Miley Cyrus honored her late godmother, Dolly Parton, during her debut Hollywood Bowl concert.
“So many reasons I wanted to perform at the Hollywood Bowl, above every single one of them is that I only got to see Dolly Parton live in concert one time in my entire life,” Cyrus, 33, tearfully said during her Friday, October 16, show in California, per social media footage. “It was here.”
She continued, “Now, I spent a lot of time backstage and … if she was playing the show, I’d be standing right beside her in a matching costume.”
Parton, a longtime friend of Cyrus’ family, performed at the Bowl in 2011 and 2016, respectively, inviting the “Flowers” singer backstage for one show.
“‘Dolly, I don’t want to perform tonight. I just want to sit in my seat and watch the show like everybody else,’” Cyrus recalled of her conversation with Parton. “So, I’m sitting in my seat … and all of a sudden, Dolly enters but I hear ‘The Best of Both Worlds.’ Yeah, Dolly opened performing Hannah Montana.”
According to Cyrus, Parton began the show by revealing “[her] goddaughter is Hannah Montana” despite her wishes to remain anonymous in the crowd.
“Like so many things Dolly did that I didn’t understand at the time, sitting here with you all right now, feeling her all around me [and] knowing that she’s right here beside me,” she said. “Everyday — all the time.”
Parton died in August at the age of 80 after a private battle with cancer. In performing her own show at the Bowl, Cyrus hoped to honor the country icon’s legacy.
“I feel her more now than ever and knowing that I get to share this story with you all, it makes that night very worth it,” Cyrus noted. “This memory is gold to me. Me and Dolly, we are eternal. Nothing in this life could ever tear us apart. And, I’m gonna see her again. I can’t f***ing wait ‘cause I miss her.”
Cyrus and Parton famously had a tight-bond through the years. The former child star also paid tribute to her godmother via Instagram days after her death.
“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,” Cyrus wrote in a social media statement. “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. I always have. One of our last conversations was about music and metamorphosis. I will always love her and want to make her proud.”
