I Will Always Love You

Written as a farewell to her business partner and mentor Porter Wagoner, expressing Parton's decision to pursue a solo career,[1] the country single was released in 1974.[11] The song has been recorded by many other artists including Linda Ronstadt,[13] John Doe,[14] Amber Riley, Kenny Rogers,[15] LeAnn Rimes,[16] and Sarah Washington, whose dance version reached number 12 on the UK Singles Chart.[17] Country music singer-songwriter Dolly Parton wrote the song in 1973 for her one-time partner and mentor Porter Wagoner, from whom she was separating professionally after a seven-year partnership.Parton was interested until Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, told her that it was standard procedure for the songwriter to sign over half of the publishing rights to any song Elvis recorded."[19] Writer Paul Simpson criticized the singer, stating that the track was only written to "soften the blow" of Parton and Wagoner's split.[29] Weekly Year-End Parton re-recorded the song for The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, released July 12, 1982, as the first single from the soundtrack album.Billboard gave a positive review which said, "The first single from The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas isn't the sort of brassy main theme normally used to launch a major movie musical: here Parton reinterprets one of her earliest exercises in pure pop writing, and while older fans may be divided over the breathier, more stylized reading she offers here, the song itself is still a lovely ballad with a soaring chorus.The single choice from her Hollywood flick, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, the tune is sentiment wrapped in an appropriate package replete with strings, oboe and harp in addition to a delicate rhythm section.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 95.8 Capital FM and its heavy rotation of the song."[70] In his weekly UK chart commentary, James Masterton wrote, "If anything this new version adds a little more to the song, and at least proves it had genuine soul to start with."[72] Alan Jones from Music Week gave it four out of five, complimenting "a sinewy garage groove with a powerful vocal from the Donna Summer school of disco divas.[75] In 2002, English pop singer Rik Waller took his own version of "I Will Always Love You" into the top ten of the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 6.[89] In February 2018, Fairground Attraction member Mark Nevin released Dolly Said No To Elvis,[90] a single that recounts Parton's refusal to let Presley cover I Will Always Love You, yet allowing Houston to sing it for The Bodyguard.