Miley Cyrus Details Final Conversation With Dolly Parton

Miley Cyrus is opening up about the heartbreaking final talk she had with her godmother, Dolly Parton.

In a new interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, Cyrus revealed that her last conversation with Parton centered on something especially meaningful to the singer: her upcoming album, Bass Persuades.

“Dolly has been the first person that when I get a vinyl printed, that’s the first person I send it to,” Cyrus explained.

“And this time around I was going to send her a vinyl because I always do," she added.

Instead, the 33-year-old ended up telling Parton about the record during what would become their final conversation.

“The time that we talked — which was the last time we would talk — it was actually me telling her about this record,” the “Flowers” singer said, adding, “Because even though we are so different, that’s what made us so perfect for each other.”

Cyrus said she always admired the contrast between the country icon’s larger-than-life image and the person she knew privately.

“She’s known for, I guess, the faux, the fake, the hair, the makeup, the show of it,” she said.

“But there’s a part of her that’s just what I think everyone gravitates toward — how real she is and how authentic she is," she added.

That example helped Cyrus understand how she could separate her public persona from who she really was.

“There was a time in my life, I mean, we hit on it with Hannah [Montana], so much of my life’s about persona. And I think a way that I could look at that as, you can still have a persona and still be who you are, is because I had Dolly," she continued.

Cyrus also remembered one of Parton’s lessons about performing through her emotions.

The singer said she would “always” cry during live performances, something the music legend once questioned after watching her perform “End of the World.”

“She was like, ‘What are you crying about?’” she recalled.

After explaining the song’s meaning, Parton responded, “Music is escapism. Let them cry. Get through it.”

“I was like, ‘I know, but this is who I am.' And she loved me for it," the actress said.

Looking back, Cyrus said she understands why she cried while performing “I Will Always Love You” with the Tennessee native in 2023.

“So many of my really stabilizing peers that I have in my life, they’re generations before me,” she said, adding, “And they’ve laid down brick-by-brick the road that I travel now.”

“They aren’t always going to be here for me to call them and say, ‘What do I do now?,’ which I always did with Dolly,” Cyrus added.

“And she was always right about stuff," she admitted.

Parton died at 80 on August 25 following a brief battle with cancer.

Cyrus paid tribute to her godmother the following day, writing, “What I KNOW is Dolly would want me to feel it, write a song about it, and then continue on and be strong.”

“I have an angel by my side,” she continued.

“I always have. One of our last conversations was about music and metamorphosis," she wrote.

Cyrus concluded her tribute by saying she will “always love” her godmother and “want to make her proud.”