Lzzy Hale, singer and rhythm guitarist of the hard rock band Halestorm, just released a cover of Dolly Parton’s 1974 song “I Will Always Love You.” Whitney Houston also covered the song in 1992 when she starred in the movie Bodyguard alongside Kevin Costner.
According to Consequence of Sound, while Hale has performed the song in several concerts with Halestorm, this is the first time she studio-recorded and released the song. Hale commented on the cover stating “Over the last decade we’ve been putting out cover EPs in between every original album cycle just for fun,” said Hale via social media. “But this time around we decided to shake it up! For our Reimagined EP, we committed to only one cover but filled the rest with reimagined versions of Halestorm songs. I hope you find something in Reimagined that brings you joy and hope in these crazy times we live in!”
According to SongFacts.com, the song was originally written by Parton to wish her TV show co-host Porter Wagoner farewell when she left to pursue a solo career. Wagoner originally thought Parton was making a mistake and being disloyal but was reduced to tears upon hearing the song calling it “the prettiest song I ever heard.”
“I Will Always Love You” reached number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs in 1974, number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs and the Billboard Hot 100 in 1982 when it was re-recorded for the movie The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and number one on the Hot R&B Single and Billboard Hot 100 in 1993 when Houston covered the song for the movie Bodyguard.
Hale’s version of the cover was released by Halestorm as part of the band’s Reimagined EP. The EP features Evanescence’s singer and pianist Amy Lee on one of its six tracks and was released on the Atlantic Records label.
Taking a moment to reflect on her life as an artist during this international pandemic, Hale states “There is that dichotomy of, I’m sad that we can’t be in a studio right now to make our new record. However, we were one of the lucky ones because we actually slated this time to be able to write a record. Right now we are supposed to be in pre-production in the studio, but we can’t do that. The positive is, I think, we are writing better songs right now with everything at a standstill. It has become less of a career move, less of ‘We have to do a record and promote it.’ It’s more looking deeper inward, but also looking at that big picture in all aspects; everything means something different now. I’m trying to take advantage of that as much as I can.”
Hale’s cover sounds very close to Houston’s version of the song. While Hale has a beautiful voice, following acts such as Parton and Houston is not a simple task by any stretch.
In recent news, we reported that Hale will be appearing in the first episode of GWAR’s new monthly variety show called “Undead From Antarctica” exclusively available on GWAR’s Youtube channel. The show starts on Sunday, Aug 16 at 9 p.m. EST and can be viewed here.
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