Event of the Year at the 30th Annual CMA Awards. Personnel Adapted from the album liner notes. Assa Dormi – concertmaster Paul Franklin – steel Vince Gill – duet vocals Owen Hale – drums David Hungate – bass Brent Mason – guitar Terry McMillan – percussion Dale Oehler – string arrangements, conductor Dolly Parton – lead vocals Matt Rollings – piano Brent Rowan – guitar Charts Whitney Houston version Background In 1992, American singer Whitney Houston recorded a new arrangement of "I Will Always Love You" for the soundtrack to The Bodyguard, her film debut. The song has a saxophone solo by Kirk Whalum. She was originally to record Jimmy Ruffin's "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" as the lead single from The Bodyguard. However, when it was discovered the song was to be used for Fried Green Tomatoes, Houston requested a different song. It was her co-star Kevin Costner who suggested "I Will Always Love You", playing her Linda Ronstadt's 1975 version from her album Prisoner in Disguise. Producer David Foster and Houston re-arranged the song as a soul ballad. Her record company did not feel a song with an a cappella introduction would be as successful; however, Houston and Costner insisted on retaining it. When Parton heard that Houston was using Ronstadt's recording as a template, she called Foster to give him the final verse, which was missing from the Ronstadt recording, as she felt it was important to the song. Houston's rendition of the song was issued as the soundtrack's leading single on November 3, 1992, by Arista Records. Houston's recording is not the only version of the song featured in the film. In a scene where she dances with Costner, a version by John Doe can be heard playing on a jukebox. Houston's version appears at No. 8 on NMEs Greatest No 1 Singles in History list. In 2004, Houston's version of "I Will Always Love You" placed at number 65 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema. It was also ranked at number 22 on The Guardians list of Britain's favorite 100 songs, published in May 2002. , Houston's version of "I Will Always Love You" has sold over 20 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling single by a female artist of all time as well as one of the best-selling singles of all time. In February 2014, the song