There is an important reason Dolly was able to benefit so dramatically from Whitney's success.
She had retained control of the song.
Years before Whitney recorded it, another enormous star had expressed interest in “I Will Always Love You”:
Elvis Presley.
Dolly has told the story many times.
She was thrilled by the possibility of Elvis recording her song.
But before the recording could happen, Elvis's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, reportedly told Dolly that they would need a substantial share of the publishing rights.
Dolly refused.
It was an emotionally difficult business decision.
An Elvis Presley recording could have transformed the song's profile years before Whitney ever touched it.
But Dolly understood the long-term value of her songwriting.
She kept her publishing.
Elvis never recorded the song.
Years later, Whitney did.
The financial consequences of Dolly's decision became enormous.
Her ownership meant that when Whitney's version became a worldwide smash, Dolly shared in its success as the songwriter.
Hearing Whitney for the First Time
For Dolly, however, the story wasn't only about money.
She has spoken repeatedly about the emotional impact of hearing Whitney's version for the first time.
Dolly told Oprah Winfrey in 2020 that she was driving when Whitney's recording came on the radio.
At first, she didn't immediately recognize what she was hearing.
Then the melody became familiar.
It was her song.
But transformed.
When Whitney reached the enormous vocal section near the end, Dolly was overwhelmed.
She said she became so full of adrenaline and emotion that she had to pull her car over because she was afraid she might wreck.
The Washington Post later cited Dolly's recollection of that moment.
Source: The Washington Post, July 31, 2021, citing Dolly Parton's 2020 interview with Oprah Winfrey.
For a songwriter, it was an extraordinary experience.
Dolly had written something deeply personal.
Another artist had found an entirely different way to inhabit it.
And instead of diminishing Dolly's original, Whitney's version gave the composition another life.
Whitney Worried About What Dolly Would Think
The admiration went both ways.
Whitney Houston understood that she was taking on someone else's famous song.
On her official website, Houston is quoted recalling that she was concerned about how Dolly would react to the new arrangement and her own vocal interpretation.
When she learned that Dolly was “floored” by the recording, Houston said the reaction meant a great deal to her.
Source: Whitney Houston Official Site — “I Will Always Love You.”
That exchange says something important about the relationship between the two versions.
It doesn't have to be a competition.
Dolly's recording and Whitney's recording can coexist because they do different things.
Dolly gave the world the composition.
Whitney revealed another dimension of what the composition could become.
Decades Later, Dolly Was Asked About the Money
Fast-forward to 2021.
Dolly appeared on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen.
During the interview, Cohen asked her a fascinating question.
What was the best thing she had bought with the money she earned from Whitney's version of “I Will Always Love You”?
Dolly's answer immediately attracted national attention.
She said she had purchased a large office complex in Nashville.
But the location was important.
At the time she bought it, Dolly remembered the surrounding area as being largely occupied by Black families and businesses.
She described it as a strip-mall area.
And because the money had been generated by Whitney Houston's extraordinary interpretation of her song, Dolly felt there was something fitting about investing it there.
Sources: NPR, August 3, 2021; The Washington Post, July 31, 2021.
“The Perfect Place for Me to Be”
Dolly explained her thinking during the interview.
She remembered looking at the neighborhood and feeling that the location made sense because of Whitney.
The Washington Post reported Dolly saying she thought it was “the perfect place for me to be, considering it was Whitney.”
She also described wanting to be around Whitney's people, adding that they were her people too.
Source: The Washington Post, July 31, 2021.
This was not a story invented later by social media accounts.
It came directly from Dolly herself in a televised 2021 interview and was subsequently reported by NPR and The Washington Post.
The property itself can also be documented.
According to property records reviewed by The Washington Post, Dolly purchased a 6,317-square-foot Mission-style complex in Nashville in February 1997.
Historian David Ewing told the newspaper that the area was then associated with African American funeral homes, businesses and churches.
Today, the surrounding 12 South area is dramatically different and has become one of Nashville's best-known neighborhoods.
Source: The Washington Post, July 31, 2021.
What Dolly Loved About the Connection
For Dolly, the symbolism was simple.
A Black woman had taken one of her songs and created an extraordinary cultural and commercial phenomenon.
That success generated substantial royalty income for Dolly.
And some of that money was then invested in property in a Black Nashville neighborhood.
Dolly liked the circularity of it.
Whitney's voice had created the financial opportunity.
The money had come back into a community Dolly associated with Whitney.
It turned an ordinary real-estate investment into something with emotional meaning.
And Dolly had a phrase for it.
“The House That Whitney Built”
At the end of her explanation, Dolly summarized the entire story in a few words.
She said that when she thought about the complex, she thought:
“This is the house that Whitney built.”
Sources: NPR, August 3, 2021; The Washington Post, July 31, 2021; Whitney Houston Official Site, August 4, 2021.
It was vintage Dolly.
Funny.
Warm.
Memorable.
But underneath the line was an extraordinary chain of events stretching across decades.
A young country singer had written a goodbye song.
The song became a country hit.
She kept ownership of it.
Nearly twenty years later, one of the greatest vocalists of her generation discovered it.
Whitney transformed the song.
The recording became a worldwide phenomenon.
Dolly earned millions as the songwriter.
Then she used some of that money to buy property in a Black Nashville neighborhood.
One Song, Two Extraordinary Legacies
It would be easy to tell the history of “I Will Always Love You” as a competition.
Who sang it better?