The Bodyguard and how Kevin Costner saved Whitney Houston’s a cappella song

When Kevin Costner stopped by The Kelly Clarkson Show to promote his new western “Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter One,” he told the pop singer-songwriter that in 1992, Arista, the label founded by music industry king/queenmaker Clive Davis, was cool with Houston’s initial recording of “I Should Always Love You.”

Arista’s biggest problem with Houston’s rendition was the a cappella opening verse, which they believed would prevent record stations from playing it. Fortunately, Costner, who also produced “The Bodyguard,” fought back on his co-star’s behalf. “They weren’t that crazy on the record side,” Costner said. “I said, ‘Well, you’ve got to get over that. Don’t be sure they won’t do it on the radio.'”

Costner may not be a musician, but the “Field of Dreams” star knows how to make an audience cry, and his instincts were spot on here. As he pointed out to Clarkson:

“Whitney was almost apologizing at that point. And what better way to let someone know they mean what they’re singing to you than to say, ‘I don’t even need the music behind this. Let me sing to you what I feel about you.’ The band kicks in, and we know when they do, the hairs on your arm stand up.'”

Record sales don’t lie, and neither does the fact that you can’t go to karaoke night without hearing someone drunkenly distort it. As for Parton, it says a lot that the country music legend considers Houston’s rendition of her “little old song” one of the proudest moments of her life.

So thank you, Mr. Costner, for talking Arista out of making a colossal mistake (and costing them untold millions of dollars in the process)!