I Will Always Love You
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| "I Will Always Love You" | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Single by Dolly Parton | ||
| from the album Jolene | ||
| B-side(s) | "When Someone Wants to Leave" | |
| Released | April 4, 1974 (U.S.) July 23, 1982 (re-recording) |
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| Format | 45 rpm single | |
| Recorded | RCA Studio "B", Nashville; June 17, 1973 | |
| Genre | Country | |
| Length | 2:55 | |
| Label | Roadrunner Records | |
| Writer(s) | Dolly Parton | |
| Producer(s) | Bob Ferguson | |
| Chart positions | ||
| Dolly Parton singles chronology | ||
| "Jolene" (1973) |
"I Will Always Love You" (1974) |
"Please Don't Stop Loving Me" (1974) |
"I Will Always Love You" is a song originally written and performed by American singer-songwriter Dolly Parton first released as a single in 1974. The song was produced by Bob Ferguson and has been covered many times, most notably by American R&B diva Whitney Houston.
Contents |
[edit] Dolly Parton version
Dolly Parton wrote the song in 1973. She has told numerous interviewers over the years that she wrote it for her one-time partner and mentor, Porter Wagoner (the two were splitting professionally 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 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; the lyrics express a bittersweet and poignant ode to an ex-lover, and are delivered with Parton's twang. Parton has told interviewers -- most recently CMT in 2006 [1] -- that she had been contacted by someone in the Elvis Presley organization who expressed to her his wish to record the song. When she refused to split her songwriting royalties, he did not record it, but the song was destined, almost immediately, to be covered by artists across various other genres, including a jazz version by Horace Silver and a folk version by Linda Ronstadt, each of which garnered modest attention.
Parton herself 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 U.S. country chart, marking the first time the same song reached number one on the country charts twice by the same artist. The 1982 version was also a modest hit on the U.S. pop singles chart, reaching number fifty-three.
Parton again had success with the song in 1995 - this time, as a duet with Vince Gill. The song peaked at No. 15 in December of that year, marking the third time the same song was a hit for the same artist (albeit in duet form).
In 2003, CMT had it #16 on their 100 Greatest Songs in Country Music. In 2004, CMT had it #1 on their 100 Greatest Country Love Songs.
| "I Will Always Love You" | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Single by Whitney Houston | ||
| from the album The Bodyguard Soundtrack | ||
| Released | October 23, 1992 (U.S.) | |
| Format | CD single, Cassette single, 7" single | |
| Genre | Ballad | |
| Length | 4:32 | |
| Label | Arista | |
| Writer(s) | Dolly Parton | |
| Producer(s) | David Foster | |
| Certification | 4x platinum (RIAA) | |
| Chart positions | ||
| Whitney Houston singles chronology | ||
| "I Belong to You" (1991) |
"I Will Always Love You" (1992) |
"I'm Every Woman" (1993) |
[edit] Whitney Houston version
In 1992 (see 1992 in music), singer Whitney Houston covered the song for the soundtrack to The Bodyguard (see The Bodyguard (soundtrack)), her film debut. The song was also referenced in the plot of the film itself. Houston was originally to record Jimmy Ruffin's "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" as the lead single from The Bodyguard. However, when the producer discovered the song would be used for Fried Green Tomatoes, he asked her co-star Kevin Costner to find a new song. Originally not wanting to pick a country song, an oldies song (with not much of a country feel to it) would do. Houston reinterpreted the song as a soul ballad, showcasing her voice.
The song was a massive success, becoming a regular on countdown lists, appearing at number forty on Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Pop Songs", number eight on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the Past 25 Years", and number one on VH1's "100 Greatest Love Songs". 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 theatre with the spotlight shining on her, singing of her love. The video is intercut with scenes from The Bodyguard.
In March 2007, the United World Chart ranked "I Will Always Love You" as the sixth most successful song in music history. Referring to that same list, "I Will Always Love You" is also the most successful song released by a solo female musician. [1]
[edit] Chart performance
The single spent fourteen weeks at the top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, a record that would not be broken until 1996 by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men's duet, "One Sweet Day" (released in 1995). "I Will Always Love You" shares the record for being the longest running single by a female solo artist with Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together" (2005), although still holds the record for the most number of consecutive weeks at number one by a female artist, since Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together" had a non-consecutive run at number 1. The single became Houston's longest run at number one, beating her previous record of three weeks with "Greatest Love of All" (1986). It is also the longest running number one single from a soundtrack album.
The single debuted at number forty in the U.S., and became Houston's tenth number one hit two weeks later. It was the biggest and most successful single of Houston's career and for Arista Records. The song 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 hit 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 (Houston's longest stay to date).
The single sold modestly in its first week of release, but sold 396,000 copies in its second week, making it the fastest-selling single in a 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 (when it broke the record for most singles sold in a week). 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 and the second best selling single in the modern era (after Elton John's Candle in the Wind 1997). However, it remains, to date, the biggest selling commercial single of all time, the biggest selling single by a female artist, and the biggest selling non-charity single.
The single was also a huge success in other countries, eventually topping the United Kingdom chart and Australia's ARIA Singles chart for ten weeks each, and became only the ninth song in history (and first by a female artist) to be at number one on the US, UK, and ARIA single charts simultaneously. It also topped the charts in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Germany, France, Japan, Denmark, The Netherlands, and several other countries. It is the only single to have a top the U.S., UK, and Australian charts for 10 or more weeks on all three charts. The single was also named the top Australian single of the 1990s and is the world's biggest single ever released by a female artist.
The song stayed at number one in the United States throughout January and February in 1993, becoming the first time in history where Billboard didn't receive a new number one single until March. "I Will Always Love You" was ranked as the top U.S. single of 1993 by Billboard magazine. Similarly, in the UK, the song was ranked the number one single of 1992 and the number nine single of 1993, making the first time a single was ranked in the year-end top ten two years in a row. The strength of the single also pushed the 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 thirty-seven million copies sold worldwide).
[edit] 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
[edit] 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; the story picked up more credibility when Kevin Ammons and Nancy Bacon repeated it in their 1996 unauthorized biography of Houston, Good Girl, Bad Girl. However, both Houston and Parton have gone out of their way to dispel the rumors, speaking glowingly of one another in interviews [2] [3], 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.
The song was also discussed on the now-defunct NBC news program Now! in 1994. The program discussed how "overplayed" the song was and how so many people were sick of the song.
In a joke frequently used by Mad Magazine, whenever Whitney Houston is mentioned, they casually mention the fact that people use this song for weddings, when the song is about people breaking up for good.
In 2002, the Iraqi government held a referendum asking whether Saddam Hussein should remain as president. Saddam Hussein's campaign advertising before the election featured the song "I Will Always Love You". [4] [5] [6] [7]
[edit] 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, James Galway, John Tesh and Wallace Roney. It has also been released by Roger Whittaker and UK Pop Idol finalist Rik Waller.
Though the success of Houston's version eclipsed Parton's original for some time, the country star performed it numerous times on television and recorded it a third time in 1995, this time as a duet with Vince Gill. The Gill duet was released as a single and reached number fifteen on the country charts, becoming one of Parton's few chart hits during her period of minimal success in the mid- to late-1990s. The Parton/Gill duet version won the 1995 Country Music Association award for Collaboration of the Year, and was nominated for a Grammy Award.
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.
In 2006, Leona Lewis performed the song on the third series of the UK show The X Factor. Although suffering from tonsillitis that week, she produced a strong performance which drew praise from all three judges. In the judging, Louis Walsh considered the performance as good as Houston's version, and Simon Cowell described it as one of the best versions of the song he had ever heard. Leona performed it for a second time at the final and went on to win the series with 60% of the vote.
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.
[edit] Use on Mike and Mike in the Morning
On ESPN Radio and ESPN 2's Mike and Mike in the Morning, Mike Greenberg who is an avid New York Jets fan, plays this song whenever he, or Mike Golic talks about Chad Pennington.
[edit] References
- Ammons, Kevin; Bacon, Nancy 1996. Whitney Houston: Good Girl, Bad Girl. Carol Publishing, New York. ISBN 1-55972-379-3
Studio albums: Whitney Houston • Whitney • I'm Your Baby Tonight • My Love Is Your Love • Just Whitney
Soundtracks: The Bodyguard • Waiting to Exhale • The Preacher's Wife
Other albums: Whitney: The Greatest Hits • Love, Whitney • One Wish: The Holiday Album
| Preceded by "How Do You Talk to an Angel" by The Heights |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single (Whitney Houston version) November 28, 1992- February 27, 1993 |
Succeeded by "A Whole New World" by Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle |
| Preceded by "Would I Lie To You?" by Charles and Eddie |
UK Singles Chart number one single (Whitney Houston version) November 29, 1992 for 10 weeks |
Succeeded by "No Limit" by 2 Unlimited |
| Preceded by "If I Ever Fall In Love" by Shai |
Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs number one single (Whitney Houston version) December 5, 1992 |
Succeeded by "Hip Hop Hooray" by Naughty By Nature |
[edit] External links
Categories: 1974 singles | 1992 singles | American country songs | Dolly Parton songs | Whitney Houston songs | Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles | Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks number-one singles | Billboard Hot Country Songs number-one singles | Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs number-one singles | Grammy Award for Record of the Year | Number-one singles in Australia | Number-one singles in Canada | Number-one singles in Germany | Number-one singles in the Netherlands | Number-one singles in the United Kingdom | Number-one singles in New Zealand
