For more than three decades, Billy Ray Cyrus and Dolly Parton shared the kind of friendship that survived fame, rumors, changing careers and an entire new generation of Cyrus family stars.
But following Dolly Parton’s death at 80 on August 25, 2026, Billy Ray revealed one especially personal detail: Dolly had sent him a message shortly before she died.
It became one of the most touching details to emerge as musicians around the world mourned the country legend. (E! Online)
And for Billy Ray, the timing carried another emotional twist.
Dolly died on Billy Ray Cyrus’s 65th birthday.
A friendship that began before Miley became famous
To understand why Dolly’s final message meant so much, you have to go back to 1992.
Billy Ray Cyrus had suddenly become one of country’s biggest new stars after “Achy Breaky Heart” turned him into a household name. That year, he and Dolly became close while touring together.
Their chemistry was obvious enough that tabloids began spreading rumors that the two were romantically involved.
Billy Ray later recalled feeling embarrassed and apologizing to Dolly about the gossip.
Dolly’s response was pure Dolly.
According to Billy Ray, she brushed the whole thing aside with humor, telling him, “Honey, this trash sells records!” (Page Six)
Instead of damaging their friendship, those chaotic early years helped cement it.
And something far more important was about to happen.
Dolly became part of the Cyrus family
When Billy Ray’s daughter Miley was born in November 1992, he asked Dolly to become her godmother.
Dolly accepted.
That decision eventually created one of the most recognizable godmother-goddaughter relationships in entertainment.
Dolly knew Miley from infancy, watched her grow up and later appeared alongside her on Hannah Montana, where she fittingly played “Aunt Dolly.” (Biography)
As Miley’s own music career exploded, Dolly remained nearby — sometimes collaborator, sometimes mentor and sometimes simply family.
The two performed “Jolene” together, appeared at major awards shows and eventually co-hosted Miley’s New Year’s Eve television special.
Miley would later describe Dolly as being almost like a mother to her. (E! Online)
Behind that extraordinary relationship was Billy Ray’s original friendship with Dolly.
Then came one final message
After Dolly’s death, Billy Ray shared that she had reached out to him not long before she passed.
He described what she sent as a beautiful and loving message — something that became much more meaningful once he realized it would be among their final personal exchanges. (E! Online)
Billy Ray’s tribute focused not only on Dolly the superstar, but on the woman he had known personally for more than 30 years.
That distinction matters.
To the world, she was the woman behind “Jolene,” “9 to 5” and “I Will Always Love You.”
To the Cyrus family, she was Aunt Dolly.
The final message should not be exaggerated
Some viral posts have described Billy Ray as revealing Dolly’s exact “final words” to him.
That’s stronger than what has been publicly established.
What Billy Ray actually disclosed was that Dolly had recently sent him a loving message before her death. Public reporting does not establish that those were literally the final words Dolly ever spoke or wrote to him.
But that hardly makes the story less moving.
Sometimes knowing that someone thought of you near the end is enough.
August 25 suddenly carries a very different meaning
The date itself makes the story particularly poignant.
Billy Ray was born on August 25, 1961.
Dolly died on August 25, 2026.
So the day Billy Ray turned 65 became the day he lost one of his oldest friends in the music industry. (TV Insider)
For the Cyrus family, the loss went even deeper.
Miley was mourning the woman who had been part of her life since birth.
In her own tribute, Miley said some of their most precious moments would remain private. She did, however, reveal that one of their last conversations had been about music and metamorphosis. (Reuters)
She also shared what she believed Dolly would want her to do next: feel the grief, turn it into music and keep going.
It sounds remarkably appropriate for Dolly.
Their connection went far beyond Nashville
Dolly’s relationship with the Cyrus family became unusual because it crossed generations.
Billy Ray knew her as a fellow country singer and friend.
Miley knew her as a godmother, mentor and collaborator.
Even Noah Cyrus remembered Dolly after her death, expressing gratitude for the relationship Dolly had maintained with her family. (People.com)
In other words, this wasn’t simply a celebrity friendship maintained for photographs.
Dolly became woven into the family’s history.
Billy Ray had admired Dolly long before they were friends
There was another reason the relationship meant so much to him.
Dolly Parton was already a legend when Billy Ray’s career was beginning.
She had survived decades in an industry famous for discarding performers almost as quickly as it creates them.
By the early 1990s, she had already conquered country music, crossed into pop, starred in movies and written songs recognized around the world.
For a young artist suddenly dealing with enormous fame, Dolly represented something Billy Ray hadn’t yet experienced:
longevity.
Yet she treated him as a friend.
That warmth became one of the themes repeated again and again after her death.
Famous artists remembered the superstar.
People who actually knew Dolly frequently remembered the kindness.
Miley became perhaps their greatest connection
The friendship between Billy Ray and Dolly ultimately produced something neither could have predicted in 1992.
Miley Cyrus became a superstar herself.
And Dolly became one of the people Miley trusted most.
Their relationship evolved naturally as Miley grew older. Dolly didn’t try to control her goddaughter’s career or turn her into another version of herself.
Instead, she encouraged Miley to find her own identity.
That mattered during some of Miley’s most controversial years, when public criticism of the former Disney star became relentless.
Dolly remained supportive.
Years later, the two could stand together onstage not simply as godmother and goddaughter, but as two major artists from different generations.
Dolly’s death brought those memories rushing back
Parton died on August 25 after a brief battle with cancer, prompting tributes from across entertainment and beyond. (Reuters)
For fans, the loss meant saying goodbye to an icon.
For Billy Ray, it meant something much more personal.
He had known Dolly before Miley was born.
He had watched Dolly become part of his daughter’s life.
They had laughed together about ridiculous tabloid stories.
They had watched the music industry change around them.
And shortly before Dolly’s death, she had still taken the time to reach out.
A friendship that didn’t need a dramatic ending
Perhaps that’s what makes Billy Ray’s revelation resonate.
There doesn’t need to be a perfectly scripted Hollywood goodbye.
The publicly verified story is simpler.
Dolly Parton sent an old friend a loving message near the end of her life.
Days later, that message became something Billy Ray could never receive from her again.
And behind all the rhinestones, awards, famous songs and decades of celebrity, that may be one of the most human details of all.
Because Dolly wasn’t only leaving behind records and performances.
She was leaving behind people who had known her for decades — people whose children she had watched grow up, whose careers she had encouraged and whose lives she had quietly become part of.
For Billy Ray Cyrus and his family, Dolly Parton’s legacy will always be bigger than country music.
She was family. (Page Six)
For more about the Queen of Country, take a peek inside Dolly Parton’s tiny childhood cabin: the humble home where a country legend learned to dream or read about who will inherit her $450 million fortune.
