Dolly Parton at Glastonbury music festival, June 29, 2014.
| Photo Credit: AP
In 1974, the night before Elvis Presley was due in the studio to record ‘I Will Always Love You’, Dolly Parton’s phone rang. Colonel Tom Parker, Presley’s manager, had a condition nobody had mentioned earlier. Elvis would record the song only if Parker’s side received half the publishing rights to it.
Parton was 28. She had just walked away from the television show that made her a household name in America, with no guarantee that a solo career would succeed. The biggest star in the world wanted her song. She said no and, by her own account, cried all night.
Published – August 26, 2026 03:58 pm IST
