Miley Cyrus sang Jolene where Dolly Parton once outed her as Hannah Montana
Parton was Miley's real godmother and her on-screen Aunt Dolly. Less than two months after her death, Miley told the crowd: 'Me and Dolly, we are eternal.'
Miley Cyrus cried her way into Jolene at the Hollywood Bowl on Friday 16 October 2026, the first of two sold-out nights for her tenth album, Bass Persuades. A photo of her godmother, Dolly Parton, filled the screens as the opening notes played, and Miley told the crowd why she had booked this venue: the only time she ever watched Dolly from a seat was here.
Parton died on 25 August, aged 80, after what her representative called a "brief battle with cancer". Friday was Miley's first proper headline show in years, and she spent part of it explaining how Dolly once took the mickey out of her in that very building.
The night Aunt Dolly blew her cover
The way Miley tells it, she asked for one evening off from being family. "If she had it her way, and she was playing a show, I'd be standing right beside her in a matching costume," she said. She wanted to enjoy Dolly "like the rest of the world has gotten to". Dolly said "Okay, Miley", which, Miley added, "never means okay".
Dolly then walked out and opened her own concert with The Best of Both Worlds, the Hannah Montana theme. Then she pointed out the show's other star:
"I don't know if y'all know this, but my goddaughter is Hannah Montana, and she's actually here tonight, but she's sitting out in her seat. She didn't want anyone to bug her."
— Dolly Parton, as Miley recalled it from the stage
Nobody had clocked Miley until that moment. One fan at Friday's show summed up the story on Reddit more bluntly: Dolly "wasn't happy" that her goddaughter wouldn't perform with her, and the theme song was her reply.
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Aunt Dolly, on screen and off
The prank only worked because the family tie was real twice over. Billy Ray Cyrus, who toured with Parton in the 1990s, asked her to be godmother before Miley was born. Then Disney cast Dolly as Aunt Dolly in Hannah Montana in 2006, and a generation of kids watched a real godmother play a fictional aunt.
What followed was a decade of Miley trying to bury the blonde wig:
- 2013: on Saturday Night Live, she jokes that Hannah has been "murdered".
- 2014: Dolly defends her in Time: "people were gonna leave her there forever."
- 2016: for the tenth anniversary, Miley writes that Hannah is "chopped up into little tiny pieces and buried in my backyard".
- March 2026: Miley fronts a 20th anniversary special, using a Dolly trick she told Variety about: promote something before it exists, and "then no one can say no".
Dolly congratulated her and signed off "Aunt Dolly". Five months later she was gone, and with her the only person who could drag Miley back into Hannah's spotlight without asking.
Dolly once made sure the whole Bowl knew Miley was in the audience. On Friday, Miley made sure it knew who wasn't.
The rest of the set
Miley belted Jolene herself, which was not a given on the night. Variety's reviewer noted that she mostly held the mic out to the crowd on We Can't Stop and Party in the U.S.A., and the Reddit thread grumbled about who was actually singing. During Wrecking Ball, one of Dolly's favourites, Miley clutched a heart-shaped frame with Parton's photo.
Her last words before Jolene have travelled furthest:
"Me and Dolly, we are eternal. Nothing in this life could ever tear us apart, and I'm gonna see her again."
— Miley Cyrus, at the Hollywood Bowl
The second show is on Sunday 18 October, with 18,000 fans across both nights. Miley hasn't toured since Bangerz in 2014 and told Apple Music's Zane Lowe she would rather people come to her. On Friday they came to the one stage where Dolly had the first word. Miley finally got the last one.
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