Four Friends Cover Dolly Parton Song And Bring The House Down With Unique Twist

Sep 24, 2021

When you think of operatic pop groups, Il Divo is probably the first to spring to mind. The group of four have glorious voices and never disappoints with their onstage performances.

This time they sang the classic Dolly Parton hit, "I Will Always Love You," but put their own stamp on it. Due to their unique rendition, this performance from October 2014 in Hamburg, Germany was a huge success.

The 4-member group was put together by Simon Cowell in 2003. He traveled around the world to find the perfect people for the group, and it worked out. The singers are Spanish baritone Carlos Marin, Swiss tenor Urs Bühler, French tenor Sébastien Izambard, and the American tenor David Miller. Cowell has been responsible for taking many musical groups and individual singers under his wing and in some cases even signed, such as Susan Boyle, Leona Lewis, Fifth Harmony, and One Direction. 

According to Il Divo's website, they are considered a "crossover group of classical music." They have numerous multi-lingual hits including “Regresa a Mi” (Unbreak My Heart) originally performed by Toni Braxton, and a duet with Toni Braxton called, “The Time Of Our Lives" — which was the official song of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. They have duets with beloved and highly talented music icons such as Celine Dion. Together they have a duet, “I Believe In You” (Je crois en toi) from Dion's 2005 'On ne change pas' album. They even have a Spanish version of Adele's hit "Hello" on their 2018 album 'Timeless' titled, “Hola." This performance is just one of many incredible hits from the quartet, which is comprised of singers Sebastien Izambard, David Miller, Carlos Marin, and Urs Buhler.

In this performance, the quartet sang a cover of the Dolly Parton song, "I Will Always Love You." Although Parton originally wrote the song, and then first released it in 1974, it has become associated with the 1992 version sung by Whitney Houston, which was recorded for the film The Bodyguard. The romantic thriller filmed featured Whitney Houston with co-star Kevin Costner. With such a hit song on its soundtrack — among others such as  "I'm Every Woman" — the film won a Grammy Award for Album of the Year. The song was popularized by two of the biggest female voices in showbiz, but Il Divo gave it their own spin.

Sebastien Izambard

Sebastien Izambard opens up the performance with his soft tenor voice, in French.  Izambard was born in Paris, France on March 7th, 1973. According to the group's website, Izambard decided to learn to play guitar in order to impress the very first girl with whom he fell in love. Because of his guitar skills, he began playing guitar on the Seine river for couples when he was just 17 years old. He later got bigger opportunities at bars and karaoke gigs. Now that he's in the international group, his life has changed dramatically. On the website, he talked about the most important things in his life, despite the fame:

"The most important thing in my life are my children, and there have been many times when life has not been very easy for them, and that has made me suffer a lot. There have been concerts in which before leaving I had to endure the tears, but luckily, I have always had my music as a companion, and my colleagues and my dear fans to support me in this beautiful, although sometimes thorny journey that is life."

The next one to start singing in this performance is American David Miller, also a tenor. Miller was born in San Francisco, California on April 14th, 1973, but was raised in Littleton, Colorado. He was also invested in music at an early age, having graduated from Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio with a degree in Opera and Vocal Performance. On the website, Miller talked about his particular affinity for opera in particular. He said:

"I think that opera is the pinnacle of expression through voice. However, the experience of the popular version of Lurhman’s “La Boheme” encouraged me to take my head beyond the opera, and start using my voice in an even more passionate way."

Carlos Marin 

Carlos Marin then comes in with his baritone voice after the other two have had their solo. Marin was born in Rüsselsheim, Germany on October 13th, 1968, but was raised in Hesse, Germany. Despite his German upbringing, Carlos is a Spanish lyric singer and very proud of it. He was able to release his first album in Germany at the young age of eight years old. The album is titled "The Little Caruso" and featured a song which Marin sang in front of a 700-person audience. Talking about his passion for singing, Marin said:

"Singing is my way of saying what I feel, my way of life. Sometimes when I throw a melody to the audience I feel sad remembering how my father, who unfortunately is no longer with me, liked that song, or melancholy because as time goes by, or joy … the same joy I felt as a child when I sang it for the first time. Singing is what makes me feel alive, so thank you for letting me continue making a living from what I love."

The last to join in along with Marin is tenor Urs Buhler. Buhler was born on July 19th, 1971 in Willisau, Lucerne, Switzerland. Buhler also began singing at a young age, having even been the lead singer of his own metal band, "Conspiracy" when he was just 17 years old. Eventually, he studied voice at the Sweelinck Conservatorium and was performing with the Netherlands Opera Gezelschap before he was swooped up by Simon to join Il Divo. According to an interview with UK Music Reviews, Buhler enjoys riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle. When asked if the record company would be worried about the risk of him riding, he answered:

"(Hysterical laughter) no they are not actually Kevin, because I have been riding since I was eighteen, well actually before that but don’t tell anyone (laughter)."

Although this group of four men is singing a song popularized by women their version worked a treat, especially due to the classical crossover style of Il Divo. People loved it so much that the video has amassed over 9 million views. This is just one of their spectacular performances. Since the release of their debut album, the self-titled "Il Divo," in 2004, the musicians have been global superstars. They have since covered many more classic hits as well as collaborated with world-famous singers on new music. Classic.fm reported that they've had more than 25 million album sales, 150 gold and platinum discs, and have the only crossover classical album to reach the US Billboard No. 1 spot. That's quite an accolade!

What did you think of this performance? Send this story to anyone you know who wants to be inspired by Il Divo's majestic voices.