Dolly Parton took to her Instagram Stories on Friday, March 21 to thank the country stars who participated in the tribute performance of her song “I Will Always Love You” on the Grand Ole Opry’s 100-year live concert celebration.
“I have not stopped crying over the beautiful tribute of ‘I Will Always Love You’ on the 100th Anniversary of the Grand Ole Opry show,” Parton wrote.
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“All those beautiful people with all their beautiful voices singing my song as a tribute to my husband Carl…the emotion was beyond words,” she continued. “I have cried enough to wash a great deal of the pain away so thanks to all of you beautiful people that helped make that possible. I also will always love you.”
Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood of Lady A, Reba McEntire and Carrie Underwood led a group of around 50 Grand Ole Opry members through an emotional take of Parton’s song during the 100-year anniversary special that aired on NBC and Peacock on March 19 from Nashville.
Parton’s husband, Carl Thomas Dean, died on March 3. The couple, married in 1966, spent nearly 60 years of wedded bliss together.
“I Will Always Love You” was a two-time No. 1 country hit for Parton, but the song became even a bigger hit when Whitney Houston covered it for the 1992 movie The Bodyguard, which she starred in with Kevin Costner.
“I kind of knew that it would have some potency to it, being Whitney Houston’s first acting role in a film starring Kevin Costner,” producer/songwriter David Foster said of the song and the soundtrack in an interview for The Billboard Book of No. 1 Albums. “It seemed like a winning combination. We knew it would be hot, but I don’t think we knew that it would sell 25 million copies.”
Next: Dolly Parton Gets Emotional During First Public Appearance Since Husband’s Death
