The country singer shared a touching tribute to his longtime friend, recalling their decades of friendship and a recent message she sent him
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NEED TO KNOW
- Billy Ray Cyrus remembered his decades-long friendship with Dolly Parton following her death
- He recalled a 1992 tabloid rumor that Parton dismissed with a joke
- Cyrus said Parton recently told him she loved him “with her whole heart”
Billy Ray Cyrus is remembering Dolly Parton as a longtime friend whose humor, warmth and affection stayed with him through decades of friendship.
Following Parton’s death at 80 on Tuesday, Aug. 25, Cyrus shared a tribute to the country singer in an Instagram post, recalling their friendship, the memories they made together and a message Parton recently sent him.
“I have so many moments and memories with Dolly, it’s hard to know where to start,” Cyrus wrote. “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.”
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Cyrus then recalled one of his earliest memorable encounters with Parton, in 1992, when he went to her dressing room after tabloid reports claimed the two were having an affair.
“In 1992, I’ll never forget walking into her dressing room to apologize for all the tabloid stories which claimed I was having an affair with her,” he wrote. “In true Dolly fashion, she just looked at me, winked and said, ‘Honey, this trash sells records!’”
Cyrus ended his tribute by sharing that Parton had recently reached out to him with a message of her own.
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“Dolly recently sent me a beautiful message, telling me she loved me with her whole heart,” he wrote. “I will always love her in the same way ….. with my whole heart … and I always will.”
The friendship Cyrus described in his tribute began more than three decades ago. Parton and Cyrus became close after touring together in the early 1990s, when Cyrus was promoting “Achy Breaky Heart.”
Parton later recalled their time on the road during an appearance on SiriusXM’s The Howard Stern Show.
“When Billy had the big song, ‘Achy Breaky Heart,’ well, we toured together. I was on tour and then Billy toured with me and so that’s how we just got to be good friends, because he’s a Kentucky boy, I’m from Tennessee,” Parton said.
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Their friendship eventually extended to Cyrus’ family. After his daughter Miley was born in 1992, Cyrus asked Parton to be her godmother.
“He said… ‘We’re having a girl, and you’ve got to be her godmother!’ And I said, ‘Well, I’d be honored,’” Parton recalled. “So actually, Miley and I took over from there. We’ve just stayed very, very close through the years… I love Miley. She’s my little sweetheart. I’ve known her since before she was born, actually.”
In 2024, the family connection turned out to be more literal than either of them had known. Ancestry revealed that Parton and Miley Cyrus are seventh cousins, once removed, sharing a common ancestor, John Brickey, who was born in Virginia in 1740.
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Parton learned of the connection during an interview with Access Hollywood while promoting her cookbook Good Lookin’ Cookin’. She was visibly surprised by the news.
“Is that true? That’s amazing!” Parton said.
She then joked about the distant relationship.
“Well, we’re so close, Miley and I. I would’ve thought we would’ve been at least third cousins, 10 times removed,” she said.
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Parton said the discovery made sense to her given how she already viewed Miley.
“I’m sure she’ll get a kick out of that, but it doesn’t surprise me because she does feel like family,” she said.
Parton’s connection with Miley also extended into her career. She appeared as Aunt Dolly in three episodes of Hannah Montana between 2006 and 2010, and the two later collaborated on a new version of Miley’s 2013 song “Wrecking Ball,” which appeared on Parton’s album Rockstar.
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