Miley Cyrus
Miley Ray Cyrus (/ˈmaɪli ˈsaɪrəs/, MY-lee SY-rəs; born Destiny Hope Cyrus, November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Regarded as a pop icon, she has been recognized for her evolving artistry, style, and hailed as the "Teen Queen" of the 2000s era. She is also cited as one of the few examples of a child star with a successful music career as an adult.[2] As the daughter of country singer Billy Ray Cyrus, she emerged as a teen idol at age 13 as the lead character in the Disney Channel television series Hannah Montana (2006–2011). As Hannah Montana, she achieved success on the Billboard charts with two number-one soundtracks and a US top-ten single.
"Miley" redirects here. For other uses, see Miley (disambiguation).
Miley Cyrus
- Miley Ray Cyrus
- Miley Ray Hemsworth[a]
- Hannah Montana
- Singer
- songwriter
- actress
2001–present
- Ron Cyrus (grandfather)
- Trace Cyrus (brother)
- Noah Cyrus (sister)
- Brandi Cyrus (sister)
- Walt Disney
- Hollywood
- RCA
- Smiley Miley
- Columbia
Her solo career started with the US number-one pop rock albums Meet Miley Cyrus (2007) and Breakout (2008); featuring the top-ten singles "See You Again" and "7 Things". The EP The Time of Our Lives (2009) reached number two in the US while its lead single "Party in the U.S.A." became one of the best-selling singles of all time in the country and was later certified thirteen-times platinum by the RIAA. The ballad "The Climb", also reached number four in the US. Trying to recalibrate her image, she explored dance-pop in Can't Be Tamed (2010), which received mixed reviews; however, its title track reached the top-ten in the US. Cyrus later signed with RCA Records and took a new artistic direction with the hip-hop and R&B-influenced Bangerz (2013). Her fifth chart-topping album, it yielded the singles "We Can't Stop" and her first Billboard Hot 100 number-one "Wrecking Ball". She then dabbled in experimental styles on Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz (2015), embraced country pop on Younger Now (2017) and ventured into rock and synth-pop on Plastic Hearts (2020). After signing with Columbia Records in 2021, Cyrus released Endless Summer Vacation (2023). Its lead single "Flowers" set various records and marked her second US number-one. The song won two Grammy Awards including Record of the Year, and the album was nominated for Album of the Year.
Apart from music, Cyrus starred in the films Bolt (2008), Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009), The Last Song (2010), LOL (2012), and So Undercover (2013), and appeared briefly in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) and Drive-Away Dolls (2024). On television, she produced and appeared in the documentary, Miley: The Movement (2013), served as a coach on The Voice (2016–2017), starred in the "Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too" episode of Black Mirror (2019), hosts the yearly holiday special Miley's New Year's Eve Party (2021–present), and starred in and executive produced the documentary concert special, Endless Summer Vacation (Backyard Sessions) (2023). In 2014, she founded the non-profit Happy Hippie Foundation, which was supported by the web video series Backyard Sessions (2012–2023).
Cyrus has received numerous accolades, including two Grammy Awards, one Brit Award, five Billboard Music Awards, three MTV Video Music Awards, and eight Guinness World Records. She has appeared in listicles such as the Time 100 (2008 and 2014) and Forbes 30 Under 30 (2014 and 2021). Billboard ranked her as the ninth-greatest Billboard 200 female artist and the 62nd greatest artist of all time. Cyrus is the eighth-highest-certified female digital singles artist by the RIAA,[3] and one of the most successful artists of the 2010s according to Billboard.[4]
Early life and career beginnings
Destiny Hope Cyrus was born November 23, 1992, in Franklin, Tennessee,[5] to Leticia "Tish" Jean Cyrus (née Finley) and country singer Billy Ray Cyrus.[5] She was born with supraventricular tachycardia, a condition causing an abnormal resting heart rate.[6] Her birth name, Destiny Hope, expressed her parents' belief that she would accomplish great things. Her parents nicknamed her "Smiley", which they later shortened to "Miley", because she often smiled as an infant.[7] In 2008, she legally changed her name to Miley Ray Cyrus; her middle name honors her grandfather, Democratic politician Ronald Ray Cyrus, who was from Kentucky.[8] Cyrus's godmother is singer-songwriter Dolly Parton.[9]
Against the advice of her father's record company,[10] Cyrus's parents secretly married on December 28, 1993, a year after her birth.[11] They had two more children, son Braison and daughter Noah.[12] From a previous relationship, her mother has two other children, Brandi and Trace.[13] Her father's first child, Christopher Cody, was born in April 1992[11] and grew up separately with his mother, waitress Kristin Luckey, in South Carolina.[10][14]
All of Cyrus's maternal siblings are established entertainers. Trace is a vocalist and guitarist for the electronic pop band Metro Station.[15] Noah is an actress and, along with Braison, models, sings, and is a songwriter.[16][17][18][19][20] Brandi was formerly a musician for the indie rock band Frank + Derol[21][22] and is a professional DJ. The Cyrus farmhouse is located on 500 acres of land outside Nashville.[23]
Cyrus attended Heritage Elementary School in Williamson County while she and her family lived in Thompson's Station, Tennessee.[24] When she was cast in Hannah Montana, the family moved to Los Angeles and she attended Options for Youth Charter Schools[25] studying with a private tutor on set.[26] Raised as a Christian, she was baptized in a Southern Baptist church before moving to Hollywood in 2005.[27] She attended church regularly while growing up and wore a purity ring.[28] In 2001, when Cyrus was eight, she and her family moved to Toronto, Canada, while her father filmed the television series Doc.[29] After Billy Ray Cyrus took her to see a 2001 Mirvish production of Mamma Mia! at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, Miley Cyrus grabbed his arm and told him, "This is what I want to do, daddy. I want to be an actress."[30] She began to take singing and acting lessons at the Armstrong Acting Studio in Toronto.[31]
Cyrus's first acting role was as Kylie in her father's television series Doc.[7] In 2003, she received credit under her birth name for her role as "Young Ruthie" in Tim Burton's Big Fish.[32] During this period she auditioned with Taylor Lautner for the feature film The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D. Although she was one of two finalists for the role, she chose to appear in Hannah Montana instead.[33] Her mother took on the role of Miley's manager and worked to acquire a team to build her daughter's career.[34][35] Cyrus signed with Mitchell Gossett, director of the youth division at Cunningham Escott Slevin Doherty.[36] Gossett is often credited with "discovering" Cyrus and played a key role in her auditioning for Hannah Montana.[37] She later signed with Jason Morey of Morey Management Group to handle her music career; Dolly Parton steered her to him.[35] She hired her father's finance manager as part of her team.[35]
Headlining
Promotional
Opening act
