Cyrus shares that their last chat centered on the record that eventually became “Bass Persuades,” and she has subsequently paid tribute to Parton live at the Hollywood Bowl.
Miley Cyrus has revealed that her final conversation with her godmother, Dolly Parton, was about the music that became her 10th studio album, “Bass Persuades.” Cyrus said she had been sharing the new record with the country star shortly before Parton’s death in August.
Cyrus discussed the conversation with Zane Lowe in an Apple Music interview released on Sept. 17, the day before the album came out. Recalling their last exchange, she said “it was actually me telling her about this record.” Since then, Cyrus has turned her grief into a recurring part of her public appearances, most visibly at her October concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.
A final conversation about new music
In the interview, recorded at Apple Music’s Los Angeles studio, Cyrus explained that Parton had always been the first person to receive a vinyl copy of each new album she made. She said she still intended to send one this time, and that she was trying to hold herself together while talking about it, CNN reported.
Their last talk, Cyrus said, touched on how different the two of them were as performers, and how those differences made them a good match. She described Parton as someone who was nearly always right in her advice, including during low periods when she encouraged Cyrus to get dressed up, get her hair done and go back on stage.
She additionally reflected upon the way Parton managed celebrity status. Cyrus observed that Parton was renowned for the artifice inherent in her public image—her voluminous hair and signature makeup—and stated that this example assisted her in grasping how an onstage persona and a private identity are able to coexist peacefully, ensuring neither eclipses the other.
Cyrus also recounted a call she received after Parton saw her cry while singing “End of the World” on David Letterman’s interview series “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction.” According to Cyrus, Parton told her that music is an escape for audiences and that she should let the listeners do the crying. Cyrus said she answered that showing emotion was simply who she is, and that Parton accepted her for it.
The connection linking the pair originates in Cyrus’ early years. Parton was named her godmother as a result of her close bond with Billy Ray Cyrus, the country artist and father of Cyrus, subsequently serving as a mentor throughout the era of “Hannah Montana,” the hit Disney Channel show that catapulted her to stardom. Throughout the decades, they have shared the stage on numerous occasions, featuring appearances on the NBC New Year’s Eve broadcasts hosted by Cyrus.
The passing of Parton in August
Parton died on Tuesday, Aug. 25, in Nashville at age 80. Her nephew and longtime head of security, Bryan Seaver, announced the news in a video on behalf of the Parton and Owens families, calling the moment “an honor that is mixed with absolute pride and great sadness,” Billboard reported. Her representatives later told People that she had died after a brief battle with cancer at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, where she had been admitted four days earlier; the type of cancer was not disclosed.
Her decline had been visible for months. In May, she called off a planned Las Vegas residency, citing unspecified health problems, and her last public appearance came in June at the opening of her Tennessean Travel Stop in Cornersville, Tennessee. Parton had also been grieving her husband, Carl Dean, who died in March 2025. The family planned a private service and asked admirers to donate to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, her children’s book program, instead of sending flowers.
Cyrus responded publicly the following morning with an Instagram post in which she said the loss of her “Aunt Dolly” was more than she felt able to share in full. She closed it with a promise: “I will always love her and want to make her proud.”
A tearful tribute at the Hollywood Bowl
That promise became the emotional center of Cyrus’ concert at the Hollywood Bowl on Friday, Oct. 16, one of two shows she had scheduled at the venue to celebrate the new album. She had announced both the record and the Los Angeles dates at the start of September, barely a week after Parton’s death. She performed Parton’s “Jolene” and, through tears, spoke about feeling her godmother’s presence. “Me and Dolly, we are eternal,” she told the crowd, ABC7 reported. She added that she expected to see Parton again.
Cyrus also told the audience that Parton had once invited her to join her onstage at the same venue, and that she had declined so she could watch the show as a fan.
During the same show, according to American Songwriter, Cyrus described what she believes was a sign from Parton. She said she was alone with a Parton mannequin that the singer had given her as a Christmas present, played “Jolene,” lit a candle and silently asked for the lights to flicker if Parton was there, and that lights down the hallway then flickered. She said members of her band saw it happen.
The record Cyrus described to her godmother in their final conversation arrived less than four weeks after Parton’s death, and each stop in its promotion, from the Apple Music interview to the Hollywood Bowl stage, has also become a moment for Cyrus to speak about the woman she calls Aunt Dolly.
