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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Harry Rutter

Dolly Parton 'cried all night' when she turned down Elvis Presley in early 1970s

Dolly Parton recalled "crying all night" after rejecting Elvis Presley in early 1970s after he requested to cover her song I Will Always Love You.

The Jolene hitmaker, 77, was approached by the King of Rock's team who said Elvis wanted to record a version – young Dolly was understandably delighted.

She recalled being "so excited" and telling all her friends before she was told that Elvis even wanted her to come to the studio so he could meet her.

"I told everybody. They had called me [to tell me] that Elvis was recording it. Elvis wanted to meet me and all that," she explained in a recent interview.

Dolly didn't let Elvis cover her song because of conditions (Getty Images for ACM)
Elvis' team couldn't come to an agreement with Dolly (Getty Images)

Despite her excitement, her team threw a spanner in the works when going over some of the terms of her agreement with Elvis.

Speaking on Living and Learning with Reba McEntire, Dolly recalled The King’s manager Colonel Tom Parker calling her to go over the arrangement.

He said to Dolly: "You know, we don’t record anything with Elvis unless we have the publishing, or at least half the publishing."

Dolly said she replied: "Well, that throws a new light on this because I can’t give you half the publishing. I’m gonna leave that to my family. I can’t do that."

So without a deal agreed upon, Elvis was no longer allowed to record Dolly's song.

She recalled crying all night over the incident (Getty Images for The Rock and Ro)

"I cried all night," she explained. "Oh, I just pictured Elvis, like, singing it. And I know that Elvis loved it. And I know it wasn’t him, but it’s true. I said no."

It wasn't all bad though because the track was later covered by Whitney Houston, becoming the sixth best-selling single of all time with 20 million sales.

It comes after Dolly shared a sweet tribute to Elvis' daughter Lisa Marie Presley following her tragic death at the age of 54 – wishing she was "happy" in heaven.

Lisa Marie sadly died on January 12 after her body was found at her home in Calabasas, Los Angeles and she was rushed to the hospital where she passed away.

Dolly's song was later covered by Whitney Houston (Getty Images)
She often speaks of wanting to go back to see Elvis (Getty Images)

Reports suggest she suffered a cardiac arrest at her home and then a second on the way to the hospital, by which point, her family had already ordered a DNAR - do not attempt to resuscitate order.

Speaking about Lisa Marie's death, Dolly said it is "a sad, sad loss".

"I just wanted to send my sympathies to Priscilla 'cause I can only imagine, but I knew he'd be waiting for her.

"Hopefully they are up there being happy together, and hopefully Priscilla [Presley] will find some peace through the love that we all have for her," Dolly told Entertainment Tonight.

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