In the hours following the death of country music icon Dolly Parton on Aug. 25, 2026, fans have revisited her biggest hits, but few songs tell a more powerful story than “I Will Always Love You,” a ballad that began as a deeply personal goodbye and eventually became one of the most successful re cordings in music history. Parton, who died at age 80, left behind a catalog of classics, yet this song stands apart because of the unusual circumstances that inspired it, Yahoo! reported. ...read more read less