United Kingdom, Aug. 28 -- Dolly Parton "thought (her) heart was gonna stop" when I Will Always Love You was played at Whitney Houston's funeral.

The country music legend, who sadly passed away aged 80 earlier this week, wrote the original version of the track in 1972 - before Whitney memorably covered it as a pop ballad for the soundtrack of 1992 movie The Bodyguard - and once described how she was left overwhelmed as it was performed when the coffin was carried away at Houston's funeral following her untimely death at the age of 48 in 2012.

In an interview with Nightline at the time, Dolly said: "(It) just shattered me to hear that song played under those conditions.

"I thought my heart was gonna stop. It just pierced me like a knife...