actbiggy
Dolly Parton named the artist that caused her to lose her heart and cry all night.
The legendary country singer explained why Elvis Presley, the “King Of Rock And Roll,” decided not to record Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You,” which was later covered by Whitney Houston and became a huge smash and enduring song, in an interview with W Magazine on Wednesday, Oct. 6.
Presley almost recorded the song, which was written as a farewell to Porter Wagoner and recorded in 1973, but Parton rejected the request from Presley’s team to share in the publishing rights to the song.
Parton stated, “Elvis loved the song, ‘I Will Always Love You,’ and they said Elvis is going to do your song. “They claimed that he offered you to come down to the studio if you’d like. I responded, “Well of course,” as I anticipated Elvis Presley singing “I Will Always Love You.”
“Colonel Tom Parker, his manager, called me the night before I was scheduled to leave and said, “Well, you do know that we don’t record anything with Elvis unless we receive half the publishing.” And that was my most significant copyright at the time since it had already been a hit for me and had a No. 1 record.”
“I apologize but I couldn’t give you the publishing on that.” “I cried all night because I desperately wanted to hear Elvis sing it,” Parton said to the publication. “Nevertheless, I had to preserve that copyright in my possession. You need to handle your business!”
Below is a video of W and Parton’s entire interview.
Although Elvis never recorded the song, Presley still loved it, and his wife Priscilla Presley said that the late “Jailhouse Rock” singer sang the song to her outside the courthouse during their 1973 divorce.
Parton said: “Priscilla, his wife, told me that after they divorced, when they were leaving the courthouse, Elvis sung my song to her.” “I was so deeply moved by that. Oh, I would have loved hearing him sing that. Although I’m glad I did after Whitney used it, I had to maintain that copyright in my possession.”
Photo Credits – Respective Owner
The “9 to 5” singer continued, “Everybody’s going to utilize you if they can. These songs are mine; they resemble my children. And I want them to be there for me when I’m elderly.”
Before Houston released her version of the classic song, Parton’s version of the song caused waves when it reached No. 1.
Houston’s cover of the well-known song, which was featured in the 1992 movie Bodyguard, went on to become one of the best-selling singles ever made by a female artist in music history.
They also played the song at Whitney Houston’s funeral, as Parton recalled in the interview, and it is a moment she will never forget. “I then thought,I bet they’ll play the same music after I leave.”
