This Monday, January 19, country music icon Dolly Parton will celebrate her 80th birthday. To mark the occasion, the singer released a new version of one of her hits, “Light of a Clear Blue Morning.” Originally released in 1977, this song of hope is now reborn through a collaboration between several major female figures in American music. Parton is joined on the track by Lainey Wilson, Reba McEntire, and Queen Latifah, as well as pop star Miley Cyrus.
Proceeds from the track and accompanying video will be donated to pediatric cancer research at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tennessee. Parton teased the track, collaborators, and charitable cause on her Instagram earlier this week.
In a statement, the artist explained the emotional significance of the song: “I wrote ‘Light of a Clear Blue Morning’ during a season when I was searching for hope, and 50 years later that message still feels just as true. As I celebrate my 80th birthday, this new version is my way of using what I’ve been blessed with to shine a little light forward, especially by sharing it with some truly incredible women,” it reads.
The song originally appeared on the 1977 album New Harvest…First Gathering. It was a hit on its release, reaching #11 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and #87 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Dolly Parton, the godmother
Miley Cyrus’ presence on the track is no mere coincidence, as she is Dolly Parton’s goddaughter. When Miley was born, her father Billy Ray Cyrus, a close friend of Parton’s, offered her this role, which she seems to have taken to with gusto. The Disney Channel phenomenon Hannah Montana, in which Cyrus played Miley Stewart in her career breakout, also made a small nod to this family connection, with Parton playing the character’s aunt.
Now 33, Miley Cyrus has made no secret of her godmother’s influence on her career. Over the years, the two artists have multiplied their collaborations. They notably sang “Rainbowland” together on Cyrus’ album Younger Now in 2017, “Christmas Is” on A Holly Dolly Christmas in 2020, and more recently in 2023, a revisited recording of “Wrecking Ball” for Parton’s album Rockstar. In 2021, Cyrus performed her own cover of “Light of a Clear Blue Morning” on a Saturday Night Live Mother’s Day special, offering a beautiful tribute to her godmother.
Originally published in Vanity Fair France.
Margot Blaise
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