Today in Country Music, June 8.

On this day in 2011, American Idol runner-up Lauren Alaina revealed Carrie Underwood gave her a pretty nice gift … Lauren said, "she got me this necklace from Tiffany's that says my name on it and then 'love c.u.' on the back."

Today in 2004, Gretchen Wilson's "Redneck Woman" continued its stay at #1 for a fourth straight week on the Billboard country chart.

Joe Nichols received a gold album for Man With A Memory and Darryl Worley struck gold for his album Have You Forgotten in 2003.

And on this day in 1974, "I Will Always Love You" by Dolly Parton was the top song in the country.

"I Will Always Love You" is not a love song in the conventional sense; Parton wrote it for a close friend. In 1967, she was invited by the Country star Porter Wagoner to co-host his TV show, where they became famous for their duets. In time though, her enormous talent eclipsed that of her mentor, and she moved on to greener pastures. She wrote the song for him to show her appreciation for the time they had worked together.  This was the second of 5 consecutive #1 Country hits that Parton had after establishing herself as a solo artist.

Parton later recorded a second version of this song for the 1982 film The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas, which she starred in along with Burt Reynolds. The second version not only became a #1 Country hit (like the first version), but also became a crossover hit, reaching #53 on the pop charts.

During the popularity of her first version of this song, Elvis Presley wanted to cover it. Parton was interested, but when she found out that she would have to sign over half of the profits in order to give him the chance, she thought twice.

In the 1974 film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, the first version can be softly heard in the background of a scene where Ellen Burstyn's character Alice Hyatt meets a violent good-old boy named Ben Eberhart (played by Harvey Keitel). Despite this, the song is not featured on the film's soundtrack.  When this song was chosen for the 1992 film The Bodyguard, it proved to be a huge benefit for both Parton and Whitney Houston. It helped revive Houston's career (which struggled somewhat beforehand) and as Houston's version became a worldwide success in Pop music, both artists have managed to receive a huge amount of royalties from it. While Parton's version was a Country ballad, Houston's version attracted audiences of Pop, Soul, and Adult Contemporary. Houston's version managed to be a #1 Pop hit in a variety of countries, including the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Japan, and Netherlands.

In 1995, Parton recorded a third version of this song with Vince Gill as a duet. This version became a Top 20 Country hit and won the 1995 Country Music Association Award and received a Grammy nomination.

Other artists who have covered this song include Kenny Rogers, Linda Ronstadt, Sarah Washington, and Roger Whittaker.

“I Will Always Love You” came in at #1 in a 2011 Valentine's Day poll by CMT to find the best love song. It was followed in the CMT Greatest Love Song list by Willie Nelson's "Always On My Mind" in second place and Faith Hill's "Breathe" in third. We wonder how many people would be surprised to find out "Always Love You" is not a conventional love song, but was penned by Dolly for a close friend rather than a lover. (See the first Songfact).

Parton performed this song to Porter Wagoner on May 19, 2007 during his Porter 50th Anniversary Celebration at the Grand Ole Opry. "This was my goodbye song to Porter," Parton said before singing to him. Wagoner was suffering from lung cancer at the time and died on October 28, 2007.