How Were Dolly Parton and Miley Cyrus Related? Their Bond Explained

Miley Cyrus shared an emotional tribute to her godmother Dolly Parton following the country music icon's death on August 25. Dolly Parton never had children with her husband, Carl Dean, but she shared a close, maternal bond with her goddaughter Miley Cyrus. Through the years, Parton and Cyrus spoke lovingly about their relationship in several interviews. When the Queen of Country was named to the Time 100 list in 2021, the "Wrecking Ball" songstress called her godmother her "idol." "Have you ever met anyone who doesn't love Dolly Parton? I never have," Cyrus wrote in an essay. "Dolly is not only my idol because of her incomparable career — she's also my role model because of her steadfast morals and values." She added, "There's a theory that you shouldn't meet your heroes, but I wish everyone had the chance to meet Dolly Parton, because she's even better than your sparkliest dreams." Two years later, Parton told Howard Stern that Cyrus was her "little sweetheart" and expressed how proud she was of her. "Well she's asked me a lot of things, and she mostly just runs things by me, and we talk," she gushed. "I mean she's very successful. Miley's very smart. She's very intuitive about the business, and I just think Miley is a spectacular human being and an amazing talent." Following Parton's death, OK! looks back at her longtime relationship with Cyrus and the family-like bond they shared.