This week in 1992, Whitney Houston started a record-breaking fourteen-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with her soaring rendition of I Will Always Love You, a signature track from the soundtrack of Bodyguard in which she starred.
The mega-hit was originally penned by country queen, Dolly Parton back in 1973. She wrote the song as a touching farewell to her early business partner and mentor, Porter Wagoner after deciding to pursue a solo career. Released in 1974, the song was also a chart-topper for Parton, hitting top spot on the Billboard Hot Country Songs upon release, and again in 1982 with a re-recording that featured on The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas soundtrack, a film in which Parton also starred.
A decade later, Whitney’s soul-ballad arrangement topped charts around the world. Selling over 20 million copies, it became the best-selling single of all time by a female artist and earned her the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1994. Unsurprisingly. Whitney’s delivery of I Will Always Love You is, undeniably, one of the most powerful performances of all time.
Dolly’s original may seem saccharine by comparison, but her heartrending vocal is every bit as captivating; a power unto itself. Enjoy her angelic live performance of I Will Always Love You live in 1974, below.
Dolly Parton | ‘I Will Always Love You’ [1974]
Could there be anybody better to celebrate Christmas with than Dolly? A Holly Dolly Christmas is the ultimate festive collection of timeless Christmas classics we all know and love, as well as a few Dolly originals. The album also features incredible duets with some of the country icon’s dearest friends including Michael Bublé, Billy Ray Cyrus, Miley Cyrus, Jimmy Fallon and Willie Nelson, plus a special song with her brother, Randy Parton. Pre-order the limited white vinyl A Holly Dolly Christmas 2022 Ultimate Deluxe Edition, here.
GET DOLLY PARTON ALBUMS, HERE.
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