Country music legend Dolly Parton revealed the history behind her hit single “I Will Always Love You” to Brian Johnson during an interview on the AC/DC singer’s TV show, “Brian Johnson’s A Life on the Road,” which aired on AXS TV last Sunday.
“I Will Always Love You” was released in 1974 as a single and was written as a farewell to her former partner and mentor of seven years, Porter Wagoner, following Parton’s decision to pursue a solo career.
“I went home with a heavy heart, and I wrote ‘I Will Always Love You’,” Parton explains. “I went back to Porter and said, ‘You won’t listen to what I’m saying, please sit down and listen to this song.’ He started to listen to it and I started playing it with my guitar, and he started to cry. He said, ‘Ok, you can go, if I can produce that song.'”
“I Will Always Love You” was a commercial success, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart twice. The track first reached No. 1 in June 1974 and then again in October 1982, with her re-recording on the soundtrack of the movie version of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.
The song was such a big success that Elvis Presley wanted to record it. Parton was interested in Presley singing her song, but Presley’s manager told her that it was standard procedure for the songwriter to sign over half of the publishing rights to any song Elvis recorded. Parton refused.
“I grieved over that,” she continues. “I just cried my heart out, ’cause I was just picturing Elvis singing that. Can you imagine? After Whitney Houston recorded it, I was so glad I kept the full publishing! I wrote ‘Jolene’ and ‘I Will Always Love You’ the same night, and I thought, ‘Buddy, that was a good night!'”
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