Introduction
When most people hear “I Will Always Love You”, their minds immediately leap to Whitney Houston’s earth-shattering 1992 performance from The Bodyguard. Some go back further, crediting Dolly Parton, the song’s original writer and the angelic country voice who first released it in 1974. But here’s the truth that has been buried, ignored, and almost erased from music history: Linda Ronstadt sang it before Houston—and almost nobody knows.
In 1975, while she was conquering the charts and reshaping American popular music, Ronstadt quietly recorded “I Will Always Love You.” Her version was tender, stripped of grand theatrics, and delivered with that unmistakable Ronstadt purity that could cut through glass and leave listeners trembling. But fate—and perhaps bad luck—robbed her of the recognition. The song never made it onto the charts. It lingered as an overlooked gem, hidden on her sessions, as the industry moved on.
Now imagine this: What if Ronstadt’s rendition had been released as a single, backed by the full promotional machine she commanded in the mid-1970s? She was already America’s best-selling female artist. Her version could have been the definitive one—the version the world would remember. Instead, history crowned others. Parton kept the songwriter’s legacy. Houston lit up the world with her powerhouse ballad. And Linda Ronstadt’s haunting performance? Almost forgotten.
This is not just a “what if” in music history—it’s a robbery of memory. Ronstadt, whose voice defined an entire era, had in her hands one of the greatest love songs ever written. Yet the story was rewritten without her.
Today, as fans rediscover the depths of her catalog, “I Will Always Love You” by Linda Ronstadt is finally demanding attention. It’s raw. It’s heartbreaking. And it proves once again that before anyone else claimed it, Ronstadt had already made it her own.
So the next time you think you know the history of this song, stop. Listen again. And remember: Linda Ronstadt was there first.
