This episode was originally recorded back in 2020. It hasn't been altered since its recording.

Most people have sung this song at karaoke. Most people have cried to it. Most people have no idea what it's actually about."I Will Always Love You" was never a love song. It was a resignation letter — written by Dolly Parton in 1973 to say goodbye to the most powerful man in her career: her mentor, her producer, the man who gave her a national stage and then couldn't handle watching her outgrow it.

On this episode of Uncovering the Cover, we trace the full journey of one of the most commercially successful songs in music history: from a two-room cabin in the Smoky Mountains, to a Nashville TV show where Parton was booed every week, to the moment she turned down Elvis Presley to protect her copyright, to a hotel ballroom in Miami where Whitney Houston opened her mouth — and stunned everyone in the room.

We tell the story of two of the most extraordinary women in music history: a country songwriter who understood the value of her own words when no one else did, and a gospel-trained voice from New Jersey who turned a simple country song into the greatest vocal performance of a generation.And we tell the story of what the song became: #1 in three consecutive decades. 24 million copies sold. The best-selling single by a female artist of all time. A song played at its own singer's funeral. A promise Dolly Parton kept, all the way to the end.

This is Uncovering the Cover. This is "I Will Always Love You."In this episode, Diego Pinzón tells the complete story of "I Will Always Love You" — from Dolly Parton's original 1973 composition to Whitney Houston's record-breaking 1992 cover, and everything in between. The episode covers the full arc of the song's journey: the personal, professional, and cultural forces that shaped one of the most recognized songs in the world.

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CREDITS: Host, Producer, Editor: Diego Pinzón

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DISCLAIMER:The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the host and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any artist, label, or organization mentioned. All music samples are used for educational and commentary purposes under fair use doctrine.