Dolly Parton said no to Elvis — and it turned out to be the best money decision of her career
On August 25, the world lost country music legend Dolly Parton.
Parton’s legacy in the music industry will not be forgotten, with songs like “9 to 5”, “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You” still proving to be relevant and enjoyed by many generations.
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And while many people associate “I Will Always Love You” with Whitney Houston, whose 1992 cover of the song for the soundtrack to “The Bodyguard” became the best-selling single of all time by a woman in the U.S., it was indeed Parton who originally wrote and recorded the hit song.
Houston’s success with the single ended up being a huge win for Parton’s career, but if she hadn’t said no to Elvis Presley first, it might not have worked out this way.
Turning down an offer from Elvis
About a year after Parton released the song in 1974, Presley contacted her saying he wanted to release his own version of “I Will Always Love You.” She was thrilled about the idea, given that she was a huge fan, until Presley’s manager called her the night before he was set to record the cover and said Elvis wouldn’t do it unless Parton handed over half of the songwriting rights.
Despite how sad she felt that Presley’s cover wouldn’t come to fruition, she was not willing to give up the rights. “I said, ‘I can’t do that’,” she told Howard Stern in a 2023 interview, adding “of course I cried all night about that.”
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The best money decision of her career
Despite the initial disappointment that an artist Parton idolized would not be covering her song, it ended up being a great decision for Parton’s finances.
When Houston’s version catapulted to the top of the charts in 1992, Parton started to make a hefty profit off the song. If she had accepted Presley’s offer, she would not have made as much as she did from the song down the line.
“I was so thankful I made that choice because I made a lot of money off of Whitney’s,” Parton told Stern. According to Forbes, Houston’s recording earned Parton $10 million in the 1990s alone.
But it wasn’t just money that Parton got out of it. The singer was so thrilled to hear her song take off in this new way: “I couldn’t even believe my little country sad song could even be done like that” she said.
Recalling her first time hearing Houston’s version, Parton told Stern she was driving home when the song came on the radio. She was so overwhelmed that she had to pull over, “that was one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had in my entire life.”
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