Miley Cyrus broke down in tears during her performance at the Hollywood Bowl on Friday night during a moving tribute to her godmother, the late Dolly Parton.
The singer projected a photo of the country music icon while the first notes of her iconic song “Jolene” played. The Grammy winner told the crowd that one of the things that inspired her to play that venue was the memory of the one time she was able to sit back and enjoy a Parton show at the Hollywood Bowl.
She remembers telling her “Aunt Dolly” that for once, she just wanted to sit in the crowd and enjoy it like everyone else. Cyrus began, “If she had her way and she was playing a show, I would be standing right next to her in a matching suit. 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 could just experience you. I can just enjoy you like the rest of the world did.'”
The “Flowers” singer said her godmother responded, “Okay, Miley,” but Cyrus joked “that never means okay.”
Instead of having Cyrus on stage 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 walks in, but I hear “The best of both worlds.” Yeah, Dolly opened the Hannah Montana scene.
“But that’s just not the end of this story,” she continued. “And she said, like a proud aunt, ‘I don’t know if you all know this, but my goddaughter is Hannah Montana, and she’s actually here tonight, but she’s sitting in her seat. She didn’t want anyone to bother her. She said she just wanted to watch the show,’ which defeated the whole purpose of the conversation we had just had, because absolutely no one knew I was at the concert until she called attention to it. odious.”
“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 performance at the Hollywood Bowl.
“Sitting here with you right now, feeling her all around me, knowing that she is here next to me, every day, more than she could be when she was here; I feel her more now than ever,” she said. “Knowing that I can share this story with all of you makes this evening so worth it. This memory is gold to me. Me and Dolly are forever. Nothing in this life can ever tear us apart, and I’m going to see her again.”
“And I can’t wait because I miss her,” Cyrus said between tears. “Some of the greatest music we have today was written, produced and performed by my Aunt Dolly, and this is one of those songs,” she concluded before launching into a rendition of “Jolene.”
Parton died on August 25, after a “brief battle with cancer,” a representative announced. She was 80 years old. Many celebrities paid tribute to the queen of country music following her death, including Cyrus who penned a tribute, writing on Instagram: “The feeling of losing my Aunt Dolly goes beyond what it seems right to share.”
“I have an angel by my side. I always have. One of our last conversations was about music and transformation. 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 are experiencing this loss together and we will see her in all the most beautiful things.”
On Cyrus’ Friday night show, she also held a heart-shaped frame with a picture of Parton during “Wrecking Ball” because it was one of her favorite songs.
The Grammy winner performed the first of her two concerts at the Hollywood Bowl on Friday. Its next performance will take place on Sunday. Cyrus recently released her 10th studio album The bass persuades on September 18.
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