It's played at weddings. It's played at funerals. People have even attempted it on competition shows like The X Factor Australia.
Key points:
- Whitney Houston recorded I Will Always Love You for her movie debut in 1992's The Bodyguard
- A diamond single has had 10 million sales or streaming units
- Dolly Parton wrote and first recorded the song in 1973
And now Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You has reportedly been certified diamond in the United States.
According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), a diamond award is earned when a single is 10 times platinum – that's 10 million sales and streaming units in the US, because the RIAA counts streams as well these days.
I Will Always Love You was written and recorded by Dolly Parton in 1973 and while Parton's version of the song achieved commercial success, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in 1974 and again in 1982, Whitney Houston made the song her own.
Her rendition of the song was released in 1992 to coincide with her motion picture debut when she starred in The Bodyguard alongside Kevin Costner.
I Will Always Love You was featured on the movie's soundtrack.
The single spent 14 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and The Bodyguard's soundtrack dominated the Grammys the following year, with Whitney Houston winning the awards for album of the year, record of the year and best female pop vocal performance.
I Will Always Love You re-entered the charts in 2012 after Whitney Houston's tragic death.
Dolly Parton has spoken in interviews about the great success of Whitney Houston's interpretation of the song.
"For it still to be considered one of the greatest love songs ever, I take great pride in that and I'm very humbled by it, but she did an incredible job on that," Dolly Parton recently told ET Canada.
In December 2021, the RIAA announced that Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas is You made history when it became the first and only holiday single to go diamond.
Forbes reports that Taylor Swift was the first woman to earn a diamond single with Shake It Off. Her album Fearless is also certified diamond.
Whitney Houston joins an exclusive club. There are fewer than 100 singles that have been certified diamond in the US.