MILEY CYRUS HAS paid tribute to her godmother, country music icon Dolly Parton, following her death.

While Parton wasn’t closely related to Cyrus by blood, she was a good friend of her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, who was also in the music business.

In a post on her social media today, Miley Cyrus said one of her last conversations with Parton, who died on Tuesday at the age of 80, was about “music and metamorphosis”.

Country singer Kenny Rogers pictured with Miley Cyrus, Dolly Parton and Billy Ray Cyrus in 2010 Alamy Alamy

“The feeling of losing my Aunt Dolly is beyond what feels right to share,” Cyrus wrote.

“Our most sacred moments were private, and they’ll stay there behind the stage, beneath the glamour & between our hearts.”

The feeling of losing my Aunt Dolly is beyond what feels right to share. Our most sacred moments were private and they’ll stay there behind the stage, beneath the glamour & between our hearts.

What I KNOW is Dolly would want me to feel it, write a song about it, and then… pic.twitter.com/VFV6MohLto

— Miley Cyrus (@MileyCyrus) August 26, 2026

Cyrus, who continues to have a highly-successful music career, went on to say she believes her godmother would want her to write about the grief, “and then continue on and be strong”.

“I will always love her and want to make her proud,” she said.

“My heart breaks for the world, her family and friends who will miss her deeply. We’re in this loss together and we will see her in all of the most beautiful things.”

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Miley Cyrus with Dolly Parton on the set of Hannah Montana in 2006 MileyCyrusBz MileyCyrusBz

Parton guest-starred on the Disney Channel programme Hannah Montana in 2006, where Cyrus got her start as an actor and singer at just 13.

The episode introduced a new generation to the music legend, who joined Cyrus’s character for a rendition of the Hannah Montana song Who Says at the end.