“I Will Always Love You” is probably one of the most famous love songs in music history. Originally written by Dolly Parton in 1973 and recorded for her album “Jolene”, Whitney Houston’s powerful version of it became an unavailable hit in the 90s in the wake of the film “Bodyguard”.
Now Parton said in an interview with “BBC Radio 2” that her song played a role in the divorce of Elvis Presley and his Priscilla in 1973. The King sang it to her as they both walked up the stairs to the courthouse to separate their love before the law.
Priscilla Presley personally confided this to the singer not long ago, said the 77-year-old (who holds several Guinness World Records, including for the most studio albums released by a female country singer, 65 to date).
Dolly Parton wanted Elvis Presley to record “I Will Always Love You.”
However, Parton already revealed this anecdote in 2020, as the US edition of ROLLING STONE noted. At the time, she told Big Issue that she was very moved by the story.
Interestingly, “I Will Always Love You” could have been an Elvis song. The singer had already had it worked out for him and wanted to record it. But Dolly Parton didn’t want to give up her song because of Colonel Tom Parker.
“We won’t record anything with Elvis if we don’t have the publishing rights to it, or at least half of the publishing rights,” Parker made it clear to her at the time. She made it clear to Presley’s manager that this was not possible. A sad affair for Parton, “I would have loved to hear what Elvis would have done with it.”
However, the musician never completely let go of the topic. Parton also told BBC Radio 2 that she later had a dream in which Presley sang the song, which inspired her to write her own tune, which in turn appears on her upcoming album Rockstar (out November 17th 2023) can be heard.
Elvis and Priscilla: No sex at 14
The love story of Priscilla and Elvis is currently on everyone’s lips again. The reason for this is the film “Priscilla” by “Lost in Translation” director Sofia Coppola, which premiered a few days ago at the Venice Film Festival and will be released in cinemas in the USA at the end of October. In the biopic, the relationship is primarily portrayed from the perspective of the actress, who was married to the singer from 1967 to 1973.
During a press conference in Venice, Presley explained that sex was not a factor in the early days of their relationship. “He was very kind, very gentle and very loving, but he also respected the fact that I was 14 years old,” said the 78-year-old in front of the cameras of the world. “We were more together in spirit and there for each other in mind, and that was our relationship.”