Miley Cyrus is opening up about her last conversation with her godmother, Dolly Parton.
In an Apple Music interview
published on Thursday, Sept. 17, the "Flowers" singer, 33, shared that the "Queen of Country," who died on Aug. 25 after a brief battle with cancer, was the first person Cyrus would send her vinyl records to when they were printed. Their last conversation was Cyrus showing Parton her 10th album "Bass Persuades," which drops on Sept. 18."I'm just trying to keep myself together, but the time that we talked, which was the last time we would talk, it was actually me telling her about this record because even though we are so different, that's what made us so perfect for each other," she told interviewer Zane Lowe.
Cyrus said that while
Parton is known for "the fake, the hair, the makeup, and the show of it," many people gravitated toward her undeniable authenticity. She explained how much wisdom she's taken from the "Jolene" singer during their time on the Disney Channel show "Hannah Montana."
"And there was a time in my life, we hit on it with 'Hannah,' so much of my life was about persona. And I think a way that I could look at that as you can have a persona and still be who you are is because I had Dolly," Cyrus said. "Sometimes I call what I do drag because the way that I present myself is just someone that is so different from the person that feeds the tortoise every morning. But again, that person's inside of me. I just kind of have her off."
Miley Cyrus says Dolly Parton told her not to cry on stage
Cyrus also recalled a time when Parton gave her some tough-love advice after crying during her June 2024 performance of "End of the World" on David Letterman's Netflix series "My Next Guest Needs No Introduction."
"I can't help it. 'End of the World,' I start crying and she watched me on Letterman and was like, ‘What are you crying about?’ Like, that song's about the world ending and me never seeing my mom again," she said.
Lowe replied :"Like, be professional."
"That's pretty much what she said. She was like, 'Music is escapism. Let them cry. You need to get through it.' And I was like, I know, but this is who I am, and she loved me for it," she added.
Lowe applauded Parton for probably being the only person who could sing "I Will Always Love You" without crying.
"And not weep. I can't. I cried singing 'I Will Always Love You' with her, but I think she knew at that time that the reason I was crying is the reason that I cry now, which is because so many of my really stabilizing peers that I have in my life [are from] generations before me," Cyrus said. "And they've laid down, brick-by-brick, the road that I travel now. And they aren't always going to be here for me to call them and say, 'What do I do now?' Which I always did with Dolly."
Cyrus continued: "And she was always right. It's like how your mom's like always right, and when you're a kid, you're like, what does she know? And then as you get older, you're like, everything. How? Where did this come from? You're just a normal person. Why do you know everything? Dolly was just always right about stuff."
Miley Cyrus says Dolly Parton persuaded her to perform at the Grammys
Cyrus also shared Parton previously encouraged her to perform at the Grammys.
"I go to Nashville and I go to see Dolly and like it's very interesting because she wanted to pick me up, which never happens," she said. "And she's telling me why I gotta do the Grammys. And I'm like, I can't. Like, you know what happened? I feel like I'm still in this rest and recovery mode."
Parton told her to "get your hair teased and get a dress that you love and like you're gonna forget for that moment and you're gonna step into your Hannah Montana, your Dolly Parton," according to Cyrus. "Like you have that part of yourself. Like you have that other thing. It's what the military uses, it's what the best athletes use," she continued.
Cyrus first performed at the Grammys in 2009, singing "Fifteen" with Taylor Swift. She returned in 2018, performing alongside Elton John and in 2019, alongside Parton. In 2024, she sang her track "Flowers" moments after winning record of the year, her first Grammy ever.
Following her godmother's death, Cyrus shared a tribute with a throwback Instagram photo of the music trailblazer, writing "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."
"What I KNOW is Dolly would want me to feel it, write a song about it, and then continue on and be strong," she wrote in the caption. "I have an angel by my side. I always have. One of our last conversations was about music and metamorphosis. I will always love her and want to make her proud."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Miley Cyrus reveals her final conversation with godmother Dolly Parton
