‘Glee’ to dedicate Valentine's Day episode to Whitney Houston (Video)

Although the Valentine’s Day episode of Fox’s Glee was filmed long before Whitney Houston’s sudden death on Saturday, the show will still dedicate the episode to Houston. Coincidentally, the episode will feature a member of the cast singing “I Will Always Love You,” the song that was a huge hit for Houston in the early 1990s.

20th Century Fox Television sent a statement to E! News confirming that the episode would be dedicated to Houston. “Purely coincidentally, the episode contains Mercedes (Amber Riley) singing 'I Will Always Love You,' the Dolly Parton song Houston made famous in The Bodyguard. The producers have decided to dedicate the episode to Houston's memory with a card in the end credits,” the studio said in the statement.

The music supervisor for Glee, P.J. Bloom, spoke to The Hollywood Reporter before it was confirmed that Fox will be able to pay tribute to Houston. “We chose to do the song and [Glee co-creator] Ryan Murphy chose to do the song to honor one of the great hits of all time. Obviously we could not predict the unfortunately circumstances that happened this weekend but at the same time instead of focusing on the dark stuff, it's nice to have an opportunity to hear her in this way and celebrate the magic that Whitney brought to this industry,” Bloom said.

The Hollywood Reporter also asked Bloom if a Houston-themed episode could happen, much like the Michael Jackson-themed episode that aired last month. “We'll see,” he said, acknowledging that he sent Murphy a text telling him that they should do something when he heard about her death.

According to Entertainmentwise, Fox’s other hit show, American Idol, will also pay tribute to Houston at some point. Host Ryan Seacrest said during his E! News coverage of the Grammys that he spoke with Idol producers about doing something. “We are trying to figure out how we can go in and obviously pay tribute [to Houston] in some way and acknowledge the impact that she had on popular singers, popular music and young singers that are trying to make it. So we'll see,” Seacrest said.

Glee’s Valentine’s Day episode, titled “Heart,” airs Tuesday at 8 p.m. You can hear Amber Riley’s cover of “I Will Always Love You” below: