Dolly Parton’s Goddaughter Once Covered “Jolene” and Some Say It’s the Best Version Since the Original

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When your godmother is Dolly Parton, there are certain songs you do not just cover, you carry them.

And when Miley Cyrus tackled “Jolene” during her now-legendary Backyard Sessions, she did not just carry it. She lit the whole thing on fire and made country fans sit up straighter than they had in years.

There are a thousand versions of “Jolene” floating around online and in bars across America, with someone always trying to match Dolly’s magic. But there is only one version that has ever come close to the original, and it came from a gravel-voiced, tattooed Miley Cyrus in a backyard with nothing but a mic and a small band behind her.

The video dropped in 2012 and has since racked up tens of millions of views. It is raw and unfiltered, with no flashy edits or overdone production. It is just a stripped-down acoustic set and Miley doing what most critics at the time never gave her enough credit for, which was singing like her life depended on it.

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And it did matter. You can hear it in the way she drags out the line “please don’t take my man,” like she already knows he is as good as gone. You can hear it in the grit of her voice, one shaped by fame, rebellion, and hard-earned maturity, even though she was still in her early twenties when she recorded it.

The connection to the song runs deeper than most fans realize. Miley is not just covering a classic, she is singing a piece of family history. Dolly Parton became her godmother not long after Billy Ray Cyrus shot to stardom with “Achy Breaky Heart.” The two became close and stayed that way, with Dolly even guest starring on Hannah Montana as Aunt Dolly, blurring the line between real life and the screen.

That is what makes this version stand out. Miley is not trying to reinvent the song or chase a trend. She is singing something that was handed to her like a legacy. And she sings it with respect, with soul, and with just the right amount of fire to make it her own.

Dolly herself once said that Miley is like a little Elvis and writes songs with the depth of someone twice her age. She always knew there was more to her goddaughter than the headlines suggested. That Backyard Sessions performance made sure the rest of the world saw it, too. There was no filter, no flash, and no industry polish. Just a voice from a country bloodline doing justice to one of country music’s greatest heartbreak songs.

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• Behind the Seams: My Life in RhinestonesBook · 2023The stories behind her stage outfits, written with Holly George-WarrenSee it on Amazon →
• Dolly Parton’s Favorite Yellow Cake MixBaking · Duncan HinesFrom her Duncan Hines baking lineSee it on Amazon →
• JoleneVinylWith “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You”See it on Amazon →

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Miley has performed “Jolene” on bigger stages since then. She sang it live with Dolly, joined forces with Pentatonix on The Voice, and brought it to the SNL stage for a heartfelt tribute. But nothing quite matches that first backyard performance. Maybe it was the setting, or maybe it was the rawness of the moment. Or maybe it was the first time Miley Cyrus stopped being a brand and started showing the world who she really was as an artist.

And somewhere out there, you know Dolly Parton is watching that clip and thinking, “That’s my girl.”