“Dolly has been the first person that when I get a vinyl printed, that’s the first person I send it to,” Cyrus shared. “The time that we talked, which was the last time we would talk, it was actually me telling her about this record. She is known for the fake, the hair, the makeup, and the show of it. But there’s a part of her that I think is what everyone gravitates towards—it’s how real she is and how authentic she is. So much of my life was about persona… Dolly was just always right about stuff.”
Cyrus also recalled how Parton personally convinced her to perform at the Grammys when she felt hesitant about returning to the stage. “She wanted to pick me up, which never happens,” Cyrus explained. “She’s telling me why I gotta do the Grammys. I’m like, ‘I feel like I’m still in this rest and recovery mode.’ And she’s like, ‘Get your hair teased and get a dress that you love… you’re gonna step into your Hannah Montana, your Dolly Parton. You have that part of yourself.'”
Reflecting on the impact of her predecessors, Cyrus added: “So many of my really stabilizing peers that I have in my life are from generations before me. They’ve laid down, brick-by-brick, the road that I travel now. They aren’t always going to be here for me to call them and say, ‘What do I do now?’ Which I always did with Dolly.”
Bass Persuades is available now across all platforms via BMG, with full interview footage available on Apple Music and YouTube.
