I Will Always Love You
I Will Always Love You is a 1974 song by U.S. country musician Dolly Parton, which became a worldwide hit in Whitney Houston's 1992 cover version. Houston's version is from the soundtrack to the film Bodyguard and reached number one in the pop charts in 16 countries, including Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the United States and the United Kingdom, and achieved multi-platinum status.
Dolly Parton's version
The song was written by Parton in 1973, recorded at RCA Records in Nashville in June 1973 and released on Parton's album Jolene in February 1974; producer was Bob Ferguson. It was followed by the single release in April 1974. The song reached No. 1 on the country charts in 1974 and again topped the country charts in 1982, as well as No. 53 on the pop charts, in a re-recorded version for the film The Nicest Whorehouse in Texas. In the mid-seventies, Elvis Presley wanted to record a cover version of the song. On the day of the recording, Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, told Parton that Presley only wanted to record the song if he was given half the publishing rights, which Parton refused.
In 1995, Parton recorded the song again, this time in a duet version with Vince Gill, reaching the charts for the third time with the same track. In 2003, the song was ranked number 16 on CMT's "100 Greatest Songs in Country Music" and number one on CMT's "100 Greatest Country Love Songs" in 2004. In interviews, Parton said she wrote the song for her former longtime partner and mentor Porter Wagoner; it was meant to express how much she appreciated what he had taught her.
Whitney Houston's version
In 1992, Whitney Houston recorded the song for the film Bodyguard, from whose soundtrack it was released as a single on November 3, 1992. The producer was David Foster; the tenor sax solo was recorded by Kirk Whalum.
The song was the best-selling single in the U.S. for many years and was included in the "Billboard Greatest Songs of All Time" at number 68. On Songs of the Century by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), it ranked #108 and held the record for the longest-running single on the Billboard Hot 100 for some time at 14 weeks. In the UK, it was the Christmas number one hit of 1992.
After Houston's death in early 2012, the song re-entered the Billboard Hot 100. In the first week, the song was still at #7, one week later it reached #3 on the charts. The song also made a re-entry in Germany (#19), Austria (#10) and Switzerland (#3). Also in 2012, the song was called the "most successful world hit of all time" by the TV station RTL in the ultimate chart show.
