Miley Cyrus Pays Tribute to Godmother Dolly Parton Following Her Death

Miley Cyrus is paying tribute to her “Aunt Dolly” Parton following the country music icon’s death on Tuesday at 80.

Sharing a black and white photo of Parton set to their duet of Cyrus’ hit song “Wrecking Ball,” Cyrus penned an emotional Instagram tribute, promising her honorary godmother that she would keep their “most sacred moments” private.

“What I KNOW is Dolly would want me to feel it, write a song about it, and then continue on and be strong,” Cyrus continued. “I have an angel by my side. I always have. One of our last conversations was about music and metamorphosis.”

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“I will always love her and want to make her proud,” she wrote. “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.”

Cyrus has close familial and creative ties to Parton, who had been part of her life since she was born. Parton told Good Morning America in 2009 that she had known Cyrus “since she was a baby” and explained that her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, asked Parton to be her godmother.

“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.”

Billy Ray Cyrus also paid tribute to Parton when news of her death broke. “Like every little boy, I grew up loving Dolly Parton. She was part of our lives, on our TV’s, right in our living rooms,” he wrote on Instagram. “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 played Miley’s on-screen godmother as well, appearing occasionally on Hannah Montana. The two co-hosted NBC’s Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party from Miami in 2022, performing duets of some of their respective hits including “Wrecking Ball” and “I Will Always Love You.”

That wasn’t their only musical collaboration; Miley joined Parton in 2010 at the 25th anniversary of Dollywood to sing “Jolene,” which they sang together in 2019 at the Grammy Awards. Parton co-wrote “Rainbowland,” a song on Miley’s 2017 album Younger Now. Parton also recruited Miley to appear on her A Holly Dolly Christmas album in 2020.

Parton died at the age of 80 on Tuesday after a “brief battle with cancer,” her representatives confirmed on Tuesday. She is preceded in death by her beloved husband of 59 years Carl Thomas Dean (1942 – 2025), her mother Avie Lee Caroline Owens (1923 – 2003), and father, Robert Lee Parton, Sr. (1921 – 2000).