Dolly Parton’s ‘Jolene’ & ‘I Will Always Love You’ Recordings Become Top 40 Hot 100 Hits for the First Time
Five Parton classics hit the Hot 100 after the icon’s passing.
Two of Dolly Parton's classic songs, "Jolene" and "I Will Always Love You," have made their first-ever appearances in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, following her recent death. "Jolene" recently reentered the chart at No. 16, while "I Will Always Love You" debuted at No. 27. Both songs, written by Parton herself, were released in 1974.
"Jolene" became Parton's first of 23 Hot 100 hits, peaking at No. 60 in March of that year. The following year, the song reached No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart. "I Will Always Love You" had never previously charted in the Hot 100, but it reached No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart in the same year. Parton's 1982 re-recording of the song reached No. 53 on the Hot 100, marking her only appearance on the chart until this week.
Whitney Houston's cover of the song reached No. 1 for 14 weeks in 1992-93. Similarly, Beyoncé's version of "Jolene" reached No. 7 in 2024. The reentries of the songs on the Hot 100 have seen a surge in streaming, radio airplay, and sales. "Jolene" has garnered 10.2 million streams, 5.5 million radio impressions, and 15,000 sold in the U.S., while "I Will Always Love You" has accumulated 6.5 million streams, 5.1 million radio listenership, and 16,000 sold.
Other popular Parton songs, including "9 to 5," "Islands in the Stream," and "Here You Come Again," have also returned to the Hot 100, with their latest versions seeing a significant increase in streams, radio reach, and sold copies.
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