All About Miley Cyrus’s Famous Family (And How She and Dolly Parton Were Related)
All About Miley Cyrus’s Famous Family (And How She and Dolly Parton Were Related)
Bailey BujnosekFri, August 28, 2026 at 5:31 PM UTC
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Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton behind the scenes of ‘Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas’ in 2022.Credit: Katherine Bomboy/NBCThe Gist -
Miley Cyrus is the daughter of country singer Billy Ray Cyrus and manager-producer Tish Cyrus.
She has five siblings: brothers Christopher, Trace, and Braison, and sisters Brandi and Noah.
Miley’s real-life godmother, Dolly Parton, played her character’s aunt on Hannah Montana. Turns out, they were actually related, albeit more distantly.
Miley Cyrus isn’t the only musician in her family.
Several of her five siblings—Christopher, Brandi, Trace, Braison, and Noah—have made their own forays into the music industry, supported by proud parents Billy Ray Cyrus and Tish Cyrus-Purcell. Her parents are also in on the family business—the “Flowers” singer’s dad, Billy Ray, was a country hitmaker in the ‘90s and her Hannah Montana co-star. Her mom, Tish Cyrus-Purcell, serves as Miley and sister Noah’s manager.
Miley has opened up about how drama affected her relationship with her family for nearly a decade. In a June 2025 appearance on Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky, she said, “Half of us weren’t speaking to each other at one point, and we cleaned all that up. That was a really important part of my year this year, was all of my family putting those lines of communication back together.”
Billy Ray Cyrus, Miley Cyrus, and family at the LA premiere of “Hannah Montana: The Movie” in 2009.Credit: Steve Granitz/WireImage
Tish and Billy Ray divorced in April 2022, per People. Tish has since tied the knot with actor Dominic Purcell, while Billy Ray is in a relationship with actress Elizabeth Hurley.
In August 2026, the Cyrus family grappled with the loss of longtime friend and country music legend Dolly Parton. The “Jolene” singer had played Miley’s aunt in Hannah Montana. Off-screen, she was her godmother—and, it would turn out, one of her distant relatives.
Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton on ‘Hannah Montana’ in 2007.Credit: Getty Images/Disney Channel/Joel Warren
“The feeling of losing my Aunt Dolly is beyond what feels right to share,” Miley wrote at the start of her Instagram post remembering the icon. She added in part, “I have an angel by my side. I always have…I will always love her and want to make her proud.”
Here’s everything to know about Miley Cyrus’s family, from her parents to her five siblings and her connection to Dolly Parton.
Billy Ray Cyrus
Billy Ray Cyrus attends Channel 4’s “The Inheritance” photocall at The Ned on August 06, 2025.Credit: Ben Montgomery/Getty Images
Miley’s dad, Billy Ray, became a country-music sensation after releasing hit song “Achy Breaky Heart” in 1992. The next year, he and girlfriend Leticia “Tish” Jean Finley married in Tennessee in an intimate ceremony. Cyrus adopted Tish’s two children from a previous relationship—daughter Brandi and son Trace. Cyrus also has a son named Christopher from a previous relationship, whom he shares with Kristin Luckey.He and Tish welcomed their first child together, daughter Miley, in 1992. Their son Braison arrived in 1994. They welcomed their youngest daughter, Noah, in 2000.While his daughter Miley would one day become one of the Disney Channel’s biggest breakout stars—and a three-time Grammy winner—Billy Ray initially warned her away from show business. “I think he just didn’t want me to feel any kind of rejection,” Cyrus said in a 2013 Rolling Stoneinterview. “He didn’t want me to be hurt by the industry.” The father and daughter would ultimately co-star in her massive tween TV series, Hannah Montana, playing fictional relatives Billy Ray and Miley Stewart.
Billy Ray continued his music career before, during, and after Hannah Montana. To date, he’s released 16 albums. Even the Gen Zers who didn’t grow up with “Achy Breaky Heart” dominating the airwaves have likely tuned in to his 2019 feature on a remix of Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road.” The track brought Cyrus his first two Grammys. Outside of music, he’s also pursued acting post-Disney stardom, most notably starring in CMT sitcom Still the King from 2016 to 2017.
He and Tish announced their divorce in 2022 after nearly 30 years of marriage. “We have grown up together, raised a family we can be so proud of, and it is now time to create our own paths,” the former couple told People in a statement at the time. Billy Ray married singer Firerose in October 2023. They divorced in May 2024. Since 2025, the country singer has been in a relationship with actress Elizabeth Hurley.
Tish Cyrus-Purcell
Miley Cyrus (L) and mom Tish Cyrus attend the SNL50: The Anniversary Special in 2025.Credit: TheStewartofNY/WireImage
Tish Cyrus has been her daughter Miley’s supporter since day one. The Hopetown Entertainment president is Miley’s longtime manager.
While balancing her ex-husband and daughter’s careers in the 2000s, she made sure to put family first. “Anytime we were on the road for Billy or for Miley, I took all the kids with me,” Tish told Refinery29 in a 2017 interview. “As much as school is important, so is being with your children. I think that’s why we are so close as a family.”
Although the Cyrus children are all grown up, their bond with Tish remains strong today. When Tish married actor Dominic Purcell in August 2023 at Miley’s Malibu home, the “Used to Be Young” singer served as her mom’s maid of honor. “My whole life my mom has been behind the scenes,” Miley recalled to Vogue ahead of Tish’s ceremony. “She was always the one getting me ready for big days, starting with cheerleading competitions, then eventually on sets or backstage before a performance. She has never stopped celebrating me and has been so supportive of my decisions. I feel honored to be that person for her, now that I’m older.”
Besides working in entertainment as a manager and producer, Tish has also developed a passion for interior design. In 2021, she and design partner Mat Sanders collaborated on Miley’s 6,800 square-foot home in Southern California. “My mom’s best quality as a mom and as an interior designer is her understanding and non-judgment,” the pop star shared with Architectural Digest in an interview.
Tish showed off her design chops—alongside daughter Brandi—in Bravo’s 2017 reality series Cyrus vs. Cyrus: Design and Conquer.
Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton and Miley Cyrus perform during the Grammy Awards on February 10, 2019.Credit: Getty Images
Despite what Hannah Montana portrayed, Parton wasn’t really Cyrus’s ‘Aunt Dolly.’ But she was her godmother. In a 2023 appearance on SiriusXM’s The Howard Stern Show, Parton explained how she came to have the title. It all started when she toured with Billy Ray to promote Achy Breaky Heart in the ‘90s.
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“We just got to be good friends because he’s a Kentucky boy, I’m from Tennessee,” Parton said. “And (Billy Ray) said … ‘We’re having a girl, and you’ve got to be her godmother!’ And I said: ‘Well, I’d be honoured.’ So actually, Miley and I took over from there. We just stayed very, very close through the years.”
In 2024, while interviewing with Access Hollywood, she was shown Ancestry.com results explaining how she and Miley are seventh cousins once removed. Their mutual ancestor, John Brinkley, hailed from Blount County in Tennessee—not far from present-day Dollywood.
“Is that true?! That’s amazin’!,” Parton said when presented with the information, per theLos Angeles Times. She added of Miley, “I’m sure she’ll get a kick out of that.”
Brandi Cyrus
Brandi Cyrus attends the Season 2 premiere of “Landman” on November 11, 2025.Credit: Taylor Hill/FilmMagic
Tish welcomed daughter Brandi on May 26, 1987, with ex-husband Baxter Helson. Billy Ray adopted Brandi in 1993, upon marrying Tish.
Brandi is a successful podcaster, co-hosting Your Favorite Things with Wells Adams (former Bachelorette contestant and husband of actress Sarah Hyland). She also hosts the podcast Sorry We’re Stoned with Tish.In 2024, she opened up to People about how her relationship with her mom had evolved. “I’d say from my junior year of high school until my mid-20s, we butted heads a lot,” Brandi said. “But then I started to grow up a little bit, we started to have more of a friendship dynamic, like we do now. And with this podcast, we control it and don’t have to answer to anybody and get to kind of just do what we want, and it’s so much fun to do together.”
Beyond podcasting, she’s become a DJ—proving the musical genes are strong in the Cyrus family. Brandi is also her younger sister’s biggest cheerleader and close friend, going on several girl’s trips with Miley over the years. In 2017, Brandi made a cameo during Miley’s set at the iHeartRadio Music Festival. More recently, she and Tish accompanied Miley at the 2025 Grammys, where the latter snagged the award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance alongside Beyoncé for “II MOST WANTED.”
Trace Cyrus
Trace Cyrus and Miley Cyrus arrive at the Tom Ford AW20 Show in 2020.Credit: Steve Granitz/WireImage
Tish and Helson welcomed their second child, son Trace, on February 24, 1989. Like his sister Brandi, Trace was adopted by Billy Ray in 1993.Trace was a vocalist and guitarist in pop rock band Metro Station. Their hit 2008 song “Shake It” became the soundtrack of many Millennial coming-of-age moments, and the group even opened on his sister Miley’s Wonder World Tour in 2009. While the group has reunited for the occasional single, Trace has primarily worked as a solo artist since 2017.His country era may be coming up next, according to his social media. In a December 2024 Instagram post promoting the music video for his track “On The Run,” he wrote in the caption, “I was ready to retire from music & start a boxing career but COUNTRY MUSIC NEEDS ME! My album is on the way! We’re going to fix this.”
Cyrus has attended various events with sister Miley, including the 2020 Tom Ford AW20 fashion show and the 2019 iHeartRadio Music Festival. As for his personal life, People reported that he was engaged to actress Brenda Song in 2011, but they called off their engagement in 2012.
Christopher Cyrus
Christopher Cody Cyrus was born in 1992 to Billy Ray and Kristin Luckey, making him Miley’s older half-brother. He grew up out of the spotlight and is not a public figure like his siblings.
Braison Cyrus
Braison Cyrus attends the 2025 BMI Country Awards on November 18, 2025.Credit: Tibrina Hobson/Getty Images
Billy Ray and Tish welcomed their son Braison on May 9, 1994.Like his older siblings, he’s shown an aptitude for music. He released his first single, “I’ll Never Leave You,” in 2018, according to a 2021 Broadway World profile. Later that year, he performed the track on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
More recently, he’s turned music into a family affair, tapping sister Miley for a feature on his October 2025 single “Know This.” Dad Billy Ray posted about the track on social media, writing, “So proud of ya Braison Cyrus!! Y’all crank up his brand new song ‘Know This’ ft. Miley Cyrus … it’s blasting RIGHT NOW and it’s 🔥🎶🥰!!!”In November 2025, he dropped the track “As Long As You’ll Stay” in collaboration with sister Noah. “i love you so much Braison, you’re such an incredibly talented artist. i’m so proud of you 🌠,” she wrote in an Instagram post announcing the song.Off-stage, Brazen has been married to Stella McBride Cyrus since 2019. The couple welcomed their first child, son Bear Chance Cyrus, in June 2021.
Noah Cyrus
Noah Cyrus attends The Drop: Noah Cyrus at GRAMMY Museum L.A. Live on July 30, 2025.Credit: Rebecca Sapp/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
The youngest of Billy Ray and Tish’s children, daughter Noah Cyrus, arrived on January 8, 2000.Like her big sister Miley, Noah took up acting at a young age. In 2009, she voiced the titular character in the English version of Studio Ghibli film Ponyo, according to her IMDb profile. She also had cameos in Hannah Montana and Hannah Montana: The Movie. Ultimately, she found music to be her calling over acting.
Noah’s 2020 EP The End of Everything saw her reflecting on growing up in the shadow of her superstar sister—most notably in the track “Young & Sad.” She took to Instagram Live after the song’s release to elaborate on the feelings it explores. “I think just the message in the second verse, being born in the family I was in, everyone gave me such a hard time for having a hard time being Miley’s little sister,” she said, per People. “But you know, I always felt like I was that person that no one gave a s--- about due to what people said to me online.”
Thankfully, she’s always had her family by her side to support her. At the 2017 iHeartRadio Music Awards, Miley wore a shirt with “I [heart] Noah” emblazoned on the front. During a speech, she said of her youngest sibling, “[Noah is] who I want to be when I grow up. And that’s saying a lot because she’s a lot younger than me.”
Noah nabbed a Best New Artist Grammy nomination in 2021. She showed up to the biggest night in music in a stunning Schiaparelli SS21 Couture dress. Her second studio album, I Want My Loved Ones to Go with Me, dropped in July 2025.The artist has been engaged to fashion designer Pinkus since 2023. In August 2025, she told People, “I’m just excited about everything and about our future. I want to be a mom. This is something that I want more than any other goal in my life.”
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