A lot of people think this is a romantic song, which of course can be interpreted as such, but it was actually a goodbye to her mentor and partner Porter Wagoner.

Dolly wrote this and Jolene in the same night

This performance was in 1974 on the Porter Wagoner show.  Dolly, Emmy, and Linda did release the "Trio" album in 1987 and "Trio II" in 1999. both albums won grammys

Dolly wrote this song.  She wrote it around 1973 or 74

Dolly first recorded this song in June of 1973.  She is young here, but In a career spanning 70 years she has had several "Heydays"

Dolly Parton wrote the song in 1973 when she was 27 years old.

Having moved to Nashville from east Tennessee after leaving school in 1964, she had found only middling success as a singer-songwriter before catching the eye of singer Bill Phillips, who dueted on her song "Put it Off Until Tomorrow."

Country star Porter Wagoner then invited Parton to be the "girl singer" on his TV show - eventually signing her to his label and giving her the big break she craved.

But by 1973, Parton wanted to make the stage and TV screens hers alone. "I had come to Nashville to be my own star," she told DJ Howard Stern in 2023.

Dolly Parton wrote "I Will Always Love You" in 1973 when she was 27 years old as a heartfelt musical farewell to her business partner and mentor, Porter Wagoner.   Parton spent seven years co-hosting Porter Wagoner's popular television show, which helped launch her career.  She felt a strong need to break away and pursue her own solo career, but Wagoner resisted her departure.  Instead of arguing, Parton walked into her office, sat down, and wrote the song to express her gratitude and love while firmly explaining that she had to leave.  

The next morning, she strode into Wagoner's office and told him to sit down. "I sang the song alone in his office - just me and my guitar," she told Stern.

Tears rolled down his face from behind the desk. "That's the best song you've ever wrote," he told her. "You can go if I can produce the song."

Dolly recorded "I Will Always Love You" for her album, "Jolene" and released the song as a single in March 1974.  It reached #1 on the Billboard Hot Country songs, and was one of the best selling singles in 1974.

About a year later Elvis's manager Colonel Parker contacted Dolly and said that Elvis wanted to record the song, but only if she signed away half the rights to the song.  She told him no, because it was her biggest money-maker, and she just couldn't do it.  She said she cried all night thinking about it, because she would have loved to have heard what Elvis could have done with the song.

In "The Bodyguard," they needed a country song in a bar scene, and someone suggested "I Will Always Love You."  there's a scene where Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston are dancing in a bar, and you can hear someone singing "I Will Always Love You" on the jukebox.  Whitney makes the remark about the song being a corny country song.  Dolly didn't sell the song to Whitney - she gave the producers permission for Whitney to sing her song in the movie (and the soundtrack), but she told them to make sure that Whitney sang the verse about, "I hope life treats you kind, and I hope you have all you ever dreamed of..."   Dolly Parton recites the lines in her recording, and she didn't want anyone else doing it the way she did it.  She said she never heard anything more about it, until she was driving in her car one day, and heard the opening lines to the song.  She realized it was Whitney Houston singing, and she said was so astonished and overcome when the big chorus came up, that she had to pull over on the side of the road to listen to it.  She said she had no idea her song could be sung like that, and that it was one of the most unforgettable moments of her life.

Thank you SO MUCH for this wonderful reaction to the INCOMPARABLE Dolly Parton. I just came from a different reactors channel who actually said:

"We just lost Dolly Parton who first rose to fame because Whitney Houston did a wildly bigger cover of “I Will always love you”.

Wow...just wow.

❤ fromCanada.

Dolly wrote and Performed this song  and people copied the song..
Dollys is the original and the Best

"THE VIOLET REALM"!
Wow - what a Cool Name!
    🌌🌠👏👏👏🌠🌌

Elvis wanted to record this but Dolly refused to give up 50% of the publishing rights.  She also recorded another version 9 years later for a movie & both versions went to #1, making her the only recording artist to hot #1 with 2 versionz of the same song.  And,  she donated her royalties from Whitney Houston's version to help a black neighborhood in Nashville

I cry every time a hear her sing this, she's now singing it to us from another place. Not a country music fan but Dolly brought everyone in on it with love and respect for others. Country music was her conveyor, but it was Dolly who changed lives and gave generously to the unfortunate, no matter where they were from or what the hell color they were. started libraires and books for children so they would access to learning to read. Her o help people. she built Dollywood near her hometown to not only provide a fun place to go, but to create jobs and a better economy for the locals. Her image she never took seriously except to further a charitable cause. A class act and a class lady who came from nothing and left a positive legacy, not for herself, but for others.

LeeAnn did cover this.  The song " How Do I Live " is another song that has a similar sound though.   The strange thing about that song was that Trisha Yearwood and the movie " Con Air " had released their version at around the same time.

Shiro Dolly wrote this song in 1973 so if I think the performance was in 1974

Dollys version is amazing

I loved Whitney Houstons version but there is just something special when Dolly Parton RIP sang this beautiful song. She did a great coloboration with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris in 1987 i believe they actualy done a album together and performed a brilliant cover of Neil Young's After The Gold Rush and is said to be one the greatest harmonies of all time. Nice one Violet❤

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