she declined the chance to record 'I Will Always Love You' as a duet with Elvis Presley in the 1970s, the star's success with the song was infamously reduced.