Miley Cyrus got candid about her special relationship with her godmother Dolly Parton.
The 31-year-old pop superstar recalled how the country music legend, 78, guided her in the right direction ahead of the 2024 Grammys, where she performed her smash hit Flowers.
‘[Dolly] isn’t afraid to have the tough conversations,’ Miley began during a recent appearance on My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman.
‘A tough conversation I had with her: I told her, “I’m wondering if I’m going to do the Grammys or not,”‘ she continued. ‘And she said, “Well of course you’re going to do the Grammys, and you’re not just going to show up but you’re going to show off. And you’re going to be everything that you are sitting right here in front of me.”‘
Miley would go on to deliver an unforgettable performance of the song at the star-studded event, ultimately winning two awards: Best Pop Solo Performance and Record of the Year.
Miley Cyrus got candid about her special relationship with her godmother Dolly Parton; (pictured 2019)
The 31-year-old pop superstar recalled how the country music legend, 78, guided her in the right direction ahead of the 2024 Grammys (pictured)
Dolly also imparted some sage advice about Miley’s appearance for the show.
‘And she said, ‘And don’t forget about the beauty. The hair, the makeup, the whole show. It’s armor for us,” Miley said of Dolly.
‘She’s always said this to me: ‘You do you, and I’ll do me, and together we’ll be us.’
‘So she wasn’t telling me to be Dolly, she wasn’t telling me to be fabulous and hide behind the sparkles and the hair. She was telling me to be me.’
‘I don’t remember our first meeting, I was so young,’ Miley said on My Next Guest. ‘My dad and her worked together in the ’90s. They had music together and I think my dad even toured with her.’
The star said she struggled to differentiate herself from her character, Hannah Montana, during that time.
‘Parts of me are that character, including a little bit of my relationship with Dolly,’ said Miley.
‘[Dolly] isn’t afraid to have the tough conversations,’ Miley began during a recent appearance on My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman; (pictured 2023)
‘ A tough conversation I had with her: I told her, ‘I’m wondering if I’m going to do the Grammys or not.’, she continued. ‘And she said, ‘Well of course you’re going to do the Grammys’; (pictured 2019)
Miley would go on to deliver an unforgettable performance of the song at the star-studded event
She won two awards for Flowers that night: Best Pop Solo Performance and Record of the Year
‘I mean, Hannah Montana is famous for wearing a blonde wig and kind of having this other persona that she can turn off and be a regular girl by day and have this superstar life at night,’ she continued.‘I realize that’s something that Dolly has been doing pretty much her entire life.’
‘Now, she’s always in the wig and she’s always in the Dolly,’ added the singer. ‘It’s not about the external performance of her creating the character.’
The Last Song actress was then asked to share something surprising about Dolly, who owns her own theme park in Tennessee called Dollywood.
‘She really eats Dollywood food often — like, if she asks me what I want for lunch, it’s [from the theme park].’
Back in 2009, Dolly opened up about her bond with the star.
‘I’ve known her since she was a baby,’she told GMA. ‘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.’
Miley and Dolly first met when the Jolene singer popped up as a guest star on a first season episode of Hannah Montana in 2006, playing Aunt Dolly
‘I don’t remember our first meeting, I was so young,’ Miley said on My Next Guest, adding, ‘My dad and her worked together in the ’90s. They had music together and I think my dad even toured with her’
‘The kids love her because she’s Hannah Montana, but what people don’t realize about her is she is such a fantastic singer and songwriter,’ Parton told AOL Music back in 2008, per Biography
Their mutual admiration went beyond the TV show, with the godmother having complete confidence in the teen’s future from the start.
‘The kids love her because she’s Hannah Montana, but what people don’t realize about her is she is such a fantastic singer and songwriter,’ Parton told AOL Music back in 2008, per Biography.
‘She writes songs like she’s 40 years old! She’s really deep.’
Dolly added: ‘I think she’s gonna have a big career after that show is off the air. 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.’
