Dolly Parton turned down Elvis Presley the night before his recording session, kept 100% of one song, and Forbes says that song later paid her at least $10 million. In the video below, she says it herself: "That is my most important copyright." She wrote "I Will Always Love You" in 1973, and by June 1974 it was number one on the country chart. Elvis wanted to record it. Dolly says she was "out of my mind with excitement" when the producer called her down to meet him at the session. The night before, Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis's manager, phoned. Elvis did not record anything, he said, unless his side held the publishing. Dolly said no. Parker said at least half. "I said I can't do that." He told her then they could not record it. "I cried all night about that," she says. In 1992 Whitney Houston sang it for The Bodyguard. The single spent 14 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The soundtrack spent 20 weeks at number one on the Billboard 200 and, per the Grammys, sold more than 45 million copies worldwide. Forbes estimated her take from the Houston version at a minimum of $10 million. Half of that is $5 million, though publishing is only one slice of a songwriter's income. She says she was "so thankful that I had made that choice." She spent part of it on an office complex in what she called the Black area of Nashville and said, "This is the house that Whitney built." Parker's demand was standard for his client. It only looks wrong because of Whitney. Owning the paper was worth more than meeting the king. Would you have given away half to get the King on your song?