Dolly Parton Invested Whitney Houston's Cover Royalties in a Historically Black Nashville Neighbourhood

The country legend put her "I Will Always Love You" earnings into the "house that Whitney built"

BY Allie GregoryPublished Aug 2, 2021

Dolly Parton has revealed that she used her royalties from Whitney Houston's cover of "I Will Always Love You" to invest in a historically Black community in Nashville.

Appearing on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen last week (July 29), the country music legend shared that her earnings from the 1992 cover — which was recorded for The Bodyguard — helped Parton to buy a "big office complex down in Nashville."

"I bought a property down in what was the Black area of town, and it was mostly just Black families and people that lived around there," said Parton. "It was off the beaten path from 16th Avenue. And I thought, 'This is the perfect place for me to be,' considering it was Whitney."

The recording reportedly earned Parton $10 million USD in royalties in the '90s, according to Forbes, which explains how she was able to use the money for a "whole strip mall."

"So I just thought this was great, I'm just going to be down here with her people, who are my people as well," Parton added. "And so I just love the fact that I spent that money on a complex. And I think, 'This is the house that Whitney built.'"

During the interview, Parton also said that while she was never asked to perform the song with Houston, she wished she had been given the chance before the singer's death in 2012. "I would have loved that," she explained. "But I don't think I could've come up to snuff with her though. She'd have out-sung me on that one for sure."

Parton wrote "I Will Always Love You" in 1972, on the same day she wrote another one of her mega-hits, "Jolene."
 

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