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Dolly Parton and Miley Cyrus | Source: Getty Images
Dolly Parton Couldn’t Have a Kid & Became a Protective ‘Fairy Godmother’ to Miley Cyrus Who Is like Her
Dolly Parton learned she couldn’t have kids in 1984.
She became a protective godmother to pop singer Miley Cyrus.
The two share a special bond that has seen them speak sweetly of one another and support each other’s careers.
Country music legend Dolly Parton was married to her husband, Carl Thomas Dean, for nearly 60 years. The two, who tied the knot on May 30, 1966, had no kids. Parton opened up about why she never had kids.
In 1982, the singer experienced painful abdominal bleeding that forced her to seek medical help and cancel a tour. Again, in 1984, she went through a partial hysterectomy and was told she would never be able to have kids.
This news put the singer into a two-year depression and pushed her into scaling down her professional commitments. She admitted that the period was a horrible time for her but that she viewed it as a message from God, who was telling her to slow down so that she could deal with the stuff in her life.
Parton added that God has a plan for everything and that it was his plan for her not to have kids so that everyone else’s children would become hers.
However, she said that prior to her health issues, she and her husband had discussed having children. The two had wondered if their kids would be tall like Dean or short like her. They even came up with the name Carla for their future daughter.
Parton accepted that their dream to become parents wasn’t meant to be, and as she and her husband got older, they realized it was best that they never embarked on parenthood. Dean passed away in March 2025 at age 82, and Parton died on August 25, 2026, at the age of 80.
Parton believed that if she had become a mother, she would have given up everything else out of guilt from going on tour and leaving her kids at home. Nothing would have remained the same if the singer had become a parent, and she probably wouldn’t be a country music legend. Still, the singer got to be a mother in other ways by becoming a godmother to an iconic pop singer.
Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton attend MusiCares Person of the Year honoring Dolly Parton in Los Angeles, California on February 8, 2019. | Source: Getty Images
Parton became the godmother of Miley Cyrus because she was a good friend to Cyrus’ father, Billy Ray Cyrus. When Cyrus was born, her father and Parton agreed that she’d be the goddaughter of the singer.
Billy Ray Cyrus, Dolly Parton, and Miley Cyrus attend MusiCares Person of the Year honoring Dolly Parton in Los Angeles on February 8, 2019. | Source: Getty Images
Parton took her responsibility as Cyrus’ godmother seriously. Cyrus was a kid when she first started starring on “Hannah Montana.” She turned 13 on the set and became famous and rich during that time. However, she didn’t develop what she called “new money syndrome,” as her godmother taught her never to let success change her.
Miley and Billy Ray Cyrus during a press event with the stars of Disney Channel’s “Hannah Montana” in Pasadena, California on January 10, 2006 | Source: Getty Images
Parton said Cyrus was sensational on “Hannah Montana.” Cyrus, who calls her godmother “Aunt Dolly,” was also the one who suggested Parton be part of the show, and the country singer was taken on.
Parton recalled that she really loved the time the two spent on the sitcom. “Here I am, you know, Miley’s fairy godmother, and on the show and kind of sharing all that with her,” she gushed.
The two worked so well together on the sitcom, and thanks to Cyrus, Parton got a whole new following of young people who listened to her songs. The “Two Doors Down” singer was impressed by Cyrus. “For me, watching her being such a pro, she didn’t know it, but I was watching her like a proud mama, thinking you go, you little thing, I’m so proud of you,” she expressed.
Cyrus credits Parton for teaching her to be grounded, to treat people with respect, and to always say hi to the person at the bottom of the call sheet. Seeing how her godmother treats people with respect and love also reminds Cyrus and her family of what’s essential in life.
The “Jolene” singer not only taught Cyrus important values in life, but she also protected and supported her. When Cyrus decided to get rid of her child star image and started to deliver more provocative performances, Parton defended her from her critics. She highlighted Cyrus’ growth over the years, noting how smart and talented she was.
Dolly Parton and Miley Cyrus perform on stage during the 61st Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California on February 10, 2019. | Source: Getty Images
According to Parton, Cyrus was just trying to find her own place. “She is like me,” Parton added, praising Cyrus as a great singer and songwriter who was just finding her wings and learning how to fly.
Parton only advised Cyrus about her career when she came to her for words of wisdom, but she never called her to tell her to stop doing her own thing. She supported Cyrus wholeheartedly and unconditionally. Now, Cyrus is a phenomenal singer who Parton did duets with, and the two sang each other’s songs.
Cyrus has never met anyone who doesn’t love her fairy godmother. She calls the singer “her idol” due to her incomparable career and sees her as her “role model” because of her steadfast morals and values.
“The Climb” singer wishes everyone would have a chance to meet Parton and see what a great hero she is. Parton is like a fairy godmother to everyone, and Cyrus is happy and willing to share her with the world.
Miley Cyrus performs during her “Best of Both Worlds” tour in Uniondale, New York, on December 27, 2007. | Source: Getty Images
The 33-year-old Cyrus turned 30 in 2023 and is now creating music for herself. She is over the phase where she worked to prove people wrong and has taken a fresh path in her career and life.
In December 2022, she partnered with Parton to host a TV special, “Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party: Legendary,” on NBC. The singer said she and Parton have a unique chemistry, realness, and love that people can’t resist watching.
The pair’s bond is so strong that when Cyrus informed Parton she wanted to go brunette, the country singer reacted like she’d been given the worst news ever. Parton told Cyrus, “You can’t do that. You are me.” So the singer decided to remain a blonde.
Parton and Cyrus’ bond was evident when the two did a “Wrecking Ball” duet in 2023. Cyrus shared the news on Instagram and said it was “an honor” to have the country singer sing one of her songs. “I love Aunt Dolly,” she added.
Parton replied to this post saying she was so “honored to be able to sing” with Cyrus and be around her. She described the singer as “the most gifted person” she knows, adding that, while she was proud of their record, she was prouder of her relationship with Cyrus.
The two supported each other’s careers throughout their lives, and Parton provided the much-needed guidance to her goddaughter. Parton also acknowledged that she and Cyrus always had sweet things to say about one another. And while this may “sound gushy” to others, she credited their relationship for being “truly real.”
Dolly Parton and Miley Cyrus appear on “Mountain Magic Christmas” on May 8, 2022. | Source: Getty Images
Long before she became a global icon, Dolly Parton grew up in humble circumstances that would shape everything about her — including the values she later passed on to her goddaughter.
Born the fourth of 12 children to Avie Lee and Robert Lee Parton, according to a People cover story, she was raised in a two-room log cabin in Locust Ridge in Sevier County, Tennessee, without electricity or running water.
The rustic home reflected the modest surroundings of Parton’s early years, a world that stood in sharp contrast to the fame and fortune she would eventually achieve. | Source: Getty Images
As a child, she would stand on the front porch and sing her heart out using a tobacco stick and tin can as a makeshift microphone, already dreaming of performing on the Grand Ole Opry.
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She credited her spiritual and creative foundation to her mother Avie Lee, and her unparalleled work ethic to her father, a tobacco farmer. Parton made her first appearance at the Grand Ole Opry in 1959 at just 13 years old, introduced by none other than Johnny Cash.
Parton is pictured with her parents, Robert Lee and Avie Lee, on the porch of the family’s rustic home, with a guitar resting nearby — a fitting glimpse of the musical roots that would shape her life. | Source: Getty Images
The original cabin where she grew up still stands on Locust Ridge, and according to The Smokies, Parton sentimentally bought the land back after her parents sold it and restored the home to its 1950s state.
For fans who want a closer look, a replica of the cabin — designed by her brother Bobby and decorated with the approval of her mother Avie Lee — can be visited at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge. The original property on Locust Ridge, near Evans Chapel, is private and trespassers are not welcome.
Decades after those childhood performances, Parton returned to the porch with the guitar that had become one of the defining symbols of her career — a striking contrast between the star she became and the humble setting where her musical ambitions began. | Source: Getty Images
Away from Tennessee, Parton also quietly kept a more unexpected retreat. A New York Post report revealed that she purchased a modest 1920s triplex farmhouse in Solvang, California — often dubbed the “Danish capital of America” — through Dolly Parton Enterprises in 2004 and used it as a private weekend getaway for nearly a decade before selling it.
The unassuming property, situated on the corner of Alisal Road and Maple Avenue in Santa Barbara County, featured several privacy-focused touches, and left behind a few distinctive “Dolly-isms” — including a small “wig room” in the garage and a birdhouse replica of a Dollywood chapel along the driveway.
The home has since gone on the market for $1.995 million, with current owner Cris Lapp hoping a devoted Parton fan becomes its next owner.
