When a karaoke singer belts out “I Will Always Love You,” they may have Whitney Houston’s 1992 rendition on their minds, but it was country music legend Dolly Partonwho originated the song.
In 1974, Parton released her power balled, “I Will Always Love You,” as a single on March 11. By June 8 of the same year, the song had reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. Parton’s version of the song then hit No. 1 on the same chart again in October of 1982 after it was featured on the soundtrack for The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.
10 years after that return to the top of the charts, and 18 years after the first time the song hit No. 1, Whitney Houston released her own rendition of the song. As was the case for Parton’s 1982 re-recorded version of the song, Houston’s release of “I Will Always Love You” was part of a soundtrack, this one for the 1992 movie The Bodyguard.
The song found a brand-new, intense wave of success with Houston. In fact, the singer has broken multiple records with her version, which hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1992 and stayed there for a staggering 14 weeks.
Per Billboard, Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” has gone on to have an incredible legacy, not only going platinum 18 times but also becoming the legendary singer’s first diamond single, as determined by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which is equivalent to going 10-times platinum.
If you’re worried about bad blood between the song’s creator and Houston because of the latter’s massive success, though, you shouldn’t be. According to the BBC, Parton described hearing Houston’s version of the song as “one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had in my entire life.”
