Vin Diesel is among the latest celebrities to publicly mourn Dolly Parton, sharing a surprisingly earnest, mostly a cappella cover of her signature song I Will Always Love You on social media this week.
The clip, posted over a black-and-white photo of a young Parton, begins with Diesel singing unaccompanied before a light instrumental gradually builds in, and he layers his own voice in harmony by the chorus.
He captioned the post with only a single praying-hands emoji, letting the performance speak for itself.
At one point, his voice audibly cracks on the word “please” during the line “goodbye, please don’t cry.”
The tribute has drawn a mixed but largely amused reaction online, with commentary split between genuine appreciation and gentle bewilderment at the seriousness of the delivery.
One fan commented, “Thank you Vin,” while another took a jab, “Vin Diesel really taking advantage of his free will.”
It’s not the first time Diesel has surprised the internet with an unexpectedly sincere musical moment, in 2013, he went viral for a similarly earnest, out-of-focus cover of Rihanna’s Stay, which he later said was intended as a tribute to his longtime partner.
