“I Will Always Love You“ (4) is a song written and originally recorded in 1973 by American singer-songwriter Dolly Parton. Written as a farewell to her business partner and mentor Porter Wagoner, expressing Parton’s decision to pursue a solo career, the country single was released in 1974. The song was a commercial success for Parton, twice reaching the top spot of the Billboard: first in June 1974, becoming one of the best selling singles of the year. Then again in October 1982, with a re-recording for The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas soundtrack.
In 1975 Linda Ronstadt recorded her version of I Will Always Love You. Her stunning version of “I Will Always Love You,” featured on her album Prisoner in Disguise. It is certainly not the most famous recording of the song. But Ronstadt’s rendition would go on to play an important role in the life of the timeless song. When Parton heard that Whitney Houston was using Ronstadt’s recording as a template, she called producer David Foster to give him the final verse, which was missing from the Ronstadt recording, as she felt it was important to the song.
In 1992, American singer Whitney Houston recorded a new arrangement of “I Will Always Love You” for the soundtrack to The Bodyguard, her film debut. The song has a saxophone solo by Kirk Whalum. She was originally to record Jimmy Ruffin’s’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. It was her co-star Kevin Costner who suggested “I Will Always Love You”, playing her Linda Ronstadt’s 1975 version. Producer David Foster and Houston re-arranged the song as a soul ballad. Her record company did not feel a song with an a cappella introduction would be as successful; however, Houston and Costner insisted on retaining it. The single spent 14 weeks at the top of the U.S. Billboard, which at the time was a record. It became Houston’s longest run atop the chart. It is also the longest running number-one single from a soundtrack album. In the UK, the single sold over 1,550,000 copies, becoming the tenth best-selling single of the 1990s, and was certified two times Platinum by the BPI in January 1993. In Japan, “I Will Always Love You” sold over 810,000 copies, staying for 27 weeks on the chart, and became the best-selling single by a foreign female artist at the time, despite not topping the charts.
British pop and electronic dance singer Sarah Washington released a successful dance-cover of “I Will Always Love You” in 1993. It became her highest-charting hit to date, reaching number 3 in Spain, number 12 in the UK, number 15 in Ireland and number 32 in Sweden. The song received platinum status in Spain. It was released on Almighty Records, which described Washington as “an eager young hopeful” and cited her “sensational studio performance” as being key to the ultimate success of the track, also giving credit to London radio station Capital FM and its heavy rotation of the song. A black-and-white music video was made to accompany the song. In 2006, Almighty Records released an 11-mixes package of “I Will Always Love You”.
In 2002, English pop singer Rik Waller took his own version of “I Will Always Love You” into the Top Ten in the UK, peaking at number 6. It was the first single released from his debut studio album From Now… following him taking part in the Pop Idol series.
