We Can’t Stop Reliving These Dolly Parton and Miley Cyrus New Year’s Eve Performances
On Dec. 31, 2022, Miley Cyrus and her godmother Dolly Parton co-hosted Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party on NBC. Multiple celebrities including Fletcher, Paris Hilton, and Sia also appeared and performed. As co-hosts, Cyrus and Parton performed multiple duets together during the holiday special.
Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton performed ‘Jolene’
Parton originally released “Jolene” in 1973. The song has become a staple in country music. In the song, Parton sings to another woman named Jolene and begs her not to steal her husband.
The song includes multiple references to Jolene’s beauty, leading some modern interpretations to speculate that the person singing the song could also be attracted to the song’s subject.
During Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party, Cyrus and Parton performed Patsy Cline’s “Walkin’ After Midnight” while wearing black-and-pink outfits.
“Hey, Aunt Dolly, we forgot something,” Cyrus said after performing the song.
“What? What’d we forget?” Parton asked.
“I came from LA, you came from Nashville, all the way to Miami, and we didn’t even do ‘Jolene,'” Cyrus explained.
“Well, that can’t happen,” Parton said.
To a round of applause, the two then launched into performing “Jolene” together.
The two singers performed ‘I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll’ together
“I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” was originally released in 1975 by the Arrows. In 1981, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts released a cover of the song. This version became the well-known version that music fans know and love today.
During Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party, Cyrus and Parton performed “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” while wearing black and leopard-print outfits.
The two walked out with Parton’s arm around Cyrus’ waist. While Parton carried a microphone with her, the two walked to a microphone stand where Cyrus’ microphone was waiting. At the end of the dynamic performance, Cyrus kissed Parton’s cheek.
Dolly Parton and Miley Cyrus performed ‘Wrecking Ball’ and ‘I Will Always Love You’
Cyrus released “Wrecking Ball” in 2013. The song is one of the singles from her 2013 album Bangerz. The song is well-known in pop culture for its music video, in which Cyrus swings on a giant wrecking ball while naked.
As an album, Bangerz showed Cyrus exploring more of a hip-hop sound while still remaining a pop artist, and the album’s concept pushed a more rebellious image.
During Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party, Cyrus and Parton performed “Wrecking Ball” together. Each singer sang a different verse and sang the song’s chorus together.
Toward the end of the performance of “Wrecking Ball,” Parton sang “Don’t you ever say I just walked away/ I will always love you.”
Parton then used this to transition into singing her own song, “I Will Always Love You,” belting out, “And I, I will always love you, ooh, I/ Will always love you.”
She originally released “I Will Always Love You” in 1974 as a country song. In 1992, Whitney Houston covered “I Will Always Love You” for the movie The Bodyguard. “I Will Always Love You” became one of Houston’s most well-known songs.
