Miley Cyrus recalls final conversation with Dolly Parton

Miley Cyrus is sharing details from her final conversation with Dolly Parton, the country icon who served as her godmother, ahead of Parton's death last month at age 80.

In a new interview with Apple Music's Zane Lowe, Cyrus, 33, recalled that their last conversation centered around her upcoming album, "Bass Persuades."

“The time that we talked — which was the last time we would talk — it was actually me telling her about this record because even though we are so different, that’s what made us so perfect for each other is that she knew this, and I know this,” said Cyrus.

She explained that despite their differences, she and Parton connected deeply over something they both understood: the balance between public persona and authenticity. 

“She’s known for, I guess, the faux, the fake, the hair, the makeup, the show of it, 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,” continued the Grammy winner. “And there was a time in my life, I mean, we hit on it with Hannah [Montana], so much of my life’s about persona.”

Cyrus said Parton, despite being known for her glamorous image, always carried a genuine, real quality that people naturally gravitated toward.

Cyrus also noted how Parton helped shape the way she navigated fame from a young age, particularly during her years playing Hannah Montana. 

“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 said.

She explained that Parton taught her it was possible to maintain a public persona while still staying true to who she really is, comparing her stage presence at times to a kind of performance separate from her everyday self.

Parton's death was announced by her nephew on August 25, with representatives later confirming she died after a brief battle with cancer.