Why Dolly Parton was Miley Cyrus’ godmother as late singer's sweet nickname revealed
Dolly Parton was more than the world’s most beloved country music icon; she was also the godmother to Miley Cyrus.
The "9 to 5” star, who passed away on Tuesday aged 80, has known Miley, now 33, since she was a baby. The future actress and musician’s father, country singer Billy Ray Cyrus, was good friends with Parton and asked her to be his newborn daughter’s godmother.
Parton and Cyrus, now 65, met in 1992 when the “Achy Breaky Heart” hitmaker toured with her following the success of the song.
“We just got to be good friends,” Parton shared on the Howard Stern Show in 2024. “He’s a Kentucky boy. I’m from Tennessee.”
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The “I Will Always Love You” singer further shared how she and the future Hannah Montana star, who was born on November 23, 1992, had stayed 'very, very close through the years'.
In 2009, the 11-time Grammy winner recalled the moment Billy Ray Cyrus asked her to be Miley’s godmother.
“I’ve known her since she was a baby,” she told Good Morning America. “Her father’s a friend of mine. And when she was born, he said, ‘You just have to be her godmother,’ and I said, ‘I accept.’”
She continued: “We never did do a big ceremony, but I’m so proud of her, love her and she’s just like one of my own.”
Miley Cyrus began starring in the iconic Disney Channel show Hannah Montana as the titular pop star in 2006, with the series also starring Billy Ray Cyrus as her on-screen dad.
Fans will recall that this wasn’t the only real-life family connection to get the TV treatment, as Dolly Parton played Aunt Dolly on the show, starting with the season one episode “Good Golly, Miss Dolly,” which aired almost 20 years ago, in September 2006.
Miley Cyrus has affectionately referred to her godmother, Dolly Parton, simply as 'Aunt Dolly.'
Miley Stewart on the show goes to Aunt Dolly as her go-to person for questions about music, and this isn’t too far from the connection they had in real life.
During the same interview with Stern, Parton was asked if Cyrus ever came to her for career advice.
“Well, she’s asked me a lot of things, and she mostly just runs things by me. And we talk. She’s very successful. Miley is very smart. She’s very intuitive about the business, and I just think Miley is a spectacular human being and an amazing talent.”
On Hannah Montana, Cyrus and Parton sang a duet version of the soundtrack song “True Friend.”
The two women collaborated several times over the years, including on Parton’s 2023 album Rockstar, with Parton covering Cyrus’ 2013 hit “Wrecking Ball” for the album.
“I just felt honored,” she said. “I love that song, and I love Miley, and when I started to choose all these people for my record, or songs that I wanted to do, I thought, ‘I have to have Miley.’”
The country duo also worked together on Cyrus’ 2017 track “Rainbowland” from her album Younger Now, while Cyrus sang a rendition of “Jolene” in 2012.
Topics: Celebrity, Music, Miley Cyrus
Greg Harris