Whitney Houston ballad ‘I Will Always Love You’ is the most ‘romantic song ever’

Whitney Houston’s record-breaking ballad ‘I will always love you’ has been  hailed as the most romantic song ever recorded.

The track, which was released by Whitney for the movie Bodyguard in 1992 after originally being recorded by Dolly Parton in 1974, became the biggest ever selling female vocal record.

It also became Whitney’s signature song and was played at her funeral in February last year and performed as a tribute by Jennifer Hudson at the 54th Grammy Awards just days after the star’s death.

The song beat other classics such as Unchained melody by the Righteous Brothers,  (Everything I Do), I Do It For You, by Bryan Adams, and Eric Clapton’s Wonderful Tonight to claim top spot in the poll.

Antonia Hurford-Jones of Sky Living HD, which commissioned the survey to mark the launch of all new Sing Date on Tuesdays, said: ”Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You is a timeless classic we Brits never seem to tire of.”

”This research shows that music really is the food of love!  When it comes to romancing your loved one, there is nothing more popular than a good classic love song.”

‘Unchained Melody’ took second place in the poll of 2,000 adults, closely followed by (Everything I Do), I Do It For You’.

Eric Clapton’s ‘Wonderful tonight’ was fourth, while “Angels” by Robbie Williams took fifth. Interestingly, only one track in the top ten has been released in the past 15 years.

The study of 2,000 adults revealed more traditional love songs feature highly in the top 50, while modern songs by the likes of One Direction, Rihanna and Ed Sheeran failed to make the list altogether.

Oldies such as Frank Sinatra’s ‘The way you look tonight’ and Nat King Cole’s ‘Unforgettable’ remain as popular today as they did in the Fifties and Sixties.

Other classic romantic songs loved by Brits include ‘The power of love’ by Celine Dion, ‘What a wonderful world’ by Louis Armstrong and ‘I don’t want to miss a thing’ by Aerosmith.

Other artists to have songs included in the top 50 list of romantic songs are Elvis Presley, James Blunt, John Lennon and Elton John.

To back up the top 50 list, seven in ten Brits believe modern artists struggle to produce romantic songs as those by Whitney Houston and Barry White.

And despite the huge following boy bands such as One Direction command, only 28 per cent of people like their ‘love songs’.

One in five of us would feel confident enough to serenade a partner with a ‘special song’.

By contrast, just under half of those polled would actually quite like it if a partner serenaded them .

But the songs would most like to be serenaded-with were Bonnie Tyler’s ‘Total eclipse of the heart’ or Lionel Richie’s ‘Hello’.

* Sing Date returns to Sky Living on Tuesday 26th February at 8:30pm.

TOP 50 ROMANTIC SONGS
1.      I will always love you, Whitney Houston
2.      Unchained melody, Righteous Brothers
3.      (Everything I do), I do it for you, Bryan Adams
4.      Wonderful tonight, Eric Clapton
5.      Angels, Robbie Williams
6.      The power of love, Celine Dion
7.      What a wonderful world, Louis Armstrong
8.      I don’t want to miss a thing, Aerosmith
9.      Someone like you, Adele
10.     Nothing compares to you, Sinead O’Connor
11.     Love me tender, Elvis Presley
12.     You’re beautiful, James Blunt
13.     Imagine, John Lennon
14.     How deep is your love, BeeGees
15.     Your song, Elton John
16.     Eternal flame, The Bangles
17.     Can you feel the love tonight, Elton John
18.     My first, my last, my everything, Barry White
19.     The way you look tonight, Tony Bennett
20.     Unforgettable, Nat King Cole
21.     A million love songs, Take That
22.     I’d do anything for love (but I won’t do that), Meat Loaf
23.     My love will go on, Celine Dion
24.     With or without you, U2
25.     Kiss from a rose, Seal
26.     When you say nothing at all, Ronan Keating
27.     You are the sunshine of my life, Stevie Wonder
28.     Chasing cars, Snow Patrol
29.     The way you look tonight, Frank Sinatra
30.     I got you baby, Sonny & Cher
31.     Songbird, Fleetwood Mac
32.     The power of love, Frankie Goes to Hollywood
33.     I’ll stand by you, The Pretenders
34.     Truly, madly, deeply, Savage Garden
35.     Fly me to the moon, Frank Sinatra
36.     Just the way you are, Bruno Mars
37.     Stay, Shakespears Sister
38.     Time after time, Cyndi Lauper
39.     At Last, Etta James
40.     You are not alone, Michael Jackson
41.     She, Elvis Costello
42.     It must be love, Madness
43.     Your song, Ellie Goulding
44.     Un-break my heart, Toni Braxton
45.     As long as you love me, Backstreet Boys
46.     Sweet dreams, Eurythmics
47.     Haven’t met you yet, Michael Buble
48.     It had to be you, Harry Connick Jnr
49.     Bleeding love, Leona Lewis
50.     Wouldn’t it be nice, Beach Boys