Miley Cyrus broke down in tears at her Hollywood Bowl performance Friday night during a moving tribute to her godmother, the late Dolly Parton.
The singer projected a photo of the country music icon as the beginning notes of her iconic song “Jolene” played. The Grammy winner told the crowd that one of the things that inspired her to play the venue was the memory of the only time she was able to sit and enjoy a Parton show at the Hollywood Bowl.
She recalling telling her “Aunt Dolly” that for once, she just wanted to sit in the crowd and enjoy her like everyone else. Cyrus began, “If she had it her way, and she was playing a show, I’d be standing right beside her in a matching costume. And so when I was coming to the show at the Bowl to see her, I said, you know, ‘I would love a night where I can just experience you. I can just enjoy you like the rest of the world has gotten to.’”
The “Flowers” singer said her godmother responded by saying, “Okay, Miley,” but Cyrus joked “that never means okay.”
Instead of having Cyrus onstage to perform alongside her, Parton instead opened the show with “The Best of Both Worlds,” Cryus’ hit track from Hannah Montana: “All of a sudden, Dolly enters, but I hear ‘The Best of Both Worlds.’ Yeah, Dolly opened performing Hannah Montana.”
“But that’s just not the end of that story,” she continued. “And she goes, like a proud aunt, ‘I don’t know if y’all know this, but my goddaughter is Hannah Montana, and she’s actually here tonight, but she’s sitting out in her seat. She didn’t want anyone to bug her. She said she just wanted to watch the show,’ which defeated the entire purpose of the conversation that we had just had, because absolutely no one was aware that I was at the concert until she drew an obnoxious amount of attention to it.”
“But like so many things Dolly did, I didn’t understand at the time,” Cyrus said, adding that she could feel Parton’s presence with her during her Hollywood Bowl performance.
“Sitting here with you all right now, feeling her all around me, knowing that she’s right here beside me, every day, more than she could be when she was here; I feel her more now than ever,” she said. “Knowing that I get to share this story with you all, it makes that night very worth it. 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.”
“And I can’t fucking wait because I miss her,” Cyrus said in between tears. “Some of the greatest music that we have today was written, produced, performed by my Aunt Dolly, and this is one of those songs,” she concluded before launching into a rendition of “Jolene.”
Parton died Aug. 25, after a “brief battle with cancer,” a rep announced. She was 80. Many celebrities paid tribute to the queen of country music after her death, including Cyrus who penned a tribute, writing on Instagram, “The feeling of losing my Aunt Dolly is beyond what feels right to share.”
“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,” she wrote. “My heart breaks for the world, her family and friends who will miss her deeply. We’re in this loss together and we will see her in all of the most beautiful things.”
During Cyrus’ Friday night show, she also clutched a frame in the shape of a heart with an image of Parton during “Wrecking Ball,” as that was one of her favorite songs.
The Grammy winner played her first of two shows at the Hollywood Bowl on Friday. Her next performance will be on Sunday. Cyrus recently dropped her 10th studio album Bass Persuades on Sept. 18.