{"id":5275,"date":"2026-08-31T13:04:25","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T17:04:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/?p=5275"},"modified":"2026-08-31T13:04:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T17:04:26","slug":"how-dolly-parton-thanked-her-mentor-and-made-history-with-i-will-always-love-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/how-dolly-parton-thanked-her-mentor-and-made-history-with-i-will-always-love-you\/","title":{"rendered":"How Dolly Parton Thanked Her Mentor and Made History With \u201cI Will Always Love You\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Porter Wagoner saw something special in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/kenny-rogers-almost-gave-up-on-islands-in-the-stream-then-dolly-parton-rescued-the-hit-song\/\">Dolly Parton<\/a> when he introduced the 21-year-old singer on his television show in 1967. Together, they became a successful duo, but Parton\u2019s star was rising quickly, and by the early 1970s, the partnership ended, until a brief reunion in 1980.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For Parton\u2019s exit, she wrote and recorded one of her biggest hits, \u201cI Will Always Love You\u201d. The affecting ballad expresses independence from and devotion to Wagoner. Though their relationship became <a href=\"https:\/\/americansongwriter.com\/a-lawsuit-personal-quarrels-behind-dolly-partons-complex-relationship-with-porter-wagoner\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">acrimonious<\/a>, Parton\u2019s goodbye note takes the high road: she would love him, always.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>I Would Only Be in Your Way<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Dolly Parton - I Will Always Love You (Official Audio)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lKsQR72HY0s?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By 1974, Parton had outgrown her creative partnership with Wagoner. After a successful run on <em>The Porter Wagoner Show<\/em>, and a string of charting singles as a duo on the Country charts, Parton was embarking on a full-time solo career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>If I should stay,<br>I would only be in your way.<br>So I\u2019ll go, but I know,<br>I\u2019ll think of you each step of the way.<\/em><br><em><br>And I will always love you,<br>I will always love you<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI Will Always Love You\u201d appears on Parton\u2019s 13<sup>th<\/sup> solo album, <em>Jolene<\/em>. Both the title track and Parton\u2019s farewell ballad became standards as Parton, the solo artist, would soon become one of the most beloved icons in American history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Bittersweet memories,<br>That\u2019s all I am taking with me.<br>Goodbye, please don\u2019t cry,<br>We both know that I\u2019m not what you need<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Making History<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Parton made history with \u201cI Will Always Love You\u201d. Twice, it topped <em>Billboard\u2019s<\/em> Hot Country Songs chart, in 1974 and again in 1982. Then, following Whitney Houston\u2019s flexing cover for the 1992 film <em>The Bodyguard<\/em>, it became the biggest-selling single by a woman artist in history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s a fitting farewell to Wagoner, who introduced Parton to the national stage. And it only reaffirmed what he saw in her when she debuted on his show and replaced Norma Jean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>I hope life treats you kind,<br>And I hope that you have all<br>That you ever dreamed of.<br>And I wish you joy,<br>And happiness.<br>But above all of this,<br>I wish you love.<br><br>And I will always love you,<br>I will always love you<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Photo by Michael Ochs Archives\/Getty Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dolly Parton wrote &#8220;I Will Always Love You&#8221; as both a thank-you and a farewell to her mentor, Porter Wagoner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":973477,"featured_media":5279,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"byline":{"profiles":[{"type":"byline_id","atts":{"term_id":316,"post_id":2139}}]},"savage_platform_role_ideator":[],"savage_platform_role_editor":[],"savage_platform_role_senior_editor":[],"savage_platform_role_photographer":[],"savage_platform_role_illustrator":[],"savage_platform_role_translator":[],"savage_platform_role_as-told-to":[],"savage_platform_role_reviewed-by":[],"savage_platform_disable_recirculation":false,"savage_platform_article_type":"news","savage_platform_vice_article_type":"article","savage_platform_article_intent":"","savage_platform_show_affiliate_disclaimer":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"wp_curate_deduplication":false,"wp_curate_unique_pinned_posts":false,"savage_platform_featured_image_caption":"Photo by Michael Ochs Archives\/Getty Images","_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"savage_platform_subheadline":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[30,113],"byline":[316],"class_list":["post-5275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-country-music","tag-dolly-parton"],"savage_platform_primary_term":{"category":{"term_name":"Features","term_id":12,"term_link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/category\/features\/"},"post_tag":{"term_name":"Country Music","term_id":30,"term_link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/tag\/country-music\/"}},"hide_from_homepage":false,"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How Dolly Parton Thanked Her Mentor and Made History With \u201cI Will Always Love You\u201d - Songfacts Articles<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dolly Parton wrote &quot;I Will Always Love You&quot; as both a thank-you and a farewell to her mentor, Porter Wagoner.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/how-dolly-parton-thanked-her-mentor-and-made-history-with-i-will-always-love-you\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Dolly Parton Thanked Her Mentor and Made History With \u201cI Will Always Love You\u201d - Songfacts Articles\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dolly Parton wrote &quot;I Will Always Love You&quot; as both a thank-you and a farewell to her mentor, Porter Wagoner.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/how-dolly-parton-thanked-her-mentor-and-made-history-with-i-will-always-love-you\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Songfacts Articles\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-31T17:04:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-31T17:04:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/08\/Dolly-Parton-3.jpg?w=1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Thom Donovan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Thom Donovan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/how-dolly-parton-thanked-her-mentor-and-made-history-with-i-will-always-love-you\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/how-dolly-parton-thanked-her-mentor-and-made-history-with-i-will-always-love-you\\\/\"},\"author\":[{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/?post_type=profile&#038;p=2139\"}],\"headline\":\"How Dolly Parton Thanked Her Mentor and Made History With \u201cI Will Always Love You\u201d\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-31T17:04:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-31T17:04:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/how-dolly-parton-thanked-her-mentor-and-made-history-with-i-will-always-love-you\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":397,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/how-dolly-parton-thanked-her-mentor-and-made-history-with-i-will-always-love-you\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/Dolly-Parton-3.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Country Music\",\"Dolly Parton\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Features\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/how-dolly-parton-thanked-her-mentor-and-made-history-with-i-will-always-love-you\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/how-dolly-parton-thanked-her-mentor-and-made-history-with-i-will-always-love-you\\\/\",\"name\":\"How Dolly Parton Thanked Her Mentor and Made History With \u201cI Will Always Love You\u201d - Songfacts Articles\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/how-dolly-parton-thanked-her-mentor-and-made-history-with-i-will-always-love-you\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/how-dolly-parton-thanked-her-mentor-and-made-history-with-i-will-always-love-you\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/Dolly-Parton-3.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-31T17:04:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-31T17:04:26+00:00\",\"description\":\"Dolly Parton wrote \\\"I Will Always Love You\\\" as both a thank-you and a farewell to her mentor, Porter Wagoner.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/how-dolly-parton-thanked-her-mentor-and-made-history-with-i-will-always-love-you\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/how-dolly-parton-thanked-her-mentor-and-made-history-with-i-will-always-love-you\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/how-dolly-parton-thanked-her-mentor-and-made-history-with-i-will-always-love-you\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/Dolly-Parton-3.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/Dolly-Parton-3.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":675,\"caption\":\"Photo by Michael Ochs Archives\\\/Getty Images\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/how-dolly-parton-thanked-her-mentor-and-made-history-with-i-will-always-love-you\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How Dolly Parton Thanked Her Mentor and Made History With \u201cI Will Always Love You\u201d\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/\",\"name\":\"Songfacts Articles\",\"description\":\"Better understand and enjoy the songs you love\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Songfacts Articles\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/songfacts-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/songfacts-logo.png\",\"width\":575,\"height\":180,\"caption\":\"Songfacts Articles\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/?post_type=profile&#038;p=2139\",\"name\":\"Thom Donovan\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/author\\\/thom-donovan\\\/\",\"description\":\"Thom Donovan is a contributor to SongFacts as well as a recording artist and published songwriter. His songwriting work has been associated with Kobalt and Nettwerk, and he has performed globally alongside artists such as Brandi Carlile, John Prine, Robert Plant, and Social Distortion. Donovan is also the author of The Twin Affair, his debut [&hellip;]\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/T010M2RB9SP-U0B6063CX96-ea45c7fbc0b8-512.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.songfacts.com\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/6\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/T010M2RB9SP-U0B6063CX96-ea45c7fbc0b8-512.jpg\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Thom Donovan\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How Dolly Parton Thanked Her Mentor and Made History With \u201cI Will Always Love You\u201d - Songfacts Articles","description":"Dolly Parton wrote \"I Will Always Love You\" as both a thank-you and a farewell to her mentor, Porter Wagoner.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/how-dolly-parton-thanked-her-mentor-and-made-history-with-i-will-always-love-you\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How Dolly Parton Thanked Her Mentor and Made History With \u201cI Will Always Love You\u201d - Songfacts Articles","og_description":"Dolly Parton wrote \"I Will Always Love You\" as both a thank-you and a farewell to her mentor, Porter Wagoner.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/how-dolly-parton-thanked-her-mentor-and-made-history-with-i-will-always-love-you\/","og_site_name":"Songfacts Articles","article_published_time":"2026-08-31T17:04:25+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-31T17:04:26+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/08\/Dolly-Parton-3.jpg?w=1200","width":1200,"height":675,"type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Thom Donovan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Thom Donovan","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/how-dolly-parton-thanked-her-mentor-and-made-history-with-i-will-always-love-you\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/how-dolly-parton-thanked-her-mentor-and-made-history-with-i-will-always-love-you\/"},"author":[{"@id":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/?post_type=profile&#038;p=2139"}],"headline":"How Dolly Parton Thanked Her Mentor and Made History With \u201cI Will Always Love You\u201d","datePublished":"2026-08-31T17:04:25+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-31T17:04:26+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/how-dolly-parton-thanked-her-mentor-and-made-history-with-i-will-always-love-you\/"},"wordCount":397,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/how-dolly-parton-thanked-her-mentor-and-made-history-with-i-will-always-love-you\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/08\/Dolly-Parton-3.jpg","keywords":["Country Music","Dolly Parton"],"articleSection":["Features"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/how-dolly-parton-thanked-her-mentor-and-made-history-with-i-will-always-love-you\/","url":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/how-dolly-parton-thanked-her-mentor-and-made-history-with-i-will-always-love-you\/","name":"How Dolly Parton Thanked Her Mentor and Made History With \u201cI Will Always Love You\u201d - Songfacts Articles","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/how-dolly-parton-thanked-her-mentor-and-made-history-with-i-will-always-love-you\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/how-dolly-parton-thanked-her-mentor-and-made-history-with-i-will-always-love-you\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/08\/Dolly-Parton-3.jpg","datePublished":"2026-08-31T17:04:25+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-31T17:04:26+00:00","description":"Dolly Parton wrote \"I Will Always Love You\" as both a thank-you and a farewell to her mentor, Porter Wagoner.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/how-dolly-parton-thanked-her-mentor-and-made-history-with-i-will-always-love-you\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/how-dolly-parton-thanked-her-mentor-and-made-history-with-i-will-always-love-you\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/how-dolly-parton-thanked-her-mentor-and-made-history-with-i-will-always-love-you\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/08\/Dolly-Parton-3.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/08\/Dolly-Parton-3.jpg","width":1200,"height":675,"caption":"Photo by Michael Ochs Archives\/Getty Images"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/how-dolly-parton-thanked-her-mentor-and-made-history-with-i-will-always-love-you\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How Dolly Parton Thanked Her Mentor and Made History With \u201cI Will Always Love You\u201d"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/","name":"Songfacts Articles","description":"Better understand and enjoy the songs you love","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/#organization","name":"Songfacts Articles","url":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/12\/songfacts-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/12\/songfacts-logo.png","width":575,"height":180,"caption":"Songfacts Articles"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/?post_type=profile&#038;p=2139","name":"Thom Donovan","url":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/author\/thom-donovan\/","description":"Thom Donovan is a contributor to SongFacts as well as a recording artist and published songwriter. His songwriting work has been associated with Kobalt and Nettwerk, and he has performed globally alongside artists such as Brandi Carlile, John Prine, Robert Plant, and Social Distortion. Donovan is also the author of The Twin Affair, his debut [&hellip;]","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/05\/T010M2RB9SP-U0B6063CX96-ea45c7fbc0b8-512.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/05\/T010M2RB9SP-U0B6063CX96-ea45c7fbc0b8-512.jpg","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Thom Donovan"}}]}},"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"How Dolly Parton Thanked Her Mentor and Made History With \u201cI Will Always Love You\u201d","url":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/how-dolly-parton-thanked-her-mentor-and-made-history-with-i-will-always-love-you\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/how-dolly-parton-thanked-her-mentor-and-made-history-with-i-will-always-love-you\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/08\/Dolly-Parton-3.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/08\/Dolly-Parton-3.jpg"},"articleSection":"Features","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Thom Donovan"}],"creator":["Thom Donovan"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Songfacts Articles","logo":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/12\/songfacts-logo.png"},"keywords":["country music","dolly parton"],"dateCreated":"2026-08-31T17:04:25Z","datePublished":"2026-08-31T17:04:25Z","dateModified":"2026-08-31T17:04:26Z","custom_metadata":[],"section":"Features"},"rendered":"<meta name=\"parsely-title\" content=\"How Dolly Parton Thanked Her Mentor and Made History With \u201cI Will Always Love You\u201d\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-link\" content=\"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/how-dolly-parton-thanked-her-mentor-and-made-history-with-i-will-always-love-you\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-type\" content=\"post\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-image-url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/08\/Dolly-Parton-3.jpg?w=150&amp;h=150&amp;crop=1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-pub-date\" content=\"2026-08-31T17:04:25Z\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-section\" content=\"Features\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-tags\" content=\"country music,dolly parton\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-author\" content=\"Thom Donovan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-metadata\" content=\"Array\" \/>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/articles.songfacts.com\/p.js"},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/08\/Dolly-Parton-3.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/973477"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5275\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5289,"href":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5275\/revisions\/5289"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5275"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=5275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}