Among the countless memories Billy Ray Cyrus carries of Dolly Parton, one of the most meaningful arrived near the end of her life.

Not long before Parton died at age 80 on Tuesday, Aug. 25, she sent Cyrus a personal message. She told her longtime friend that she loved him with her whole heart.

After her death, Cyrus returned those words in an emotional tribute, writing that his love for Parton remained just as complete — and always would.

The message was a quiet final exchange between two country stars whose friendship stretched back more than three decades. Their relationship had survived enormous fame, tabloid rumors, family milestones and changing careers, eventually becoming something that extended far beyond two musicians who once shared a tour.

Cyrus, who turned 65 on the same day Parton died, admitted that choosing a single memory of her was nearly impossible.

Long before he knew Parton personally, he knew her the way millions of Americans did.

She was already part of his childhood.

Cyrus remembered growing up watching Parton on television, describing her as one of those entertainers who seemed to enter people’s homes through the screen and become part of everyday family life. Years later, the Kentucky-born singer would find himself not merely meeting the woman he had admired but forming a friendship with her.

That relationship took shape in the early 1990s, when Cyrus was experiencing a dramatic rise of his own.

His breakthrough hit “Achy Breaky Heart” had made him a country phenomenon, and he eventually toured with Parton.

The two discovered an easy connection.

Parton later explained that their shared Southern backgrounds helped. Cyrus was from Kentucky, while she had grown up in Tennessee. Time together on the road transformed their professional connection into a genuine friendship.

One incident from 1992 became particularly memorable — partly because of the way Parton handled it.

At the time, tabloids were circulating stories claiming that Cyrus and Parton were having an affair.

Cyrus was uncomfortable enough about the reports that he went to Parton’s dressing room to apologize.

He apparently expected the situation to be awkward.

Parton had another reaction entirely.

Rather than becoming upset, she looked at him, winked and dismissed the sensational stories with a joke about how such “trash” could help sell records.

For Cyrus, the moment captured something essential about her personality.

Parton understood fame and the strange machinery surrounding it. Instead of allowing gossip to damage their relationship, she met the situation with humor.

The friendship continued.

And before long, it became intertwined with another Cyrus who would eventually become one of the biggest pop stars of her generation.

Dolly Became Part of the Cyrus Family

Miley Cyrus was born in 1992, the same year Billy Ray remembered confronting Parton about those tabloid stories.

When Billy Ray learned that he was going to have a daughter, he asked Parton to become the baby’s godmother.

Parton accepted.

What began as a friendship between two country singers soon developed into a close bond between Parton and Miley.

Parton later recalled that Billy Ray had told her they were expecting a girl and insisted that she had to become the child’s godmother. Parton said she was honored.

From there, however, the relationship increasingly belonged to Dolly and Miley themselves.

Parton said she had known Miley since before she was born and described her affectionately as her sweetheart. The two remained extremely close as Miley grew from Billy Ray’s daughter into an entertainer with her own major career.

Their connection eventually reached television.

Between 2006 and 2010, Parton appeared in three episodes of Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana, playing Aunt Dolly opposite Miley.

Years later, their musical worlds crossed again.

Parton recorded a new version of Miley’s 2013 hit “Wrecking Ball” for her Rockstar album, turning a relationship that began through Billy Ray into another creative partnership.

Then came a discovery neither woman apparently expected.

In 2024, Ancestry revealed that Parton and Miley were actually distant relatives.

The two were identified as seventh cousins, once removed, connected through a shared ancestor named John Brickey, who was born in Virginia in 1740.

When Parton learned the news during an interview, she reacted with surprise and amusement.

Given how close she and Miley already were, Parton joked that she would have expected the relationship to be considerably closer than seventh cousins.

Yet the discovery also seemed strangely appropriate.

Miley had already felt like family for decades. Now there was a genealogical connection to match the emotional one.

A Friendship That Outlasted the Headlines

The arc of Parton’s relationship with Billy Ray looks very different when viewed from beginning to end.

It started with admiration from afar.

Then came touring, friendship and the bizarre experience of dealing with rumors that incorrectly transformed that friendship into something romantic.

Instead of letting the stories create distance, Parton laughed.

Billy Ray later trusted her with a deeply personal role in his daughter’s life.

Parton became Miley’s godmother, appeared alongside her on television and eventually made music with her.

More than 30 years after Billy Ray first toured with the woman he had watched as a child, Parton was still reaching out to him personally.

That is what made the message Cyrus revealed after her death so powerful.

There was no elaborate farewell described.

Parton simply told him she loved him with her whole heart.

Cyrus answered publicly after she was gone, making clear that the feeling had always traveled both ways.

His tribute was not only about losing a country music icon. It was about losing someone who had moved through multiple chapters of his life — from childhood inspiration to touring partner, trusted friend and beloved presence in his daughter’s world.

Parton’s songs and performances will remain the public record of her extraordinary career.

For Cyrus, however, the memories were much more personal: the dressing-room joke in 1992, years spent as friends, the family connection through Miley and, finally, a message of affection he could keep.

More than three decades after their friendship began, Cyrus summed up what remained in the simplest possible terms.

He would always love Dolly Parton — with his whole heart.