Miley Cyrus Reflects on Dolly Parton’s Lasting Advice

Miley Cyrus is opening up about how Dolly Parton helped her separate celebrity performance from personal identity—and how that advice continues to guide her after the country icon’s death. Speaking with Zane Lowe for Apple Music, Cyrus described Parton as a mentor who understood both the spectacle and the discipline of show business.

The conversation arrived as Cyrus prepared to release her new album, Bass Persuades. She said Parton was traditionally the first person to receive one of her vinyl records, and that their final conversation centered on the new project. Cyrus still intends to keep the ritual by sending a copy, even though Parton is no longer here to receive it.

A lesson about persona and authenticity

Cyrus said Parton showed her that a performer could build an extravagant public persona without losing a genuine sense of self. That example mattered to someone whose career began with the dual identity of Disney Channel star Hannah Montana before moving through pop, rock and country influences under her own name.

She compared her stage presentation to a form of drag: louder, more stylized and different from the private person who begins the day by feeding her tortoise. In Cyrus’s telling, Parton made that contrast feel less like a contradiction. The theatrical version and the quieter version could both be authentic parts of the same artist.

Parton’s practical approach to performance

Parton also challenged Cyrus when emotion threatened to overwhelm the performance itself. Cyrus recalled crying while singing “End of the World,” a song whose lyrics made her think about losing her mother. Parton’s response was practical: music can offer escape, so the singer has to carry the audience through the song even when the audience is moved to tears.

Cyrus said that advice became especially useful when she was struggling to return to the Grammy stage. Parton encouraged her to lean into the visual and emotional tools that made her feel like a performer again—big hair, a favorite dress and the stage confidence Cyrus had built over years.

The memories present Parton not only as a beloved godmother, but as a working artist who gave direct, usable guidance. Cyrus’s tribute avoids turning their differences into distance. Instead, she describes those differences as the reason the relationship worked: Parton’s clarity gave Cyrus a steadier way to understand reinvention, grief and the line between a private self and a public show.