Dolly Parton's beloved hit I Will Always Love You, released in 1974, has been covered hundreds of times since its debut. In 1992, Whitney Houston gave it a new lease of life with her version from The Bodyguard soundtrack. The poignant ballad, one of the best-known love songs in the world, was written by Parton — who died at the age of 80 on Tuesday — for a man, but not her husband Carl Dean. Instead, it was a tribute to Porter Wagoner, the man who helped propel her to fame and kick-started her career.
The Song's Origin
Although Parton had been working in the industry since the age of 10, singing on East Tennessee stations and appearing regularly on The Cas Walker Show in Knoxville, it was on The Porter Wagoner Show, which she joined in 1967 at age 21, that she truly made her mark. She worked with Wagoner for seven years before leaving to go solo, during which time they became a popular partnership and released records together. She had originally agreed to stay for five years but remained for two more before deciding to pursue a solo career — but there was a problem: Wagoner didn't want to let her go.
Parton's Own Words
Years later, Parton recalled the inspiration for the song, confirming it was for Wagoner. She confessed: "There was a great passion there. And I wanted to leave the show. I had told Porter that I would stay with the show for five years. I wanted to go out on my own." She added that they were "going around and around" on her departure. "So, finally, I thought: 'How am I gonna make him understand how much I appreciate everything, but that I have to go? He won't listen to me. He's not listening to reason when I want to go!' So I went home and I thought: 'Well, what do you do best? You write songs.' So I sat down and I wrote this song."
The next day, she took the song to Wagoner and told him to sit down. She recalled: "I started singing I Will Always Love You, and he started crying. When I finished, he said: 'Well, hell! If you feel that strong about it, just go on — providing I get to produce that record, because that's the best song you ever wrote'." His instincts were right; she released the song as a single in 1974, and it reached number one on Billboard's Hot Country Songs.
A Strained Relationship
Despite the song's sentiment, the pair fell out for decades. In 1979, Wagoner sued Parton for $3 million, alleging breach of contract and demanding a cut of her solo earnings. Although they settled out of court, the legal battle severely damaged their friendship, and they didn't speak for years. In 1988, they took tentative steps to reconcile when Wagoner appeared on Parton's short-lived network variety show. The following year, he joined her on stage at her Dollywood amusement park. By 1995, they had put their differences aside and made an emotional joint appearance at the Grand Ole Opry.
In 2007, Parton performed the song she wrote for him directly to Wagoner at a special Opry event celebrating his 50th anniversary. Later that year, when Wagoner was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, Parton visited him in his final hours and was by his bedside when he died in October 2007. Parton later summarised their bond by saying, "We fought, we argued... but I never stopped loving him for what he did for me."
