AceShowbiz -

Dolly Parton was overwhelmed with emotion when watching Jennifer Hudson's moving tribute to Whitney Houston. The 66-year-old artist said in a statement, "I was brought to tears again last night, as I'm sure many were, when Jennifer Hudson sang 'I Will Always Love You' on the Grammys in memory of Whitney."

The country music veteran continued, "Like everybody else, I am still in shock. But I know that Whitney will live forever in all the great music that she left behind. I will always have a very special piece of her in the song we shared together and had the good fortune to share with the world. Rest in peace, Whitney. Again, we will always love you."

Dolly is the original singer of "I Will Always Love You", which was covered by Whitney for 1992 movie "The Bodyguard". Through the soundtrack album where the revamped version appears, the New Jersey singer becomes the only female artist who notches the most weeks at No. 1 on Billboard Hot 200. She held the record for clocking a 20-week domination on the chart.

Soon after Whitney's sudden death, Dolly issued a statement, "Mine is only one of the millions of hearts broken over the death of Whitney Houston." She added, "I will always be grateful and in awe of the wonderful performance she did on my song, and I can truly say from the bottom of my heart, 'Whitney, I will always love you. You will be missed'."

J-Hud delivered a heartfelt rendition of Whitney's iconic song during the 54th Annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center on Sunday night, February 12. "Whitney, we love you," she said back then. The other stars like LL Cool J, Bruno Mars, Alicia Keys and Rihanna also saluted the late singer at the awards show.