In the episode, which airs Feb. 14 at 8 PM, Amber Riley (Mercedes Jones) covers "I Will Always Love You." The song, originally written by Grammy winner Dolly Parton, garnered Houston two awards at the 36th Annual Grammy Awards in 1993, including Record Of The Year.
"Purely coincidentally, the episode contains Mercedes (Riley) singing 'I Will Always Love You,' the Dolly Parton song Houston made famous in 'The Bodyguard'," producers of the show told E! "The producers have decided to dedicate the episode to Houston's memory with a card in the end credits."
As previously reported, Houston died Feb. 11, the evening before the Grammy Awards. Riley met the iconic singer two days before her death on Feb. 9 at Kelly Price’s pre-Grammy party. "I went over, and I thanked her for letting us use her music and entrusting it with us on 'Glee'," said Riley.
"['I Will Always Love You' is] a song that's close to my heart and is very challenging vocally," said Riley. "[Ryan Murphy] said that he wanted it in this Valentine's Day episode and I went for it. It's very, I guess, befitting that we are doing it this Tuesday. We were celebrating her in life when we recorded it, and, now that she's died, we are celebrating her passing and her legacy."
Here's how Fox describes the upcoming "Glee" episode: "In honor of Valentine's Day, Will (Matthew Morrison) challenges the New Directions to find and perform the world's greatest love songs. Meanwhile, Rachel's (Lea Michele) two dads Hiram (Jeff Goldblum) and LeRoy Berry (Brian Stokes Mitchell) pay a visit to McKinley High." "Glee" airs Tuesday nights on Fox at 8 PM ET.
Listen to the audio of "I Will Always Love You":