Dolly Parton debunks tale of writing ‘Jolene,’ ‘I Will Always Love You’ on same day

For years, Dolly Parton fans have believed two of the singer’s biggest songs — “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You” — were written on the same day.

But in a recent interview on the social audio app Clubhouse, the iconic singer revealed that isn’t necessarily true.

Asked about her creative process behind writing the two hit songs, Parton gave a new answer to the long-standing tale.

“Well I don’t really know if they were written in the same night,” the 76-year-old singer said in conversation with TED speaker Adam Grant. “When we found an old tape, they were on the same cassette. That could have been a few days apart.”

“But they also wound up on the same album. They were certainly written within a very short span of time,” she added.

The “Jolene” album was released in 1974, featuring both the title track and “I Will Always Love You.” The album marked the beginning of a storied solo career for Parton, who had spent years on Porter Wagoner’s weekly TV show.

“I Will Always Love You” gained new fame nearly 20 years later when Whitney Houston covered the song for the 1992 soundtrack for the film “The Bodyguard.”

Before discrediting the tale in her recent interview, Parton said in 2017 she “believed” she wrote them in the same day.

“It was right in that period of time because I remember all my paperwork, and like they came out pretty close at the same time,” Parton said on the “Bobby Bones Show.” “So everybody said, what was you taking, that was a good writing day.”

This story was originally published March 4, 2022 at 10:13 AM with the headline "Dolly Parton debunks tale of writing ‘Jolene,’ ‘I Will Always Love You’ on same day."