For Miley Cyrus, 25 August was already loaded with meaning long before Dolly Parton’s death. It marked the release of “Wrecking Ball,” the night she shocked the world at the VMAs, her first reported split from Liam Hemsworth, and her father Billy Ray’s birthday. In 2023, she chose that same date for “Used To Be Young,” explaining it had always been personally and professionally significant.

When Dolly, the godmother who’d loved her “like one of my own,” died on 25 August 2025, that date stopped being just a milestone and became a scar. Fans watched old footage with new eyes, realising Miley had unknowingly tied her most vulnerable song to the day she’d eventually lose one of the most important women in her life. Now every August 25 will carry all of it at once: the girl she was, the woman she became, and the loss that will forever shadow both.