Miley Cyrus Said a ‘Tough Conversation’ With Dolly Parton Convinced Her to Perform at the Grammys

In 2024, Miley Cyrus stunned viewers at the Grammys with a performance she said may not have happened without Dolly Parton . Parton, who has known Cyrus for years and calls herself her fairy godmother, encouraged Cyrus to go through with the performance despite her trepidation. Cyrus shared what this conversation meant to her.

Miley Cyrus shared how Dolly Parton convinced her to perform at the Grammys

Cyrus has known Parton for most of her life and has grown close to the country icon. She said that one of her favorite traits of Parton’s is her willingness to have “tough conversations” with her.

“A tough conversation I had with her: I told her, ‘I’m wondering if I’m going to do the Grammys or not,’” Cyrus said on My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman (via People ). “And she said, ‘Well of course you’re going to do the Grammys, and you’re not just going to show up but you’re going to show off. And you’re going to be everything that you are sitting right here in front of me.’”

Cyrus appreciated that Parton was giving her advice to get on the Grammys stage and be herself.

“And she said, ‘And don’t forget about the beauty. The hair, the makeup, the whole show. It’s armor for us,'” Cyrus said. “She’s always said this to me: ‘You do you, and I’ll do me, and together we’ll be us.’ So she wasn’t telling me to be Dolly, she wasn’t telling me to be fabulous and hide behind the sparkles and the hair. She was telling me to be me.”

Miley Cyrus said Dolly Parton taught her to push boundaries

Parton’s career has lasted longer than Cyrus’ lifetime, so the younger singer often looks to her godmother for advice. Cyrus said Parton has taught her a great deal about pushing boundaries .

“But Dolly — part of her entertainment is by — in a way, she pushed the boundaries for country music by looking the way that she does and saying the things that she says and being sexual in that way,” Cyrus told NPR . “I mean, there’s no one that’s been able to make country music sexual, you know, more than Dolly.”

Cyrus said she has always respected the way that Parton pushes boundaries while still staying true to herself.

“But she would say, well, that’s not why I’m doing it. That’s not why I wear my hair like this. That’s not why my boobs are this big. I mean, she does it because she likes it,” Cyrus explained. “And I think that’s what she got to do. If you want to be in that way, pushing the boundaries, you have to like it — and to remember that, you know, you want to make music for the people that love your music for what — for your honesty and your fans. And, otherwise, just have fun and make the music that you love.”

The ‘Jolene’ singer said she looks up to her goddaughter

While Parton has taught Cyrus a great deal, the former said she also looks to her goddaughter for advice .

“Everybody says, ‘Do you give Miley advice?’ I said, ‘Nobody gives Miley advice.’ She’s [as] headstrong as I am, but we both respect each other,” Parton told Us Weekly . “And we share things.”

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Parton believes Cyrus helps keep her in touch with popular culture.

“If I feel like I’ve got something to say to her, like, a mother or an aunt or a godmother, I will say something. Or [I will] ask her a question about this or that or ask her a question even concerning my own career,” Parton said. “[Because] I wanna stay involved and important in the business for as long as I live. And I’ve been lucky enough that that’s happened.”