I Will Always Love You

She wrote it in 1973 as a farewell to Wagoner, her mentor and business partner, after seven years together, expressing her gratitude and her decision to go solo. She recorded it at RCA Studio B in Nashville on 12 June 1973, and it came out in March 1974 as the second single from Jolene. It reached number one on the country chart in June 1974 and won her Female Vocalist of the Year at the 1975 CMA Awards. Pitchfork's Douglas Wolk, writing in 2007, said: "If that spoken verse doesn't destroy you, you do not have a functional heart."

Elvis Presley wanted to record it, but his manager Colonel Tom Parker told her the songwriter had to sign over half the publishing. She refused, and cried all night, she recalled. She told W magazine she had to keep the copyright in her pocket, and told CMT that when Whitney Houston's version came out she made enough money to buy Graceland. Houston recorded a pop-ballad arrangement for The Bodyguard in 1992, and it spent 14 weeks at number one on the Hot 100, a record at the time. Parton has said she likes Houston's version better than her own.

Other versions

She re-recorded it for The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas in 1982, and that version also reached number one on the country chart, so she took the song to the top twice. In 1995 she sang it as a duet with Vince Gill on Something Special. It peaked at number 15 and was named Vocal Event of the Year at the CMA Awards. After her death the 1974 recording entered the Hot 100 at number 27. The Copyright Office registered the words and music in 1973, and 179 performances are documented in her live history.