A country classic.
Dolly Parton and Lainey Wilson teamed up for a duet of Dolly’s iconic song “I Will Always Love You” last night, which they performed as part of Dolly Parton’s Pet Gala that aired on CBS and also featured a dog fashion show with pups wearing recreations of Parton’s most iconic ensembles.
I watched part of it (don’t ask me why… I will support anything Dolly Parton does, no matter how strange or cheesy), and while the setting of this performance might’ve taken away from it a good deal, Lainey sounded pitch-perfect and it was an incredible duet.
Had this happened on the ACM Awards or Grammy Awards stage, I think it’d obviously be getting a lot more well-deserved attention, so I can only hope they’ll do it again in a more appropriate setting, but I digress…
Dolly first released “I Will Always Love You” as a stand alone single in 1974, when it peaked at #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart later that year, and then rereleased it October 1982, with a re-recording for The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas soundtrack.
And of course, it was made incredibly popular by the late, great Whitney Houston when she recorded a rendition of it for the 1992 film The Bodyguard. Her single spent 14 weeks at the number one spot of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, setting a new record at the time, ultimately becoming one of the best-selling singles of all time and the best-selling single by a woman.
Lainey has said many times that Dolly is her musical hero, so I can only imagine what a cool moment this was for her. The full version of their performance isn’t out on Youtube quite yet, but Lainey shared a clip on her social media accounts that’s well-worth checking out:
The duo previously teamed up for a cover of The Judd’s hit “Mama He’s Crazy” as part of the tribute album called A Tribute To The Judds:
