Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton have carved their own place in the zeitgeist individually as some of the most striking voices from Tennessee and jointly as one of the most iconic goddaughter-godmother duos of our generation — but it looks like the connection the two share is a little bit deeper than that, and they are actually related.
According to a new discovery by Ancestry.com, Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton are seventh cousins, once removed. The duo shares a common ancestor, named John Brickey, hailing from — where else? — Tennessee. According to Ancestry.com's record, John Brickey is Parton's sixth great-grandfather and Cyrus's seventh great-grandfather.
According to the site, though Cyrus's and Parton's roots can be tied back to Tennessee, the Brickey family actually originated from France and emigrated to the United States in the late 1600s. That's not all: Brickey's house was actually pretty close to where Dollywood, the theme park co-owned by Parton, is nowadays.
Parton actually reacted to the news of the discovery recently via Access Hollywood, and her reaction is priceless. “Well we are so close I wouldn't have thought we were at least third cousins, ten times removes,” the “Jolene” singer quipped. "I’m sure [Miley] will get a kick out of that but it doesn’t surprise me because she does feel like family.”
Fans have gotten a taste of Cyrus and Parton's family dynamics through the years, both on and off the stage. Parton made a couple of guest appearances as Aunt Dolly on Hannah Montana, though it was not an actual blood relation on the show — unlike in real life, as we now know.
In non-fictional space, the duo has been just as tight-knit, often joining each other on stage with a familial flair. Speaking to W Magazine earlier this year, Cyrus admitted that “Dolly’s been like a mother to me.” Reminiscing about a fax she sent her for Mother’s Days: “Dolly wrote to me to say: ‘How much do I love you? As much as my heart can hold and as far as my arms can reach.’ It gets me choked up. I just love her so much. Last Christmas, she gave me a whole mannequin, done in her proportions and wearing her outfit. It’s so major.”
Speaking to the London Evening Standard last year, Parton had already echoed the sentiment. “I love Miley, I’ve known Miley before she ever got here when she was conceived,” she shared. “I worked with her daddy, Billy Ray, when he had ‘Achy Breaky Heart,’ we toured together for a few years, and of course, Miley became my goddaughter – I was her fairy godmother. We really have a true bond; she is like a daughter or a sister to me.”
Well, they are all that and seventh cousins, once removed!
