On this day (December 5) in 1992, Whitney Houston was at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “I Will Always Love You,” where it spent 14 weeks. The best-selling song ever by a female artist also topped charts in multiple countries outside the United States. It also won multiple Grammy Awards.
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The Bodyguard was a huge movie for Houston. She starred alongside Kevin Costner in her big-screen debut. The legendary singer also recorded most of the songs on the soundtrack, which topped charts around the world. It also produced multiple hit singles, adding to Houston’s star power. Among those was the Dolly Parton-penned “I Will Always Love You,” which became her signature song.
[RELATED: The Whitney Houston Song That Nearly Made Dolly Parton Have a Car Wreck]
Even die-hard Parton fans and country music devotees can’t deny the timeless quality of Houston’s rendition of the song. In the space of a few minutes, she takes listeners on an emotional ride. From the restrained but raw opening section to the soaring highs she reaches later in the song, every note of the song is perfect.
The song won Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female at the 1993 Grammy Awards. Additionally, the Bodyguard soundtrack won the Album of the Year award.
Dolly Parton Reacts to Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You”
Whitney Houston blew millions of listeners away with her rendition of “I Will Always Love You,” and Dolly Parton was one of them. The beloved singer/songwriter heard the cover for the first time while driving, and it almost ended in disaster.
“I was driving home in my car from my office, going through Brentwood, a little town by where I live in Nashville,” Parton recalled. “I just heard this voice come on the radio. It kind of rang a bell, but it didn’t hit because she was kind of talking it. Then, all of a sudden, it went into the ‘I will always love you’ part, and I just about wrecked,” she added. “I had to pull off the side of the road–seriously–to listen to it.”
(Photo by Richard E. Aaron/Redferns)
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