How Dolly Parton Revived a Popular Nashville Neighborhood
Many associate “I Will Always Love You” with Whitney Houston, but Dolly Parton is the song’s original creator. Parton did beautiful work with the lyrics, but she doesn’t have the powerhouse vocal chops that made Houston’s version iconic. The country singer doesn’t mind that people associate with Houston, as she got plenty of royalty checks she spent to her heart’s desire. She invested that money into a popular Nashville neighborhood, a decision she believed would have made Houston proud.
Dolly Parton spent the royalty checks from Whitney Houston’s ‘I Will Always Love You’ on 12 South in Nashville
Houston released her version of “I Will Always Love You” in 1992 as part of the soundtrack for The Bodyguard. Upon its release, the song spent 14 weeks at the top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, a record at the time. In an interview with Sirius XM, Parton said she didn’t know what song it was when she first heard it. Once she recognized it was Houston covering her song, she “almost wrecked” her car.
Whitney Houston’s version became more popular than Parton’s version, and many people forgot she originally wrote it. However, Parton said she didn’t care as she received fat royalty checks. In a 2021 appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, she revealed what she did with the money. Dolly Parton said she spent it on a strip mall in a black neighborhood in Nashville, TN, as this was the best way to honor Houston, who died in 2012
“I bought a property 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,” Parton explained. “It was a whole strip mall, and I thought this is the perfect place for me to be, considering it was Whitney, so I just thought, ‘This is great, I’m just going to be down here with her people, who are my people as well.’”
Parton’s investment turned 12 South into one of the ‘hottest neighborhoods in Nashville’
12 South is a beautiful neighborhood in Nashville with plenty of places to eat, shop, and play. However, it wasn’t a place many were looking to start businesses until Dolly Parton. According to The Washington Post, Parton bought the “6,317-square-foot Mission-style complex in Nashville in February 1997.” Nashville historian David Ewing said her investment in the neighborhood proved that Parton supports uplifting black communities in America.
“We’re just hearing now, because of the Black Lives Matter movement, how down for the cause Dolly has always been — even when others in the music industry weren’t,” Ewing shared. “Dolly Parton could have built and bought any piece of property in Nashville. But you would have to have gone out of your way to buy in the 12 South neighborhood because no Realtor would have shown Dolly that lot to buy.”
Ewing also said that the neighborhood has become one of the hottest neighborhoods in Nashville, thanks to Dolly Parton’s investment.
“But it really kind of all began to be put on the map when Dolly quietly invested in the area,” Ewing confirmed.
Even Taylor Swift praised 12 South, naming a few of her favorite spots to visit when she’s in town.
“It’s hard to keep up with all the new things happening,” Swift told Nashville Lifestyles. “I stick to the things that are old favorites for me. I love ordering sushi from Virago, I love Fido and the Hillsboro Village area. I love 12South—everybody loves 12South—but there’s also something good there.”
Parton’s investment in 12 South isn’t the only way she’s showed love to her home state. She has several businesses throughout Tennessee, including her amusement park, Dollywood.
