Willie Nelson said he had “no idea” Dolly Parton was battling cancer before her death, recalling that she appeared well during an interview shortly beforehand. In his first comments since her passing, Nelson described Parton warmly and remembered being a fan of her television partnership with Porter Wagoner.

Nelson also revealed that he had recently recorded his own version of Parton’s song “I Will Always Love You”, calling it a great and positive song. The two musicians were longtime friends who collaborated repeatedly, including a 1984 performance of “Everything’s Beautiful (In Its Own Way)”, while Parton had previously described Nelson as a close early Nashville friend.