The story of I Will Always Love You, 50 years on

Dolly Parton wrote Jolene and I Will Always Love You back to back in 1973. The first was a career-defining smash, synonymous with Parton alone. The second remains one of her lesser-known credits, despite soundtracking love and heartbreak for 50 years. Dolly Parton wrote I Will Always Love You on Tuesday.

One of the top-rated replies to the post was: #34;I never realised it was your song. 39; So, after five decades of loving declarations (reciprocated or otherwise), we look at the song’s eventful past. By 1973, Parton wanted to make the stage and TV screens hers alone. Her first single on that label, a cover of Tom Paxton#39;s The Last Thing on My Mind, was a duet with Wagoner.

When it made the country top 10 in 1968, it sparked the beginning of a formidable musical partnership. The next morning, she strode into Wagoner#39;s office and told him to sit down. 34;I sang the song alone in his office - just me and my guitar. So I sat down and I wrote this song.

I Will Always Love You’ Two of Parton#39;s songs from that rich-veined writing session had both become number one country singles in the US. She was beginning to make inroads with the mainstream pop audience. Then Elvis called - he had heard I Will Always Love You and wanted to record a cover. He said: #34;You cannot imagine how excited I am about this, and she told him.

The night before the recording session, his notoriously tough manager, Colonel Tom Parker, called Parton and told her Presley wouldn#39;t record the song unless she handed over half of the songwriting rights. Parton forced herself to say no. This is the greatest thing that#34;s ever happened to me as a songwriter," she said. In 1975, shortly after Parton originally released I Will Always Love You, Lawrence Kasdan penned the screenplay for The Bodyguard.

It took 17 years for the stars to align and for Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston, a real-life pop megastar, to bring the story to the big screen in 1992. The re-recorded film version once again topped the Billboard country chart,                a first at the time. Producer David Foster reworked it into a brooding, ultimately climactic tour de force that let Houston#39;s voice run riot. Whitney Houston told Rolling Stone magazine she thought Parton was #34;a hell of a writer and aHell of a singer#38; Dolly Parton and Kevin Costner both recorded versions of the song.

Lee says Parton’s version was like a dog hearing a whistle. Houston#39;s version is similarly affecting but delivered on a vastly different scale, says Lee. Parton was so overwhelmed she had to pull over because she almost wrecked the car. The song was a mammoth hit worldwide, spending 10 weeks at number one in the UK.

It eventually won record of the year at the 1994 Grammy Awards. Parton reportedly earned more than $10m (£7m) in royalties from Houston#39;s cover in the 1990s. The cultural prominence of the song continues to this day, with a theatre performance of The Bodyguard cut short last year due to one audience member singing along too loudly. Lee says: #34;I imagine he would have treated it respectfully, layering it with the kind of subtlety and vocal restraint he brought to his covers of songs like Can#39;t Help Falling in Love and Unchained Melody.

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