Key Takeaways
- Miley Cyrus honored her late godmother Dolly Parton at the Hollywood Bowl with an emotional performance of “Jolene,” declaring, “Me and Dolly, we are eternal.”
- Cyrus also performed “Wrecking Ball”—Parton’s favorite song from her catalog—while holding a framed photo of the country icon.
- Their decades-long bond grew from Parton’s friendship with Billy Ray Cyrus and continued through Hannah Montana appearances and collaborations including Parton’s 2023 “Wrecking Ball” remake.
Miley Cyrus brought Dolly Parton back to the Hollywood Bowl in the most fitting way: with a story, tears, and the opening notes of “Jolene.”
During her Friday, Oct. 16 concert, Cyrus paused to remember her late godmother, who died Aug. 25 at 80. According to People, as her band prepared to launch into Parton’s signature hit, an emotional Cyrus told the crowd that she had only ever watched “Aunt Dolly” perform live at the Hollywood Bowl.
Cyrus recalled declining Parton’s invitation to join her onstage that night because she wanted to experience the concert from the audience, just as Parton’s fans seemed to accept the answer—then opened her show with “The Best of Both Worlds,” the theme song from Cyrus’ Disney Channel series Hannah Montana, before telling the crowd that her goddaughter was sitting among them.
“Like so many things Dolly did, I didn’t understand it at the time,” Cyrus said. “Sitting here with you all right now, feeling her all around me, knowing that she’s right here beside me every day, all the time, more than she could be when she was here—I feel her now more than ever.”
Through tears, Cyrus called the memory “gold” and described her connection with Parton as something death could not touch.
“Me and Dolly, we are eternal. Nothing in this life could tear us apart,” she said. “And I’m gonna see her again. I can’t f*cking wait because I miss her. Some of the greatest music that we have today was written, produced, and performed by my Aunt Dolly.”
Cyrus then cut the emotion with a joke only she could land. Midway through “Jolene,” she admitted Parton probably would not have approved of her language.
“I’m feeling bad that she heard me say the F-word,” Cyrus said. “I can hear her telling me, ‘You said that when I was here.’”
Parton stayed for the rest of the show later that night, when Cyrus performed “Wrecking Ball” while holding her photograph in a heart-shaped frame. Cyrus told the crowd that the 2013 ballad was Parton’s favorite song from her catalog, “so I had to bring her with me.”
Their bond began before Cyrus could remember it. Parton and Billy Ray Cyrus grew close after touring together in the 1990s, and he and Tish Cyrus later asked her to be Miley’s godmother.
Parton eventually played an exaggerated version of that role across three episodes of Hannah Montana.
The two continued collaborating long after the series ended. They recorded “Wrecking Ball” for Parton’s 2023 album Rockstar and reunited in January for a charity remake of “Light of a Clear Blue Morning” alongside Queen Latifah, Reba McEntire and Lainey Wilson.
