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Turns out Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton have more in common than just Jolene taking their men — they’re also connected by blood.
Parton has been Cyrus’s godmother for most of her life, but the two stars — who last performed together at Cyrus’s New Year’s 2023 show — are actually related, as Ancestry.com revealed in a blog post this week. Not only do the two share a spiritual connection, they’re also seventh cousins, once removed, according to the genealogy-tracking service.
Cyrus and Parton both share a common ancestor in John Brickey, who was born in Virginia in 1740 and later moved to Blount County, Tennessee, where he died in 1806 at age 66. As Billboard noted, Brickey made his home just 20 miles away from the modern-day site of Parton’s Dollywood theme park and resort. Parton is descended from Brickey’s daughter Mary, while Cyrus traces her lineage back through his other daughter, Elizabeth.
“Is that true? That’s amazing!” exclaimed Parton when surprised with the news in an Access Hollywood interview this week. “Well, we’re so close, Miley and I, I would’ve thought we’d have been at least third cousins 10 times removed,” she quipped. “I’m sure she’ll get a kick out of that. But it doesn’t surprise me, because she does feel like family.”
Parton legendarily played “Aunt Dolly” on the Disney Channel show Hannah Montana, which catapulted Cyrus to child stardom. The two remained close long after the show’s end, sharing Southern comfort food and popular music stardom in equal measure, even covering one another’s most recognizable hits — Cyrus with her “Backyard Sessions” cover of the iconic “Jolene,” and Parton more recently with her take on “Wrecking Ball” (which still featured Cyrus on backing vocals) on Cyrus’ 2023 album Rockstar.
“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,” Cyrus told W magazine earlier this summer.
This latest news can only bring the pop star duo closer together — if that’s even possible.
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