Elvis wanted to record "I Will Always Love You." His manager Colonel Tom Parker called Dolly Parton and said there was one condition - hand over 50% of the publishing rights. Dolly said no. Years later, Whitney Houston covered it for The Bodyguard. Dolly earned over $10 million from that single cover. She later joked she made enough money to buy Graceland.
Dolly Parton Turned Down Elvis to Keep Her Song
In 1973, Dolly Parton wrote "I Will Always Love You" as a farewell to her mentor and business partner Porter Wagoner. It became a hit. Then Elvis heard it.
The King wanted to record his own version. His manager, Colonel Tom Parker, called Parton with what he presented as a standard arrangement: Elvis would record the song, but Parton would have to sign over 50% of the publishing rights.
This was not unusual. Colonel Parker took half the publishing on virtually everything Elvis recorded. It was the price of having the biggest voice in music sing your song.
Dolly said no.
"I said, I can't do that," she later recalled. "That money goes in for stuff for my brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews, so I can't give up half the publishing. I wanted to hear Elvis sing it - and it broke my heart. I cried all night."
Elvis never recorded the song. Parton kept 100% of the publishing.
Nearly two decades later, Whitney Houston recorded "I Will Always Love You" for the soundtrack of The Bodyguard. Houston's version spent 14 weeks at number one and became the best-selling single by a female artist in history.
The royalties poured in. Forbes reported that Parton earned over 10 million dollars from Houston's cover in the 1990s alone. The song continues to generate income decades later.
When asked about the windfall, Parton delivered the perfect kicker: "I made enough money to buy Graceland."
She also put the Houston royalties to work. Parton invested in a strip mall in a predominantly Black neighbourhood in Nashville, saying she simply wanted to support the community where the music came from.
Dolly Parton turned down the King of Rock and Roll to protect a song she wrote for her family. Twenty years later, that decision made her richer than Elvis ever made Colonel Parker.