I Will Always Love You

Infobox Single
Name = I Will Always Love You


Artist = Dolly Parton
from Album = Jolene
B-side = "When Someone Wants to Leave" (1974 version)
Released = April 4 1974 (U.S.) July 23 1982 (re-recording) 1995 (re-recording w/ Vince Gill)
Format = 45 rpm single
Recorded = RCA Studio "B", Nashville; June 17 1973
Genre = Country
Length = 2:55
Label = RCA Records
Writer = Dolly Parton
Producer = Bob Ferguson
Last single = "Jolene" (1973)
This single = "I Will Always Love You" (1974)
Next single = "Please Don't Stop Loving Me" (1974)"I Will Always Love You" is a song written and originally performed by American country singer-songwriter Dolly Parton (first released as a single in 1974). A 1992 cover of the song by American singer Whitney Houston became one of the best-selling singles of all time.

Dolly Parton version

Dolly Parton wrote the song in 1973 and it was released a year later, having been produced by Bob Ferguson. She has told numerous interviewers over the years that she wrote it for her one-time partner and mentor Porter Wagoner, with whom she was having a business splitting at the time. Recorded on June 17 1973 in RCA's Studio "B" in Nashville, the song was included on Parton's album "Jolene", and was released as a follow-up single, after the Country chart-topping success of the title track, in April 1974 (see 1974 in music). The single reached number one on the Billboard Country Singles chart a month later, but had just modest success on the pop charts. The lyrics express a bittersweet and poignant ode to an ex-lover, and are delivered with Parton's twang.

Parton re-recorded the song in 1982 (see 1982 in music) to include it on the soundtrack to the film "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas". Her 1982 version also reached number one on the US Country Chart, marking the first time the same song reached number one on the country charts twice by the same artist. The 1982 version also saw limited crossover pop success, reaching number fifty-three on the Billboard Hot 100 and number seventeen on the Adult Contemporary chart.

Parton had success with the song again in 1995 in a duet with Vince Gill. This time the song peaked at No. 15 in December of that year, making it the third time the song was a hit for Parton, albeit in duet form this time. In 2003, CMT ranked it #16 on their "100 Greatest Songs in Country Music". In 2004, CMT ranked it #1 on their "100 Greatest Country Love Songs".

The most recent release of the song appears on her 2008 album "Backwoods Barbie", which features a live version an exclusive bonus track on the iTunes version of the release.

Infobox Single
Name = I Will Always Love You


Artist = Whitney Houston
from Album = The Bodyguard Soundtrack
Released = October 23 1992 (U.S.)
Format = CD single, Cassette single, 7" single
[Recorded =]
Genre = Soul, Pop
Length = 4:32
Label = Arista
Writer = Dolly Parton
Producer = David Foster
Certification = 4× Multi-platinum (RIAA)
Last single = "I Belong to You" (1991)
This single = "I Will Always Love You" (1992)
Next single = "I'm Every Woman" (1993)

Whitney Houston version

In 1992 (see 1992 in music), singer Whitney Houston covered the song for to "The Bodyguard" her film debut. Houston 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 and her co-star Kevin Costner brought her Linda Ronstadt's 1975 cover version of the tune from her album "Prisoner in Disguise". Houston re-arranged the song as a soul ballad. Her record label did not feel a song with an a cappella introduction would be as successful. Houston and Costner, however, insisted to maintain an a cappella intro.

Houston's single was a massive worldwide success, selling over 15 million copies and proving a much bigger success than all the original versions combined. It became a regular on countdown lists: appearing at number eight on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the Past 25 Years"; number four on "VH1 100 Greatest Songs of the 90s" and number one on VH1's "100 Greatest Love Songs".

The song also lists at #68 on "Billboard's Greatest Songs of all time." [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/specials/hot100/charts/top100-titles-70.shtml]

Music video

The single's video, credited to Alan Smithee, 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 intercut with scenes from "The Bodyguard".

Houston's Chart Performance

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

The single debuted at number forty on the Hot 100 in the U.S., and became Houston's tenth number one hit a mere two weeks later. It also dominated various other Billboard charts, spending fourteen weeks at the top of Billboard's singles sales chart (the most for a female artist), and eleven weeks at number one on its radio airplay chart. The song also stayed at number one for five weeks on the Adult Contemporary Chart and for eleven weeks on the R&B chart, and remained in the Top 40 for twenty-four weeks. It became Arista Records' biggest hit.

Houston's single sold approximately 400,000 copies in its second week of release, making it the best-selling song in a single week (taking the record from 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 19 (the week it broke its own record for most copies sold in a single week for any song). It went on to sell over four million copies in the U.S. and another six million worldwide, making it the third best-selling single in the world. It remains the biggest selling single by a female artist and the biggest selling non-charity single.

The single became an international success, hitting #1 in the United Kingdom, ten weeks; and Australia's ARIA Singles chart for ten weeks. It also hit pole position in Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Canada, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Germany, France, Denmark, The Netherlands, and several other European, South American, and African countries. It is the only single to have ever topped the US, and Australian charts for at least ten weeks.

The song stayed at number one in the United States throughout January and February in 1993, making it the first time Billboard didn't rank a new number one single until March of the new year. Houston's "I Will Always Love You" was also ranked as the top US single of 1993 by Billboard magazine. 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, making it the first time an artist had a single ranked in the Top 10 of the year-end review two years in a row. The strength of the single also pushed Houston's soundtrack album for "The Bodyguard" to the number one position for twenty weeks, and it became the best-selling soundtrack of all time, with over 42 million copies sold worldwide.

In March 2007, the United World Chart ranked Houston's "I Will Always Love You" as the most successful song released by a solo female artist. [ [http://www.mediatraffic.de/alltime-track-chart.htm 6th most successful song in history] ] On that chart, it stayed at number one for twenty-two weeks which is longer than any other song in the history of music.

Awards

*Grammy Awards
**Record of the Year
**Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
*American Music Awards
**Favorite Pop/Rock Female Single
**Favorite R&B/Soul Female Single
*Billboard Music Awards
**Top Selling Single of the Year
**Top Hot 100 Single of the Year
**Top R&B Selling Single of the Year
**Top R&B Single
*World Music Awards
**World's #1 Single of 1993
*MTV Movie Awards
**Best Song
*People's Choice Awards
**Favorite Female Music Video
*Soul Train Music Awards
**Soul Train Music Award for Best R&B/Soul Single, Female

Whitney's Version Remixes

*I Will Always Love You [Hex Rector Mix] 4:50
*I Will Always Love You [Hex Hector Radio Remix] 4:52
*I Will Always Love You [Hex Hector 12 Inch] 9:51

Controversy

After Houston's cover of the song became a hit, the tabloid press began reporting on a 'feud' between the two performers, stemming from Parton's 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 the more recent cover. However, both Houston and Parton have dispelled any rumours, speaking glowingly of one another in interviews [http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0307/03/lkl.00.html] [http://www.classicwhitney.com/interview/rollingstone_1993.htm] , Houston praising Parton for writing a beautiful song, and Parton thanking Houston for bringing her song to a wider audience, and in the process making her a great deal of money in royalties.

Later covers

The popularity of Houston's version revitalized interest in the song, and introduced it to a much wider audience. As a result, the song was covered by LeAnn Rimes as well as established artists such as Kenny G, Kenny Rogers, Tamia, James Galway, John Tesh and Wallace Roney. It has also been released by Roger Whittaker and UK Pop Idol finalist Rik Waller and Bulgarian Music Idol winner Nevena Tsoneva.

Parton rerecorded the song in 1995 with Vince Gill. The Gill duet reached number fifteen on the country charts, becoming one of Parton's few chart hits during the mid- to late-1990s. The Parton/Gill duet won the 1995 Country Music Association award for Collaboration of the Year, and was nominated for a Grammy Award.

Leona Lewis from the British X Factor show.

Emily Williams from Young Divas also covered this song in 2006. It is on their debut album.

The Welsh mezzo-soprano Katherine Jenkins also recorded an Italian version of this song.

Punk rock cover band Me First and the Gimme Gimmes performed this song on a tribute album to Dolly Parton.

Dutch country singer Ilse de Lange performed the song twice. In the TV show of Paul de Leeuw and in the radio show of Giel Beelen.

Connie Talbot, from the British television talent show Britain's Got Talent, put the song on her first studio album Over The Rainbow that was released November 2007.

In the 2008 Season of American Idol, Syesha Mercado sang this song during a week devoted to Dolly Parton.

In The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Charice sang this song with And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going last December 2007 and she covered this song in her debut album.

Rapper Lil Wayne lip-synced the song at the 2008 Virgin Mobile Music Fest.

Use of the song in Pop Culture

The song appears in at least five major films. In addition to the two described above ("The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" and "The Bodyguard"), Parton's original 1973 recording was used in Martin Scorsese's 1974 film "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore", playing in a scene while Ellen Burstyn and Harvey Keitel are making small talk in a bar; part of the famous chorus was used for the "Elephant Love Medley" song from the 2001 hit film "Moulin Rouge!" where Christian (Ewan McGregor) sings it to Satine (Nicole Kidman) at the end of the medley; and in "It's My Party," a 1996 film about a man dying of AIDS throwing a party to say goodbye to his friends before he commits suicide, the lead character, played by Eric Roberts, chooses to play the Parton original several times to symbolize his feelings, causing his friends to comment on his music selection. Adam Sandler sings the song during a shower scene in Bulletproof.

On the television show "Gilmore Girls", in episode 7.20 ("Lorelai? Lorelai?") Lorelai Gilmore sings the Dolly Parton arrangement of the song in a karaoke bar. She begins singing it to her daughter Rory, who is graduating from Yale, but when her on-again off-again fiance Luke Danes walks into the bar she shifts her attention and is clearly singing it to him. This led to discussion among her friends,

In the video game, Karaoke Revolution Party, the Whitney Houston version is on it..

Lane Kim: She's a Whitney fan? Rory Gilmore: Oh, I think it's Dolly inspired.

On ESPN Radio and ESPN 2's Mike and Mike in the Morning, Mike Greenberg, who is an avid New York Jets fan, plays the Houston version of the song whenever he or Mike Golic talks about Chad Pennington.

On the NBC television show "30 Rock" during the episode Hard Ball, the song is comically song by Tracy Jordan with Kenneth Parcell when he needs his bodyguards.

Whitney Houston's cover also appears in "The Simpsons" season 10 episode, "Mayored to the Mob," where it's sung to Homer after he graduates bodyguard school. It also appears in the end credits of the episode.

On the show Martin, Martin sings Gina the song in the episode "The Break Up part 3".

The song was played during a segment at Movie Rocks Show in 2007 where different movie songs and themes were played by piano.

The song was sung by Leona Lewis on the third series of the X Factor in 2006. Six-year old Connie Talbot did a cover of the song on her debut album Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

In 2003, Rolling Stone and MTV ranked Houston's version at #40 in its list of 100 Greatestest Pop songs of All Time.

In 2007, VH1 listed Houston's version at #4 in its list of the Greatest Songs of the 90s.

Then in 2005, Maureen Marcelo delivered an outstanding performance on the first season of Philippine Idol.

On season seven of the hit show American Idol, finalist Syesha Mercado performed the hit single under the guidance of Dolly Parton.

I'd Do Aything contestant Rachel Tucker sang the power ballad in the quarter-finals of the series on 17 May, 2008.

The song was also sung by Niki Evans for her audition on the 4th series of The Xfactor in 2007

On the second episode of Britain's Got Talent 2008 (aired 19th April 2008) the Filipino Madonna Decena sang the classic, bringing judge Amanda Holden to tears, and receiving high praise from the judges.

References

* Ammons, Kevin; Bacon, Nancy 1996. Whitney Houston: Good Girl, Bad Girl. Carol Publishing, New York. ISBN 1-55972-379-3

External links

* [http://www.dollyon-line.com/archives/lyrics/iwaly.shtml I Will Always Love You lyrics at Dolly Parton On-Line]