Dolly Parton reveals how she became Miley Cyrus' godmother: 'She's my little sweetheart'

Dolly Parton absolutely adores her goddaughter, Miley Cyrus. The country superstar recently revealed how she earned the title of Cyrus's godmother after becoming close to her dad, Billy Ray Cyrus. The musicians became close when they toured together in the early '90s. "We just got to be good friends because he's a Kentucky boy, I'm from Tennessee," Parton shared during a recent interview on Sirius XM's The Howard Stern Show. "And he said, 'We're having a girl, and you've got to be her godmother!' And I said, 'Well, I'd be honored.' So actually, Miley and I took over from there. We just stayed very, very close through the years."

The "Jolene" singer also elaborated on their special connection and how proud she is of Miley Cyrus as both a musician and a human being. "I love Miley. She's my little sweetheart. I've known her since before she was born, actually," she said. Whether Miley ever comes to her for advice, the philanthropist and entrepreneur shared, "Well, she's asked me a lot of things. She mostly just runs things by me, and we talk," Parton said. "She's very successful. Miley's very smart. She's very intuitive about the business, and I just think Miley's a spectacular human being and an amazing talent."

The two musicians have also collaborated several times in the recent past. The pair co-hosted Cyrus' New Year's Eve Party together on NBC at the end of last year. They ended the night with a duet of two of their biggest hits, Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball" and Parton's "I Will Always Love You," reports TODAY. 

Parton admitted that it was "an emotional time" for the "Flowers" singer, as she was still healing from her painful divorce from ex-husband Liam Hemsworth. The once-popular celebrity couple first met in 2009 while filming "The Last Song" and entered an on-and-off relationship for several years. They tied the knot in 2018 but ended the relationship after eight months of marriage. Parton stood by Cyrus during those difficult moments. She also helped Cyrus focus on her passion for music as she healed.

Parton recalled that her goddaughter was in tears during the rehearsal for their NYE special to Insider. According to the legendary singer-songwriter, the pain that came through helped their performance "to just soar" with both of their voices together. "The fact that we were singing so well together stirred up our emotions very much," she said. "Then we went into 'I Will Always Love You' and she would just have these tears coming down and it was so emotional." Since there was so much emotion and they felt so deeply, it became "one of the reasons why the song sounded so good," she said. "We both put our heart and soul into it and both felt what we were singing — and singing about."

Now, the two have teamed up together for her forthcoming album "Rockstar." Parton shared a video on Instagram revealing she wanted to put a spin on her goddaughter's 2013 hit "Wrecking Ball." "I remember the first time I heard 'Wrecking Ball,' it hit me the same way as it did the first time I heard 'I Will Always Love You' by Whitney Houston," Parton said in the clip. "I was driving, heard that one, and I almost wrecked. And when I heard 'Wrecking Ball,' I almost wrecked again. I thought when it started into that chorus, 'It hit me like a wrecking ball,' I thought, 'Well, how great can a song be?'" 

In the caption, she continued that she "thought how great can a song be and how great can Miley Cyrus be?" She went on to say "I have to have Miley sing it with me! I love it and I hope you do!" Cyrus shared details of the collaboration on her own Instagram page, adding, "I've grown up covering my Aunt Dolly's music & it's an honor to hear her singing one of my songs. I love you, Aunt Dolly!"