I Will Always Love You

"I Will Always Love You" was written and originally recorded by Dolly Parton in 1973 (released in 1974) following her professional split from mentor Porter Wagoner Parton re-recorded the song in 1982 for The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas soundtrack, earning a Grammy nomination for Best Country Vocal Performance, Female in 1983 In 1992, Whitney Houston recorded a dramatic pop-soul reinterpretation for The Bodyguard soundtrack, turning it into a global phenomenon that spent 14 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 The song demonstrates rare cross-genre malleability: Parton's intimate country farewell becomes an operatic R&B/pop tour de force in Houston's arrangement without changing a word of the core lyric Houston's version opens a cappella, foregrounding vocal control and emotional vulnerability before building into a full orchestral climax arranged with producer David Foster Houston's 14-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 set an era-defining benchmark for soundtrack singles