It's well known that Dolly Parton is Miley Cyrus' godmother, due to her friendship with Miley's father, Billy Ray Cyrus, but now it turns out that they're actually related. Dolly said in a 2009 interview with ABC News: "When was born, Billy Ray said, ‘You just have to be her godmother,’ and I said, ‘I accept.' I’m so proud of her, love her. And she’s just like one of my own."
Dolly was promoting her new cookbook, Good Lookin' Cookin, which she co-authored with her sister Rachel, during an interview with Access Hollywood when she was told that Ancestry.com announced this week that they're related through a common ancestor.
The statement from Ancestry.com read: "Dolly Parton and Miley Cyrus are seventh cousins, once removed! Their common ancestor is John Brickey, born in 1740 in Virginia."
Dolly made several appearances as Miley's aunt on the Disney series Hannah Montana, and Miley appeared on Dolly's TV Christmas special, Dolly Parton's Mountain Magic Christmas in 2022, while Dolly co-hosted Miley's New Years Eve Party on NBC, also in 2022 (see photo above).
Ancestry.com also revealed that John Brickey "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 the family came to the United States in the late 1600s." Both Miley and Dolly were born in Tennessee.
Brickey lived about 20 miles away from where Dolly Parton's theme park, Dollywood, is now situated. Brickey is Dolly's sixth great-grandfather and Miley's seventh great-grandfather.
"Is that true? That's amazing!" Dolly said on Access Hollywood. "Well, we're so close, Miley and I. I would've thought we would've been at least third cousins, 10 times removed. I’m sure she’ll get a kick out of that. It doesn’t surprise me because she does feel like family." ~Alexandra Heilbron
Not surprised. There's probably a lot of inbreeding in Tennessee.
Probably Miley's parents are related. They were both born in Tennessee.
I’m guessing that means Billy Ray and Dolly are related also?