One of my favorite #DollyParton stories: Elvis asked to cover I Will Always Love You and get half of the royalties, as opposed to the usual 0. He could only extract that much money because having Elvis cover your song was such a huge deal.
“I wanted to hear Elvis sing it, and it broke my heart—I cried all night. But I had to keep that copyright in my pocket. You have to take care of your [business]. Everybody’s going to use you if they can.”
She politely told him to get bent, and then made $10 million in the 90s alone off the diamond-certified Whitney Houston cover, which she invested in a Black neighborhood in Nashville. What a badass. #RIP https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewleimkuehler/2026/08/25/the-business-decision-that-left-dolly-parton-in-tears--and-made-her-a-fortune/