Billy Ray Cyrus opened Instagram with decades of memories behind him and admitted he barely knew where to begin. Dolly Parton had been more than a country music legend in his life; she had been a friend, collaborator and eventually part of his family. Their friendship began during the explosive early success of “Achy Breaky Heart” in 1992, when Billy Ray toured with Dolly and quickly grew close to her. That same year, his daughter Miley Cyrus was born, creating another connection that would last for decades. Billy Ray remembered growing up watching Dolly on television before eventually finding himself sharing stages and dressing rooms with her. No dollar figure could really measure what that relationship came to mean to the Cyrus family.

Their closeness eventually attracted the kind of tabloid attention that often follows famous performers. Stories began suggesting that Billy Ray and Dolly’s relationship was more than friendship, and the speculation apparently bothered him enough that he decided to address it directly with her. He later recalled walking into Dolly’s dressing room prepared to apologize for the headlines. Instead of anger, embarrassment or a serious lecture, Dolly gave him a reaction so unmistakably hers that Billy Ray never forgot it—and years later, it became one of the memories he chose to share publicly.

Their relationship continued long after those rumors disappeared. Dolly became Miley Cyrus’ godmother after Billy Ray and then-wife Tish welcomed their daughter in 1992, and she later appeared as “Aunt Dolly” in three episodes of Hannah Montana. Miley would go on to call Parton an idol and role model, crediting her with both career wisdom and a deeply personal influence. There was never an attorney handling some feud between them, no insurance dispute, mortgage disagreement, investment controversy, estate quarrel or court battle defining their connection. What remained was friendship. Billy Ray also revealed that Dolly had recently sent him a personal message telling him she loved him “with her whole heart,” words that became even more meaningful after her passing. For a man who had known her both before and after global fame changed his own life, that private message became one of the keepsakes he said he would carry forward.

The story Billy Ray saved for the end went back to that dressing room in 1992. Concerned about tabloid reports claiming he and Dolly were having an affair, he walked in intending to apologize for the unwanted attention. Dolly, according to Billy Ray, simply looked at him, gave him a wink and delivered a perfectly timed response: “Honey, this trash sells records!” The remark captured the humor and perspective that friends repeatedly associated with her. Billy Ray’s tribute also arrived as he reflected on the woman who later became godmother to his daughter and remained close to the family for more than three decades. He said Dolly had recently written that she loved him with her whole heart, and his response was equally simple: he would always love her the same way. Behind the old rumors was not the scandal tabloids once imagined, but a friendship strong enough to survive them—and a joke Billy Ray was still telling years later.