Dolly was recognized as being part of the 'Vocal Event of the Year' (the category name was changed to 'Musical Event of the Year' in 2005) at the Country Music Association's (CMA) annual awards show for her song "I will Always Love You," released as a duet with Vince Gill on her album "Something Special."
The song, "I Will Always Love You," has had a long history of success for Dolly and for the artists who have covered it (most famously Whitney Houston). It was originally written by Dolly as a thank you to Porter Wagoner, her long time singing and television partner because she had decided to leave the partnership. Dolly said,
"It's saying, 'Just because I'm going don't mean I won't love you. I appreciate you and I hope you do great and I appreciate everything you've done, but I'm out of here…’ And I took it in the next morning. I said, 'Sit down, Porter. I've written this song, and I want you to hear it.' So I did sing it. And he was crying. He said, 'That's the prettiest song I ever heard. And you can go, providing I get to produce that record.' And he did, and the rest is history."
The Dolly and Vince collaboration of "I Will Always Love You" was also honored with a GRAMMY nomination and a TNN/Music City News nomination for Vocal Performance of the Year and ultimately reached number 15 on the country charts.
