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Dolly Parton Caitie McMekin/News Sentinel via Imagn Content Services, LLC

Dolly Parton spent 'I Will Always Love You' royalties on property in Black neighborhood: 'The house that Whitney built'

By Megan Armstrong | Last updated 7/30/21

Whitney Houston made "I Will Always Love You" her own in every sense, but the song was originally written and recorded for Dolly Parton's 1974 album Jolene.

Parton virtually visited Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen on Thursday (July 29), where Cohen asked the 75-year-old country icon and national treasure, "What is the best thing that you bought or invested in with money from your 'I Will Always Love You' royalties?"

"Well, that's a good question," Parton replied. "I bought my big office complex down in Nashville, and so, I thought, well, this is a wonderful place to be. I bought a property down in what was the Black area of town, and it was mostly just Black families and people that lived around there. And it was just off the beaten path from 16th Avenue."

"And I thought, well, I am gonna buy this place," the 10-time Grammy winner continued. "It was a whole strip mall. And I thought, this is the perfect place for me to be, considering it was Whitney. And so, I just thought this was great. I'm just gonna be down here with her people, who are my people as well. And so, I just love the fact that I spent that money on a complex, and I think, this is the house that Whitney built!"

Two fans then asked Parton whether there had ever been plans for her to duet "I Will Always Love You" with Houston, and Parton said that she had never been asked.

"I wish that could've happened," she said. "I would've loved that, but I don't think I could've come up to snuff with her, though. She had out-sung me on that one, for sure."

Houston covered "I Will Always Love You" for the soundtrack of 1992 drama The Bodyguard, which she also co-starred in with Kevin Costner. She won best female pop vocal performance and record of the year at the 36th Grammy Awards for the single. Parton had previously been nominated with it for best female country vocal performance at the 25th Grammy Awards.

"I Will Always Love You" has additionally been inducted into the GRAMMY Hall of Fame.

Houston died in heartbreaking fashion nearly a decade ago on Feb. 11, 2012. She was just 48 years old. Her sister-in-law and former manager Pat Houston, who serves as the executor of her estate, announced last week a new Las Vegas residency titled An Evening With Whitney: The Whitney Houston Hologram Concert will arrive in late October (h/t Variety).

Back on WWHL, Parton was asked to address the #FreeBritney movement:

Britney Spears is fiercely fighting in Los Angeles court to regain her freedom from her court-ordered conservatorship she has been under since 2008—and more specifically from her father, Jamie Spears. The 39-year-old pop star and her newly handpicked lawyer filed a petition Monday to remove her father as conservator of her estate in favor of CPA Jason Rubin.

Watch Parton's other two WWHL segments below.