Dolly Parton and Miley Cyrus have always been close. Dolly is notably Miley's "honorary godmother," and she regularly appeared on Miley's Disney Channel show Hannah Montana as Aunt Dolly. The two singers have always remained incredibly close, including releasing music together, such as Miley's 2017 song "Rainbowland" or Dolly's 2020 holiday track "Christmas Is.
" They even cohosted NBC's New Year's Eve special in 2022. Well, it turns out the two aren't just close. They're actually related.
On Wednesday, Ancestry.com revealed that they're seventh cousins, once removed. According to the genealogy company, they share a mutual relative in John Brickey, who was born in Virginia in 1740 and lived in Blount County, Tennessee, until his death in 1806.
The news didn't come as too much of a shock to Dolly, who was presented with and asked about the information during an interview with Access Hollywood published on Monday. Dolly and her sister Rachel Parton George were speaking to the news outlet while promoting their new cookbook, Good Lookin' Cookin' . "Now, who thought that up? Is that true?" Dolly said as the reporter then revealed the shared ancestor.
"That's amazing," she continued. "We're so close, Miley and I. I would've thought we'd at least been third cousins, 10 times removed.
" When asked about her thoughts on the relation, Dolly said, "That's amazing, the ancestry that says I'm related to Miley, and I'm sure she'll get a kick out of that. But it doesn't surprise me because sh.