THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

704-Whitney Houston- I Will Always Love You.

1992-Number 1 single.

Best Bit-At 3.08. Dolly Parton has said that she wrote ‘I Will Always Love You’ on the same day that she wrote ‘Jolene,’ a fairly productive, and profitable day then.

Dolly Rebecca Parton was born on January 19th, 1946, in Pittman Center, Tennessee, United States, the fourth of 12 children, she is a singer, songwriter, and an actress. She has sold in excess of 100 million records worldwide, and has been described as a ‘Country Music legend.’ Up until around 1976 Parton recorded solely in the ‘Country Music’ genre, but then successfully transitioned in to mainstream ‘Pop Music.’ The extensive discography of Dolly Parton includes 49 solo studio Albums released between 1967-2023, and 198 singles released as the lead artist between 1959-2023, she has also released 13 studio Albums, and 21 singles with the American Country Music singer Porter Wagoner between 1967-1980. Dolly Parton also has 237 official compilation Albums, and nine live Albums available in her discography. In America on the ‘Billboard Top Country Songs’ chart Dolly Parton hold the record of 25 Number 1 singles by a female artist. On the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, she has had seven top 40 hits, with ‘9 to 5,’ reaching Number 1 in 1980, and ‘Islands in the Stream,’ with Kenny Rogers, making Number 1 in 1983. while in the UK, she has had three top 40 hits, with both ‘Jolene’ (1973) and ‘Islands in the Stream,’ (1983) both peaking at Number 7.

Whitney Elizabeth Houston was born on August 9th, 1963, in Newark, New Jersey, United States, she died on February 11th, 2012, which was caused by drowning and the ‘effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use.’ The manner of her death was listed as an ‘accident,’ she was 48 years old. Whitney Houston who was nicknamed ‘The Voice,’ is one of the best selling artists of all time, with record sales in excess of 220 million worldwide, Whitney was also an actress, appearing in seven films that have been released between 1992-2018. The discography of Whitney Houston includes seven studio Albums released between 1985-2009, and 57 singles released between 1984-2022, she has also appeared on a further four singles as the featured artist. In America on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, she had had 30 top 40 hits, including 11 Number 1 singles, which include ‘I Will Always Love You,’ which with worldwide sales in excess of 22 million is the best selling single of all time by a female artist. In the UK, Whitney Houston has had 33 top 40 hits, with four of those tracks reaching Number 1.

‘I Will Always Love You’ was written by Dolly Parton, and was written as a farewell to Parton’s business partner and mentor Porter Wagoner, (1927-2007) as a way of expressing her decision to pursue a solo career, Dolly Parton’s original version of the song was a commercial success, reaching Number 1 on the ‘Billboard Hot Country Songs’ chart in 1974. In 1982 Dolly Parton re-recorded the song for the film ‘The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas’ soundtrack, starring Dolly Parton, and once again it became a ‘Billboard Hot Country Songs’ Number 1 hit. In 1995 Dolly Parton recorded the song for a third time, this time as a duet with the American Country singer Vince Gill, for her 33rd solo studio Album ‘Something Special,’ this time the song when issued as single reached Number 15 on the ‘Billboard Hot Country Songs’ chart.

In 1992 Whitney Houston recorded a new arrangement of ‘I Will Always Love You,’ for the soundtrack to ‘The Bodyguard,’ which was her film debut, the song was produced by the Canadian composer, arranger, and music producer David Foster. Whitney Houston was originally going to record Jimmy Ruffin’s 1966 Motown track ‘What Becomes of the Brokenhearted,’ but it was soon discovered that the song had been used previously in the 1991 film ‘Fried Green Tomatoes.’ It was Whitney’s co-star in ‘The Bodyguard,’ Kevin Costner, who suggested ‘I Will Always Love You,’ having heard the recording of the song by the American singer Linda Ronstadt, on her 1975 Album ‘Prisoner in Disguise.’ Whitney Houston’s version of ‘I Will Always Love You’ is not the only version of the song featured in the film. In a scene where she dances with Kevin Costner, a recording by the American Rock artist John Doe can be heard playing on a jukebox.

‘I Will Always Love You’ which was the best selling single of 1992 worldwide, spent 14 weeks at Number 1 on Billboard, which was a new record at that time, it also spent 10 weeks at Number 1 in the UK. It’s parent Album ‘The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Album,’ is the best selling soundtrack Album worldwide of all time. Speaking about Whitney Houston’s cover of ‘I Will Always Love You,’ Dolly Parton has reminisced about the first time she heard Whitney’s rendition of her song, ‘I turned the radio on, and all of a sudden I heard that a cappella part. I knew it was something familiar, and then by the time it dawned on me what I was hearing, when Whitney went into the chorus, I had to stop the car because I almost wrecked it. I thought my heart was gonna just bust right out of my body.’

‘If I should stay, I would only be in your way, so I’ll go, but I know I’ll think of you every step of the way. And I will always love you.’