Who would have thought?
Not every day do you learn that your goddaughter is actually your distant cousin. The Queen of country music, Dolly Parton, and her relationship with her goddaughter, Miley Cyrus, is a national treasure.
Parton’s relationship with the Cyrus goes back decades to when she first met Miley’s father, Billy Ray. Last year, on The Howard Stern Show, Parton shared that she and Billy Ray got close when they were touring together in 1992, promoting his hit “Achy Breaky Heart.” The two maintained a friendship beyond being on tour together, leading Billy Ray to ask Parton if she’d be willing to be Miley’s godmother.
“We just got to be good friends because he’s a Kentucky boy, I’m from Tennessee. And he said … ‘We’re having a girl, and you’ve got to be her godmother!’
And I said: ‘Well, I’d be honored.’ So, actually, Miley and I took over from there. We just stayed very, very close through the years.”
Parton notes that Cyrus often runs things by her when it comes to her music. Parton has always encouraged her to shoot for the stars, but she noted that her title of godmother has not gotten Miley to where she is today, but rather her talent and brains.
Over the years, the godmother/goddaughter duo have graced us with some stellar duets, and Parton featured Miley on her most recent rock and roll record, Rockstar.
But after some newly found information, Parton will start saying she’s featured her cousin on her record.
This week, Ancestry revealed that they traced Barton and Cyrus back to a common relative and revealed the information to her during an Access Hollywood interview.
The family lineage company said in a statement:
“Dolly Parton and Miley Cyrus are seventh cousins, once removed!
Their common ancestor is John Brickey, born in 1740 in Virginia. He later moved to Blount County, Tennessee, with his wife and children and remained there until his death in 1806. The Brickey family originated from France and came to the United States in the late 1600s.
Parton learned the news during a video segment where she and her sister, Rachel, promoted their new cookbook, Good Lookin’ Cookin.
“Is that true? That’s amazing! Well, we’re so close, Miley and I. I would’ve thought we would’ve been at least third cousins, ten times removed.”
It turns out that the soul-sister bond was indeed a blood bond. The more you know.
While you’re here, fire up one of my favorite videos of the distant cousins performing Parton’s hit “Jolene.”
