Noah Cyrus Pays Tribute to Dolly Parton: 'A Rainbow to Our World'

Noah Cyrus has paid tribute to Dolly Parton, writing on Instagram that the late singer was "a rainbow to our world for nearly six decades" and "an angel among us."

Cyrus posted her tribute on Thursday, August 27, three days after Parton's death at age 80. She said she waited so that her older sister, Miley Cyrus — Parton's goddaughter — could share her thoughts first. Miley posted her own tribute on Wednesday, August 26, calling Parton "Aunt Dolly" (Billboard).

Parton died on Tuesday, August 25, at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville. Her publicist, Marcel Pariseau, told the Associated Press the cause was "a brief battle with cancer" (NPR). Representatives said in a statement that she died "after bravely facing a brief battle with cancer" (The Tennessean). No cause was given in the initial announcement on August 25; the cancer detail came in a subsequent statement from her publicist (ABC7).

Parton's family said her team will work to preserve her legacy (WSMV).

In her Instagram post, Noah Cyrus called Parton "one of a kind" and wrote that she "was an angel among us who not only wrote songs that spoke to us all, but whose kindness, compassion, and empathy toward those who truly needed it" left a mark on those around her (Yahoo Entertainment). Cyrus also expressed gratitude for what she described as Parton's "beautiful" relationship with the Cyrus family (People).

The tribute ended with a video clip of Miley Cyrus and Parton duetting on "I Will Always Love You," the song Parton wrote in 1973 and which became one of the most widely recorded in her catalogue (Billboard).

Parton's relationship with the Cyrus family spanned decades, rooted in her long friendship with Billy Ray Cyrus and her role as godmother to Miley. That bond placed Parton inside one of country music's most visible family circles, and the tributes from both sisters this week drew on it directly.

Parton was 80.