Dolly Parton has opened up about her relationship with her goddaughter Miley Cyrus in a new interview, and we love the musicians’ sweet friendship! Joining TalkShopLive, the Jolene singer joined Nancy O’Dell to discuss her new album Rockstar and her memoir, Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones - revealing that she relied on Miley for help with costumes.
Chatting about making the album, she explained: "I called [Miley], ‘get your butt down here.’ She had no choice. But we did Wrecking Ball. I’d always wanted to do that on my album. I love that song and I love Miley so I had to have her on my record."
She discussed her album cover costume and how Miley helped with it, continuing: "That’s an outfit that Steve Summers did. He does so many of my clothes. He did all the clothes for my rock photo shoot. We talked about making it cool and having a rock vibe and getting a little risqué as much as I’m comfortable with. And I didn’t go as far as Miley might have but if I had her body I might have. Miley was very helpful.
"She’s the one who suggested the photographer who did all of these wonderful photos. Also, when we did Wrecking Ball, the mashup with I Will Always Love You. Miley and I are very close. We talk about the music. She calls me every time she hears one of the new [songs]. She was going to come down and listen to the whole album with me and we still might do that at some point.
"Cuz it doesn’t come out for a while. Miley’s always sending me good thoughts and good people. Finding pictures that she thinks I’d look good in an outfit and sends them to Steve and says ‘Make this for Aunt Dolly!’"
The pair previously performed together at Miley Cyrus’ New Year’s Eve Party Special in 2022, and the Angels Like You singer revealed how Dolly stopped her from dying her hair.
Chatting on The Today Show, she said: "I’ve never seen Dolly actually scared before. But I told her, 'At the end of the year I think I wanna do something different, I think I might dye my hair brunette.' She acted like I’d told her the worst news you could imagine. She clutched her pearls, gasped and said, 'You can’t do that, you ARE me!' So I’m somehow some extension of Dolly Parton, so I will be blonde."
Dolly is Miley’s godmother after becoming close friends with her father, Billy Ray Cyrus. She told Sirius XM’s Just Jenny show: "He opened some of my shows. We just got to know each other. I wrote a song called Romeo, and had him in a video. We just kind of gelled, ’cause we’re both country kids. We had a lot of fun just talking about that. And then when Miley came along, I said, ‘She’s got to be my fairy goddaughter.’"