Miley Cyrus has broken her silence on the death of her godmother, Dolly Parton.
The 33-year-old singer took to Instagram on Wednesday to share an emotional tribute after Parton died Tuesday in Nashville following a brief battle with cancer. The country icon, 80, passed away at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center surrounded by loved ones, her family confirmed.
Cyrus, who had known Parton since birth, wrote that the loss felt too profound for public display. “The feeling of losing my Aunt Dolly is beyond what feels right to share,” she posted on Instagram. “Our most sacred moments were private and they’ll stay there behind the stage, beneath the glamour & between our hearts.”
She continued, turning to what she believed her godmother would want from her in grief. “What I KNOW is Dolly would want me to feel it, write a song about it, and then continue on and be strong,” Cyrus wrote. “I have an angel by my side. I always have. One of our last conversations was about music and metamorphosis.”
The “Flowers” singer pledged to honor Parton’s legacy through her own work moving forward. “I will always love her and want to make her proud,” she added in her Instagram post. “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.”
Parton had long treated Cyrus as the daughter she never had, a bond that began the day Cyrus was born. Speaking with Good Morning America in 2009, Parton recalled how the arrangement came together informally but meaningfully. “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’,” Parton said. “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.”
That maternal pride extended to professional advocacy even before Cyrus established herself beyond her Disney Channel roots. Speaking to AOL Music in 2008, Parton predicted major success for her goddaughter once Hannah Montana ended. “I think she’s gonna have a big career after that show is off the air,” Parton said. “I know I’m partial, because she’s my goddaughter. But I’m amazed at the talent that child has and the effect she has on people.”
She doubled down on the comparison, adding: “That little Miley Cyrus… She’s like a little Elvis.”
When Cyrus faced backlash for shedding her Disney image, Parton consistently defended her choices. Speaking with The Sun, the “9 to 5” singer recounted a pivotal conversation where Cyrus explained her need for transformation. “People didn’t want her to grow up-they got mad at her,” Parton said. “One day she’d had enough and told me, ‘I need to murder Hannah Montana in order for people to accept who I really am’.”
Parton continued championing Cyrus even as the younger singer made increasingly provocative artistic choices. When Cyrus landed on the Time 100 list in 2014, Parton wrote in her tribute that the criticism missed the point. “She knows what she’s doing,” Parton said. “She was very proud of the work she did as Hannah Montana, but people were gonna leave her there forever.”
She added her signature blend of support and hands-off respect: “The girl can sing. The girl is smart. And she doesn’t have to be so drastic – But I will respect her choices. I did it my way, so why can’t she do it her way?”
In the viral moment that defined their bond for millions, Parton made numerous cameos as “Aunt Dolly” on Hannah Montana during Cyrus’s Disney years, blurring the lines between their fictional and real relationship. The pair also collaborated on performances and public appearances throughout Cyrus’s career, with Parton frequently joining her goddaughter onstage for duets that showcased their shared country roots.
Their final conversation, as Cyrus revealed in her Instagram tribute, centered on creative evolution itself—themes of “music and metamorphosis” that had defined both women’s careers across generations.
Parton’s death marks the end of an era in American entertainment, but Cyrus’s tribute suggests the influence will persist through the music yet to come.