-Miley, oh, my God. Look at you.
It's so good to see you.
Of course you always go above and beyond.
What is this setup?
Is this -- Are you in your house?
-This is my throne, so this is a Peter Shire chair.
She's even got a name. She's not a chair.
She's a living, breathing being.
-Art piece. -Yes.
She's about two years old, but she's very mature for her age.
-[ Laughs ]
Congrats on the VMA performance.
I know you were practicing,
gearing up for that on Instagram.
I saw you, and I was just like --
I can't even tell when I talk about you to other people, like,
how much of a hard worker you are
and what a great work ethic you have.
Where does it come from?
Is it Mom? Is it Dad?
-I think, you know, honestly, you -- to love what you do,
you don't really work a day in your life.
And so I always remind myself the fact
that I'm one of the chosen people that get to do
what I'm truly the most passionate about
and call it any form of work is an honor,
and I'm grateful for it every single day.
But I also have to remember that there are --
I want to work, and I want to work hard.
And I don't want to just do what I love for a living,
but I want to put in my greatest effort.
I want to come home tired sometimes.
I want to come home after a day of work and my feet be hurting
and I know that I've got to go in for more days.
And I love the idea of, like, tour rehearsals.
It's something I miss so much right now.
I love the feeling of my voice, like, burning after a long day
of Metallica or Zeppelin and going home and going,
"Ugh, I'm not going to be able to talk tomorrow,
but I know I'm going to have to do it again."
I love to work, and I love to kind of be needed.
And I think one thing that's been really powerful
through 2020 is there's been some amazing releases.
Besides from me putting out my single, so many artists
have been delivering such incredible music that I think
has really been getting us through.
And that just reminds me of how lucky I am to be
in an industry that can bring this kind of peace and joy.
There's something that makes everything feel more normal
knowing that I'm in a freaky chair,
swinging around in my underwear on a disco ball.
Somehow it feels like all is right and well in the world.
-Yeah.
I mean, we've known each other for years now,
and you've been famous for half of your life and still so young.
Do you find yourself mentoring the new artists
that you're talking about? Do you give new artists advice?
Do they come to you?
-I try to not really be like a preacher or a teacher
because I'm just learning so much at all times of myself,
and I'm changing so much.
And I really think that everybody's journey
is just so unique to them. -Yeah.
-But the one, you know, piece of advice that I would say
for the sanity of artists is to know that success is seasonal
and to not be too attached with --
you're going to have these moments and, like, everything,
things are going to fluctuate in your life and in your career.
And things just change, and there's just a time
and there's a need for you at different moments.
And I think to not get too attached
to numbers and statistics.
Know and check in with yourself.
Does this still feel good?
Do I still feel like my morals and my values
are being met with everything that I do?
And I think that would just be really important
to just try to not lose yourself.
-Yeah, because there must be -- That's so true.
I mean, but you must have learned that as --
I mean, was it "Hannah Montana" where you just go like --
I mean, there was no other kid your age
doing what you were doing, I mean, starring in a TV show
and singing, like, hit songs.
-Well, you know, I grew up watching the Cher show
with my mom, so that seemed like --
that seemed like what you were supposed to do.
-You've seen the best.
I mean, your godmother is the one and only Dolly Parton.
I mean, she's the coolest.
-And, you know, one thing I always say about Dolly is
they say don't meet your heroes, but she --
that doesn't apply to her. -Oh, yeah.
-When you meet her, she's, like, as incredible
as you would have ever dreamed.
She's even better.
I mean, she -- like, every single person on set,
in a crowd, going to the grocery store,
from the bottom to the top, she's just like --
By the way, I don't know where she gets so many Dolly hats.
Everywhere I go,
she pulls out a Dolly hat and hands it to somebody.
I'm like, "How many of these Dolly hats --"
It's not like she's driving around
and got them in the trunk of her car.
They just come from nowhere.
So she's like, "Thank you so much for your hard work.
Dolly hat?" I think it comes from her wig.
-[ Laughs ] She hides them in the wig?
-Under the hair. "Dolly hat, anybody?"
-She's legit. Speaking of Dolly,
we are both going to be on her Christmas album.
Did you know this? -Yes.
Only for Dolly do you sing a Christmas carol
in your kitchen in the middle of July.
-[ Laughs ]
-What's funny about that is not many artists
now make physical CDs.
So I'm like, "Dolly, like,
I'm working on 'Midnight Sky.' I'm directing.
Is there any way that I can do this just a little bit later?"
And she's like, "Honey, I got to print the album.
Like, I needed it yesterday."
And so she -- Yeah, she's making her physical copies
of her records for -- my dad's on the album also,
but only for Dolly, Christmas comes in July.
-"A Holly Dolly Christmas" is the name of the album.
Do you remember the first time you performed with Dolly?
-I remember her coming to a table read for "Hannah Montana"
and, you know, table reads, you sit around everybody.
It's no taping that day, so I was only 15.
I had, like, zit cream all over my face and, you know,
my pajamas were on,
and we all had our backpacks, going to school,
and she came in in a pink silk robe.
And her hair, like, barely could fit through the doorway,
and that's one of those proud moments where
when people started saying, "So you call her Aunt Dolly.
Is that your real aunt?"
I'm like, "Yes, she is."
Like, yes, because that is just --
She's who you want to be, like, from just --
not just the way that she is as an artist and as an entertainer
because, speaking of evolutions and just -- she's lasted.
Her career has been so lasting and incredible,
but she's just the best living angel on Earth.
-I agree with that.