RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Hollywood & Entertainment Dolly Parton Turned Tears Into A Fortune With ‘I Will Always Love You’ By Matthew Leimkuehler ,
Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Matthew Leimkuehler is a music journalist from Nashville, Tennessee. Follow Author Aug 25, 2026, 03:46pm EDT Aug 25, 2026, 03:59pm EDT --:-- / --:-- This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more . This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more . Dolly Parton – who died Tuesday at age 80 – didn’t become one of the most successful entertainers of her time without shedding a few tears along the way.
One decision that left her heartbroken? When she said “no” to Elvis Presley.
In March 1974, Parton released “I Will Always Love You,” a soaring country ballad she penned in-part as a farewell to longtime collaborator Porter Wagoner. As television entertainers and duet partners, she and Wagoner shared the stage together for years prior to Parton launching a bona fide solo career in the mid-1970s.
Shortly after Parton released the song, Elvis Presley took a liking to “I Will Always Love You.”
“I got the word that he was going to record it, and I was so excited,” Parton told CMT in 2006 . “I told everybody I knew, ‘Elvis is going to record my song. You’re not going to believe who’s recording my song.’”
Eventually, Parton received a call from Presley’s longtime manager, Colonel Tom Parker. Yes, Presley wanted to cover “I Will Always Love You.” The catch? He wanted half of the song’s publishing, which would guarantee Presley a 50% cut of song royalties for as long as he owned the rights.
She told W Magazine in 2021: “I said, ‘I’m sorry, but I can’t give you the publishing.’ I wanted to hear Elvis sing it, and it broke my heart—I cried all night. But I had to keep that copyright in my pocket. You have to take care of your [business]. Everybody’s going to use you if they can. These are my songs—they’re like my children.”
It proved to be a profitable decision, of course. Whitney Houston later covered “I Will Always Love You” for 1992 film The Bodyguard , capturing one of the most memorable vocal performances in pop music history.
Houston’s rendition became a wildly successful song in the 1990s and beyond; it has been certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America, one of the rarest commercial achievements in the music business.
Parton’s recording of “I Will Always Love You” hasn’t done too bad, either. The song received a Platinum certification from the RIAA in 2021 and – at publication time – has been played more than 168 million times on Spotify, making it her fifth most-popular song.
And while there might not be a recording of Presley crooning “I Will Always Love You,” he still found his way to the song, Parton told W Magazine .
“Priscilla, Elvis’s wife, told me that when she and Elvis divorced, Elvis sang my song to her,” she said in 2021. “That touched me so deeply. And they also played the song at Whitney Houston’s funeral. After that, I thought, I bet they’ll play the same song when I go.”
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