Elvis Presleyalmost became the voice behind an iconic song from the 1990s.Presley is known for his hitsthroughout the ’60s and ’70s, but by the time the ’90s rolled around, themusiclegend had been gone for almost two decades.
However, there was a major hit in the ’90s that would have been very different had Elvis Presley gotten to it first. Due to a disagreement with his manager and the songwriter,Presley sadly never got to sing the song that he really admired.
Elvis Wanted To Record A Version Of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You”
Presley Loved Parton’s 1974 Hit Song
In an interview onBBC Radio 2, Dolly Parton told the story of howElvis Presley almost recorded her song “I Will Always Love You.“Parton, who wrote the song about leaving her business partnership with Porter Wagner, released her version of the song in 1974.
Little did the country music icon know that the song would mean a lot to her idol, Elvis Presley. Presley even confessed that he would sing the song to his wife, Priscilla Presley, all the time, andsang it to her as they were getting divorced.
This is showcased at the end of Baz Luhrmann’s 2022 movie,Elvis, when Presley tells his former wife “I will always love you” before getting on his plane. In Sofia Coppola’s 2023 film,Priscilla,Parton’s version of the song plays at the end as Priscilla Presley leaves Gracelandafter deciding to divorce her husband.
However, Presley never did end up recording a version of Parton’s #1 country song. As excited as Parton was for the music legend to sing her song, she couldn’t agree with hiscontroversial manager Colonel Tom Parker. Parker told Parton thatPresley couldn’t record the song unless he had the publishing rights.
Since Parton believed in owning her own work, a fight Taylor Swift recently won, she refused to give the rights away. Parton admitted it was not an easy choice, andshe cried that night knowing that one of her favorite artists wasn’t going to sing her song anymore.
Although it was tough, Parton stuck to her gut. It was the right decision for her not to go against her own morals, even for Elvis Presley.
It Was For The Best That It Didn’t Work Out, Because Whitney Houston’s Version Is So Iconic
Houston’s Cover Went On To Break Records
Luckily for Parton, her song would live on, asWhitney Houston would make it one of the most well-known songs of all time. Houston recorded her iconic version of “I Will Always Love You” for the 1992 movieThe Bodyguard.With her incomparable vocals, Houston put her spin on the song, which is now arguably better known than Parton’s version.
The song hit #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and spent 14 weeks there. At the time, this wasthe longest any song had ever spent on top of the Billboard charts. Parton joked that she made enough money off of Houston’s version to buy Graceland.
While it would have been amazing to have Presley record the hit, Houston’s awe-inspiring cover might not have been as big a deal. Instead, she was able to have her moment, free fromElvis Presleycomparisons, creating a legacy for the hit - which remains the best-selling song for a female artist in history.
