Dolly Parton: Inside the Extraordinary Journey of Country Music’s Iconic Songstress

Despite being unable to read sheet music, Parton mastered several instruments including the banjo, harp, piano and saxophone.

She achieved her first number one hit—and first Grammy nomination—with “Joshua” in 1971, and left The Porter Wagoner Show in 1974 to focus on her solo career.

To bid farewell to Wagoner, she penned “I Will Always Love You,” a song many interpret as being about two lovers parting ways.

“That’s the prettiest song I ever heard,” Wagoner reportedly said upon first hearing it, her website recalls.

That same year, Elvis Presley planned to record a cover, but Parton withdrew from the deal when his manager sought half the songwriting rights.

She cried all night over the difficult choice, and Priscilla Presley later told her that Elvis had sung the song to her during their divorce.

In 1992, Whitney Houston reimagined it as a now-iconic power ballad.

Parton said she was driving when she first heard the cover and had to pull over: “When I heard her go from the a cappella into the music part, I honestly thought I was going to have a heart attack, it was one of the most overwhelming things.”

Houston’s rendition of Parton’s “sad little country song” became one of her proudest moments, she said.

Parton re-recorded the song for The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, a 1982 film in which she starred and received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress.

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