How Whitney Houston’s most famous song almost went to another diva great
The best known version of "I Will Always Love You," originally performed by Dolly Parton, was intended for Patti LaBelle, but Whitney Houston flew with it
Legendary singer Patti LaBelle dropped a bombshell to Andy Cohen on Monday’s Watch What Happens Live about Whitney Houston’s timeless cover of “I Will Always Love You,” which she made famous on The Bodyguard soundtrack in 1992.
The Dolly Parton-penned track was reportedly written for country singer Porter Wagoner when Parton was trying to advance her career beyond his show. When she sang the song to him, Porter loved it so much that he offered to produce it. Parton’s version reached the top of the charts in 1974 and again in 1982.
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According to LaBelle, before the track landed in Houston’s lap, she nearly recorded a cover of it herself.
While appearing with pop music superstar and Culture Club frontman Boy George, LaBelle, 75, told Cohen that Parton offered her the song before Houston sang it in The Bodyguard and turned it into one of her biggest hits.
“I said to Dolly, ‘Oh yes, I want to do that song, honey!’ ” LaBelle recalled to Cohen. “But before I could say real yes, it was in the movie and Whitney killed it.
“I was so happy Whitney got that song and it just went like it did. But Dolly Parton and I had planned. ‘Patti, you’re going to sing that song,’ ” LaBelle added. “Next! That’s how show-business is!”
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Labelle says she still plans to “put it in my show one day.”
Last year, the iconic rendition done by Houston, who died in 2012, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Parton previously noted in an interview her emotions when she first heard Houston’s version of the son.
“The first time that I heard Whitney’s version of (the song), I just about wrecked my car. I was heading home, and all of a sudden, I had the radio on, and I just heard the a cappella part: ‘If I should stay…’ It kind of got my attention, but it hadn’t registered yet. And I thought, ‘What?’ All of a sudden, she went into the chorus, and I thought, ‘Oh my god! This is ‘I Will Always Love You!”,” she said, according to Countryfancast.com.
