Dolly Parton and Miley Cyrus‘ kinship runs deeper than godmother and goddaughter.
Parton recently learned that she and her pop star goddaughter are actually related during an Access Hollywood segment. With help from Ancestry, the country superstar learned that she and Cyrus are seventh cousins, once removed, connected by John Brickey of Virginia — Parton’s sixth great-grandfather and Cyrus’ seventh great-grandfather.
“Is that true? That’s amazing!” said Parton. “I’m sure she’ll get a kick out of that, but it doesn’t surprise me because she does feel like family.”
Brickey, whose family originated from France, was born in 1740 in Virginia before moving to Blount County, Tenn., with his wife and children. He remained there until his death in 1806 per Ancestry. Both artists hail from Tennessee.
Parton, a close pal of Cyrus’ father, country singer Billy Ray Cyrus, first shared in 2009 that she was the young Cyrus’ godmother. “I’ve known her since she was a baby,” Parton said at the time. “When she was born, [her father] said, ‘You just have to be her godmother,’ and I said, ‘I accept.’ We never did do a big ceremony, but I’m so proud of her, love her. And she’s just like one of my own.”
The duo have collaborated a number of times. Parton cameoed in a few episodes of Cyrus’ Disney Channel sitcom Hannah Montana, playing the godmother of Cyrus’ fictional teenage pop star. Parton is also featured in Cyrus’ “Rainbowland,” from her 2017 album Younger Now, and the two regularly cover each other’s songs: Cyrus’ “Jolene” cover, and Parton’s “Wrecking Ball.”
Vijat Mohindra/NBC via Getty Images
“Dolly’s been like a mother to me,” Cyrus said of her godmother in conversation with W Magazine in June, also sharing their old-school means of communication: “I was just reading this fax that she sent me two Mother’s Days ago. Dolly wrote to me to say: ‘How much do I love you? As much as my heart can hold and as far as my arms can reach.’ It gets me choked up. I just love her so much. Last Christmas, she gave me a whole mannequin, done in her proportions and wearing her outfit. It’s so major.”
Watch Parton learn how she is related to Cyrus above.