I Will Always Love You

Background and composition

Country music singer-songwriter Dolly Parton wrote the song in 1973 for her one-time partner and mentor Porter Wagoner, from whom she was separating professionally after a seven-year partnership. She recorded it in RCA's Studio B in Nashville on June 13, 1973. "I Will Always Love You" was issued on June 6, 1974, as the second single from Parton's thirteenth solo studio album, Jolene (1974). In 1982, Parton re-recorded the song, when it was included on the soundtrack to the film The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. In addition to the 1982 re-recording for the soundtrack album, Parton's original 1974 recording of the song also appeared in Martin Scorsese's film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, and the 1996 film It's My Party. The song also won Parton Female Vocalist of the Year at the 1975 CMA Awards.

Author Curtis W. Ellison stated that the song "speaks about the breakup of a relationship between a man and a woman that does not descend into unremitting domestic turmoil, but instead envisions parting with respect – because of the initiative of the woman". According to sheet music published at musicnotes.com by Hal Leonard Corporation, the country love track is set in time signature of common time with a tempo of 66 beats per minute. (Larghetto/Adagio) Although Parton found much success with the song, many people are unaware of its origin; during an interview, Parton's manager Danny Nozel said that "one thing we found out from American Idol is that most people don't know that Dolly Parton wrote [the track]".

Reception

During its original release in 1974, "I Will Always Love You" reached number four in Canada on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks chart and peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, becoming one of the best selling singles of 1974.

When Parton re-recorded the song in 1982 for the soundtrack of the film The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, the track was issued as a single and once again charted at number one on Hot Country Songs — making her the first artist ever to earn a number one record twice with the same song. After recording a duet with Vince Gill in 1995, "I Will Always Love You" re-entered the Billboard chart and peaked at number 15.

When the 1974 recording of the song was reaching number one on the country charts, Elvis Presley indicated that he wanted to cover the song. Parton was interested until Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, 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. She recalls:

I said, 'I’m really sorry,' and I cried all night. I mean, it was like the worst thing. You know, it’s like, Oh, my God … Elvis Presley.' And other people were saying, 'You’re nuts. It’s Elvis Presley.' ...I said, 'I can't do that. Something in my heart says, 'Don’t do that. And I just didn’t do it... He would have killed it. But anyway, so he didn’t. Then when Whitney [Houston’s version] came out, I made enough money to buy Graceland.

Critical response

In Curtis W. Ellison's book Country Music Culture: From Hard Times to Heaven (1995), he stated: "In the early 1990s, when ambiguity in romantic relationships accompanies changing expectations for both men and women, this song demonstrates Dolly Parton's appeal as a songwriter in the pop music market." Ken Knight, author of The Midnight Show: Late Night Cable-TV "Guy-Flicks" of the '80s (2008), commented that Parton is the only singer who can sing "I Will Always Love You" and "make it memorable". Writer Paul Simpson criticized the singer, stating that the track was only written to "soften the blow" of Parton and Wagoner's split.

Personnel

Track listings and formats

1. "I Will Always Love You" – 2:53
2. "Lonely Comin' Down" – 3:09

Controversy

After Whitney Houston's recording of the song became a hit in 1992, the tabloid press began reporting on a 'feud' between the two performers, stemming from Dolly Parton allegedly reneging on an agreement that she would not perform the song for a number of months while Houston's version was on the charts, so as not to compete with Houston's recording. However, both Parton and Houston dispelled any rumors speaking glowingly of one another in interviews. Houston praised Parton for writing a beautiful song. In return, Parton thanked Houston for bringing her song to a wider audience and increasing the amount of royalties for her song in the process. Dolly Parton also gave a live interview, confirming this.

When Houston won the Record of the Year award at the 1994 Grammy Awards for the recording, Parton (along with David Foster) presented her with the award.

In a statement to Billboard on the day of Houston's death in February 2012, Parton said:

Mine is only one of the millions of hearts broken over the death of Whitney Houston. I will always be grateful and in awe of the wonderful performance she did on my song and I can truly say from the bottom of my heart, 'Whitney, I will always love you. You will be missed.'

Background

In 1992, R&B singer Whitney Houston recorded a new arrangement of "I Will Always Love You" for the soundtrack to The Bodyguard, her film debut. She was originally to record Jimmy Ruffin's "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" as the lead single from The Bodyguard. However, when it was discovered the song was to be used for Fried Green Tomatoes, Houston requested a different song. It was her co-star Kevin Costner who suggested "I Will Always Love You", playing her Linda Ronstadt's 1975 version from her album Prisoner in Disguise. Houston and producer David Foster re-arranged the song as an R&B ballad. Her record company did not feel a song with an a cappella introduction would be as successful; however, Houston and Costner insisted on retaining it. When Parton heard that Houston was recording the song, she sent her the last verse, which was missing from the Ronstadt recording, as she felt it was important to the song. The tenor saxophone solo was played by Kirk Whalum. Whitney Houston's recording is not the only version of the song featured in the movie. In a scene where she dances with Kevin Costner, a version by John Doe can be heard playing on a jukebox.

Houston's version was a massive worldwide success. It appears at No. 9 on NME's Greatest No 1 Singles in History list. In 2004, Houston's version of "I Will Always Love You" finished at #65 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema. It was also ranked at number 22 on The Guardian's list of Britain's favorite 100 songs, published in May 2002. In February 2014, the song was placed at number six on Billboard's list of the Top 50 'Love' Songs of All Time.

A live performance was included on the 1999 release Divas Live '99, and on the 2014 CD/DVD release of Whitney Houston Live: Her Greatest Performances, a 1994 performance of the song was included as well.

Reception

The single spent 14 weeks at the top of the US Billboard Hot 100, which at the time was a record. It became Houston's longest run at number one, smashing her previous record of three weeks with the "Greatest Love of All" in 1986. It is also the longest running number one single from a soundtrack album.

It debuted at number 40 on the Billboard Hot 100, and became Houston's tenth number one hit a mere two weeks later. It also dominated other Billboard charts, spending 14 weeks at the top of Billboard Hot 100 Single Sales chart, and 11 weeks at number one on its Hot 100 Airplay chart. The song also remained at number one for five weeks on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks, and for 11 weeks on the Hot R&B Singles chart becoming the longest running number one on the R&B charts at the time; it remained in the top 40 for 24 weeks. It became Arista Records' biggest hit. The song was number one on the Hot 100, Adult Contemporary, and R&B chart simultaneously for a record-equaling five weeks; Ray Charles' "I Can't Stop Loving You" in 1962 achieved the same feat on the same charts.

The song stayed at number one in the United States throughout January and February 1993, making it the first time Billboard did not rank a new number one single until March of the new year. Houston's "I Will Always Love You" was also the year-end single of 1993 in the US. Similarly, in the UK, Houston's version was ranked the number one single of 1992, and then made the countdown again in 1993 where it was ranked number nine, marking the first time any artist or group had the same single ranked in the top 10 of the year-end review two years in a row. In Australia, it was the number 17 single of 1992 and the number two song of 1993.

Houston's single was also an international success, peaking at number one of the singles charts in almost all countries, including the Eurochart Hot 100 Singles, where it spent 13 weeks at the top. The single ruled the summit position for ten weeks in Australia, five weeks in Austria, seven weeks for Belgium, eight weeks in France, six weeks in Germany, eight weeks in Ireland, two weeks in Italy, six weeks in Netherlands, 11 weeks in New Zealand, nine weeks in Norway, one week in Spain, six weeks in Sweden, eight weeks in Switzerland, and ten weeks in the United Kingdom. Houston's 10-week reign in the UK set the record for the longest run at the top by a solo female artist in the history of the British singles chart. It is the only single to have topped the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australian singles charts for at least ten weeks.

Only a few hours after Houston's death on February 11, 2012, "I Will Always Love You" topped the US iTunes charts. Also, in the week following her death, the single returned to the Billboard Hot 100 after almost 20 years, debuting at number 7, and becoming a posthumous top-ten single for Houston, the first one since 2001. The song eventually peaked at No. 3, two spots shy of becoming the first song to return to the No. 1 position after falling off the chart since "The Twist" by Chubby Checker. It debuted on the Billboard Hot Digital Singles Chart at number 3 on the chart dated February 25, 2012, with over 195,000 copies downloaded. In the United Kingdom, the song charted at number 10 the week of Houston's death.

Commercial performance

Houston's single sold approximately 400,000 copies in its second week at the top of the charts, making it the best-selling song in a single week surpassing Bryan Adams' "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You". It broke its own record in the following three weeks, peaking at 632,000 copies in the week ending December 27, 1992. The January 9, 1993 issue of Billboard reported it had broken its own record for most copies sold in a single week for any song in the Nielsen SoundsScan era. This record was broken by Elton John's "Candle in the Wind 1997/Something About the Way You Look Tonight", which sold 3.4 million in the final week of September 1997. "I Will Always Love You" was certified four times Platinum in the US for shipments of over 4 million copies by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on January 12, 1993, making Houston the first female artist with a single to reach that level in RIAA history. According to Nielsen SoundScan, as of 2009, the single had sold 4,591,000 copies, and had become the second best-selling physical single in US alone, only behind Elton John's single in 1997.

In the United Kingdom, the single sold over 1,550,000 copies, becoming the tenth best-selling single of the 1990s, and was certified two times Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) on January 1, 1993. It was certified Platinum for shipments of over 500,000 copies by the Bundesverband Musikindustrie (BVMI) in Germany. In Japan, "I Will Always Love You" sold over 810,000 copies, staying for 27 weeks on the chart, and became the best-selling single by a foreign female artist at the time, despite not topping the charts.

Critical response

Houston's version was later called her "signature song". Stephen Holden of The New York Times said it was a "magnificent rendition", commenting

Houston transforms a plaintive country ballad into a towering pop-gospel assertion of lasting devotion to a departing lover. Her voice breaking and tensing, she treats the song as a series of emotional bursts in a steady climb toward a final full-out declamation. Along the way, her virtuosic gospel embellishments enhance the emotion and never seem merely ornamental.

Writing for USA Today on November 17, 1992, James T. Jones IV called it a "tour-de-force", and added "[Houston] gives a 3 ¹⁄₂-star [out of four] performance. Where Dolly Parton's original 'I Will Always Love You' was plaintive and tear- stained, Houston's is gospel-infused and dramatic." Chris Willman of the Los Angeles Times stated: "Houston has the goods to deliver on the tune's haunting beauty and resists overpowering it – until the finale, when the key change and stratospheric notes drain all the heart-rending sadness out of the song and make it sound like just another anthem of survival." Amy Linden of Entertainment Weekly wrote Houston's version "is artistically satisfying and uncharacteristically hip for the MOR songbird." Stewart Mason of AllMusic found Houston's cover "repulsively overwrought... so boomingly bombastic and glutinous with self-approbation that the tenderness of Dolly Parton's song is lost in the mire".

Accolades

"I Will Always Love You" won the 1994 Grammy Award for Record of the Year, and Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, her third award for this category after earlier awards in 1986 and 1988. During the Grammy Award telecast, the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female was presented to Houston by composer Dolly Parton and David Foster. The single topped the 1993 Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R&B Singles year-end charts simultaneously, becoming the first single by a female artist and the second overall to achieve that feat behind Prince's "When Doves Cry" in 1984. In addition, it received Favorite Pop/Rock Single and Favorite Soul/R&B Single awards at the 21st American Music Awards, which was the first record by a solo female artist to win both categories, and the third overall in AMA history behind "Endless Love" by Lionel Richie & Diana Ross in 1982 and "Beat It" by Michael Jackson in 1984. "I Will Always Love You" won two Japan Gold Disc Awards in 1993 for International Song of the Year, and a 1994 International Song of the Year Special Award for Japanese sales of over one million units.

In 2015, "I Will Always Love You" was named the #1 Song of the Rock Era in the book The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era: 1955-2015.

Music video

The single's music video, is credited to Alan Smithee (Nick Brandt removed his name due to the way Clive Davis re-edited the video), and produced by Rob Newman. It begins with the performance of the song Houston gives at the end of The Bodyguard. The video then cuts to Houston in a dark blue suit sitting in an empty theater with the spotlight shining on her, singing of her love. The video is inter-cut with scenes from The Bodyguard and gives the viewer the experience of reliving the moments with the singer. At the time of the video's shooting Houston was pregnant with her daughter Bobbi Kristina so is shown only sitting in the theater scenes.

Credits and personnel

Tributes

Since Houston's death in 2012, many other artists have performed tributes to the late singer's version of the song.

Beyoncé

In 2012, following Whitney Houston's death, American singer Beyoncé performed a tribute to Houston during her revue Revel Presents: Beyoncé Live in Atlantic City, New Jersey at the Revel resort. She began the performance of her song "Halo" singing the first verse of "I Will Always Love You" a cappella. Her live rendition of the song received positive reviews from music critics.

Later, in 2013, during her The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour, Beyoncé also sang the opening lines of "I Will Always Love You" prior to the performance of "Halo" as the final song of the tour.

Jennifer Hudson

Jennifer Hudson performed the song in front of Houston in 2010. On February 12, 2012, Hudson performed the song as a tribute during the 54th Grammy Awards, the day after Houston's death, alongside images of musicians who had died in 2011 and 2012, including Amy Winehouse and Etta James. The song was played at Houston's funeral as her casket was brought out of the church. Parton complimented Hudson on her performance, saying,

I was brought to tears again last night, as I'm sure many were, when Jennifer Hudson sang "I Will Always Love You" on the Grammys in memory of Whitney. Like everybody else, I am still in shock. But I know that Whitney will live forever in all the great music that she left behind. I will always have a very special piece of her in the song we shared together and had the good fortune to share with the world. Rest in peace, Whitney. Again, we will always love you.

Jessica Sanchez

On March 7, 2012, on the eleventh season of American Idol, during the Top 13 week, Jessica Sanchez performed a rendition of the song. She received a standing ovation for her performance. She performed the song again on the season finale, where she would finish as the eventual runner-up.

Edyta Górniak

During the festival TOP trends in 2012, Edyta Górniak performed "I Will Always Love You" as a tribute to Whitney Houston on May 26.

Other versions