Miley Cyrus says her final conversation with Dolly Parton was about new album: 'She was always right'

Cyrus told Zane Lowe that she and Parton’s final conversation centred on her impending release, Bass Persuades, which she said “releases Friday.” She explained a longstanding habit of sending Parton vinyl copies of her records — “Dolly has been the first person that when I get a vinyl printed, that’s the first person I send it to since I’ve been making vinyls” — and planned to do so again with the new album. The exchange underlines the close creative connection the pair maintained in the later years of Parton’s life, as described by Cyrus in the interview covered by The Hollywood Reporter.

Cyrus reflected on the contrast between Parton’s public persona — the hair, makeup and show — and the honesty people gravitated towards. She linked that duality to her own experience with persona, citing her Hannah Montana past and saying she sometimes thinks of her presentation as a form of drag while insisting the private person remains within. Cyrus recalled how Parton counselled her during performances when Cyrus would break down emotionally, saying Parton reminded her that “music is escapism. Let them cry. You need to get through it.” Cyrus summed up Parton’s role in her life with: “And she was always right.”

Following Parton’s death in August at age 80 after a brief battle with cancer, Cyrus wrote on Instagram about the magnitude of the loss and the private nature of their relationship. She said their most sacred moments would remain private “behind the stage, beneath the glamour & between our hearts,” and added that Parton would want her to feel the grief, write a song about it and continue on. In the interview reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Cyrus reiterated how much she relied on older peers like Parton for steadying guidance during her career.