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Miley Cyrus has paid tribute to her godmother, the late country music legend Dolly Parton, in an emotional message posted to Instagram.
“The feeling of losing my Aunt Dolly is beyond what feels right to share. Our most
sacred moments were private and they’ll stay there behind the stage, beneath the glamour & between our hearts,” Cyrus wrote. “What I KNOW is Dolly would want me to feel it, write a song about it, and then continue on and be strong. I have an angel by my side. I always have. One of our last conversations was about music and metamorphosis.”
Cyrus concluded, “I will always love her and want to make her proud. My heart breaks for the world, her family and friends who will miss her deeply. We’re in this loss together and we will see her in all of the most beautiful things.”
Parton had been a part of Cyrus’ life since she was a baby. Cyrus’ dad, “Achy Breaky Heart” rocker Billy Ray Cyrus, toured with Parton in the 1990s and asked the “Jolene” singer if she would be his daughter’s godmother before she was even born.
Cyrus’ relationship with Parton deepened on the set of “Hannah Montana,” on which Parton played Miley Stewart’s Aunt Dolly. “My favorite episodes are the ones with Dolly. That’s how her and I became as close as we are,” Cyrus told Variety during her March 2026 cover interview.
In fact, Cyrus’ rollout of the “Hannah Montana” 20th anniversary special was inspired by Parton’s advice. “I learned this terrible habit — but I actually think it was good advice — from Dolly,” Cyrus told Variety. “She told me that if you want something to happen, promote it before it exists. Then no one can say no. So I just started promoting a ‘Hannah Montana’ 20th-anniversary special that literally did not exist.”
In a statement sent to Variety in March, Parton congratulated Cyrus on the anniversary special. “When Miley told me she was doing [the anniversary special], I jumped up and down and thought what a brilliant idea. I am so proud of her. We all love Hannah Montana and we all love Miley so how can it miss? Congratulations girl. I love you, Aunt Dolly,” she wrote.
When Cyrus flipped her Disney Channel image on its head during her late-teen years, generating tabloid headlines over drug use and scandalous performances, Parton publicly stood by her. “If I didn’t know how smart and talented Miley is, I might worry about her. But I’ve watched her grow up. So I don’t,” Parton wrote in 2014 for Time magazine. “She knows what she’s doing. She was very proud of the work she did as Hannah Montana, but people were gonna leave her there forever.”
As Cyrus got older, Parton continued to be a close mentor as well as artistic collaborator. The two performed “Jolene” together many times over the years, including on “The Voice,” at the 2019 Grammys and at “Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party” in 2022. The duo also co-wrote the song “Rainbowland” on Cyrus’ 2017 album “Younger Now,” and they duetted on Parton’s 2020 Christmas album.
