Miley Cyrus mourned the loss of her godmother and mentor Dolly Parton, who died Tuesday at the age of 80, writing in an Instagram post the following morning that “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,” she 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 her emotional post: “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. 💖”
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Cyrus has extremely close familial and creative ties to Parton, who had been part of the younger star’s life since she was born.
“I’ve known her since she was a baby,” Parton told Good Morning America in 2009. “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.’ 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.”
In a post of his own on Tuesday, after news of Parton’s death broke, the Cyrus patriarch honored Parton: “Like every little boy, I grew up loving Dolly Parton. She was a part of our lives, on our TV’s, right in our living rooms,” he wrote, adding: “Dolly recently sent me a beautiful message, telling me she loved me with her whole heart. I will always love her in the same way ….. with my whole heart … and I always will.”
Parton also played Cyrus’ on-screen godmother, occasionally appearing on Hannah Montana across its four seasons.
They have taken to stage and screen together at various points over the years since. In 2022, the pair co-hosted NBC’s Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party from Miami, Florida, featuring joint performances of some of their hits including “Wrecking Ball” and “I Will Always Love You.”
Cyrus and Parton also collaborated musically several times. Cyrus joined Parton in 2010 at the 25th anniversary of Dollywood to sing “Jolene” — a song she has performed many times over since then. They performed it again together in 2019 at the Grammy Awards. Cyrus also co-wrote a track on her 2017 album Younger Now with Parton, titled “Rainbowland,” and the elder singer recruited her goddaughter to appear on her A Holly Dolly Christmas album in 2020.
