It can be challenging to have the best of both worlds—just ask Miley Cyrus.
Hannah Montana alum feels her relationship with fans has changed since leaving Disney Channel to pursue a more mature music career.
Miley described her teenage self as a “friend to the world” in an exclusive interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music 1, She explained, “That’s a change for my audience to feel that they no longer have the same direct access they would have had every night on their TV.”
“Because when you were little,” she continued, “you would watch episodes of Hannah Montana and could listen to my music all day if you wanted to.” However, according to the 32-year-old, things feel different now.
“There was something accessible about my life back then because I was on TV and touring,” Miley explained about her younger years. “It was also a different time in the media.”
That’s why the singer of “Flowers” has immense respect for her “II Most Wanted” collaborator, Beyoncé, and the way she has handled the public spotlight over the years.
“Beyoncé and I are very different,” she explained. “In her fandom, she’s known as Queen Bey. She has a maternal vibe that makes her feel like a mother to the world.”
Describing the Destiny’s Child member as “a goddess,” Miley added, “She’s truly a queen. I’ve always felt a strong, motherly connection to her.”
Miley Cyrus, known for her role as the titular pop star in “Hannah Montana” from 2006 to 2011, has no regrets about her time on television. In fact, she has often credited the character with shaping her identity. While accepting a Disney Legend award in 2024, she expressed her pride in having portrayed Hannah Montana.
“I stand here still proud to have been Hannah Montana,” Miley told the audience. “This award is dedicated to Hannah and all of her amazing, loyal fans, as well as to everyone who has helped make my dream a reality.”
Miley concluded with a quote from her character: “To quote the legend herself, ‘This is the life.’”
She was born Destiny Hope in 1992. Her parents, Billy Ray Cyrus and Tish Cyrus, chose this name because, as her father explained to Us Weekly, “She’s a giver. She believes that we’re all put here for a reason, and that’s to give back to our fellow man. I’m really proud of her.”
Because she smiled often as a child, her family nicknamed her “Smiley,” which was eventually shortened to Miley. The star legally changed her name to Miley Ray Cyrus in 2008.
Her godmother is Dolly Parton, who became close with her dad, Billy Ray, after they worked together in the early 1990s. Parton said on SiriusXM’s Just Jenny in 2019, “We just kind of gelled, ’cause we’re both country kids. We had a lot of fun just talking about that. And then when Miley came along, I said, ‘She’s got to be my fairy goddaughter.'” Parton later made an appearance on Hannah Montana as the titular character’s fairy godmother.
Miley realized she wanted to pursue a career in the entertainment industry after seeing a production of Mamma Mia! with her dad. He later told the Toronto Star that she grabbed his arm and said, “This is what I want to do, Daddy. I want to be an actress.”
She made her acting debut on her father’s PAX TV series, Doc.
At the age of 11, Miley auditioned for the Disney Channel series Hannah Montana. The producers initially thought she was too young, but after an extensive six-month search that involved over 1,000 actresses auditioning for the role of the secret pop star, executives brought Miley back when she was 12.
“She stood in front of us and knocked us out,” said Gary Marsh, Disney’s president at the time, in an interview with USA Today in 2007. “I remember coming back to my desk that night and writing a note to my team saying, ‘This is either something extraordinary or a chance that didn’t pay off.’ That bet has paid off in truly unimaginable ways.”
During a 2020 interview with Hilary Duff on her Instagram Live show, “Bright Minded,” Miley Cyrus admitted that the “Lizzie McGuire” star inspired her to audition for the role of Hannah Montana. “The only reason I wanted it was so I could do whatever you did,” Miley told Hilary. “Honestly, I don’t think I cared much about being an actress or a singer. I just wanted to copy you, no matter what.”
“Hannah Montana” premiered in March 2006 and quickly became one of Disney Channel’s highest-rated series of all time, propelling Miley to become one of Hollywood’s most popular young stars. By 2008, paparazzi photos of Miley were being sold for anywhere from $30,000 to $150,000, according to The Los Angeles Times.
Although they portrayed best friends on-screen, Miley revealed that she and co-star Emily Osment “struggled to get along” during the first two seasons. “There was competition between us—girls struggle with that, and we were no exception. I didn’t do much to fix it,” Miley wrote in her 2009 memoir, “Miles to Go.” “I wanted to, but I had no idea how to go about it. I never got along with girls as well as I did with guys.” However, the two eventually became friends. Miley explained, “It took us a while to get into a groove. We both needed to learn how to be sensitive to each other.”
After the series ended in 2011, and the big-screen release of Hannah Montana: The Movie in 2009, Miley admitted she struggled to find herself.
“Some of my audience was so attached to a character, which wasn’t me,” she told Howard Stern in 2020. “So, then that does a lot of psychological stuff, where it’s like, ‘Am I valuable as myself?’ OK, the whole show’s premise was that when I had my normal hair and looked like myself, no one gave a s–t about me. And then when I got all dolled up and put a wig on, all of a sudden, you know, I’m being chased by people chasing my tour bus. So, that’s a lot to put on a kid—to go, ‘When you’re yourself, no one gives a f–k.’ But then when they go and kind of groom you to look like something else, something that you’re not, and you’re really young, and it’s a lot of makeup and, you know, wigs and all this stuff, it does something psychologically.”
It was love at first sight for Miley when she met her first boyfriend, Nick Jonas, at a charity event in 2006 when they were both just 13 years old. “We became boyfriend and girlfriend the day we met,” Miley shared with Seventeen in 2008. “He was determined to meet me, and he said, ‘I think you’re beautiful, and I really like you.’ I responded, ‘Oh my gosh, I like you so much!'”
After secretly dating, the couple broke up, and Miley admitted that she “bawled for a month straight” after their split. “Nick and I loved each other,” she told the magazine. “We still do, but we were in love with each other. For two years, he was basically my entire life. However, it was really hard to keep our relationship a secret. We argued a lot, and it just wasn’t fun.”
Her relationship with Nick inspired her breakup anthem “7 Things,” and in the music video for the 2008 hit, Miley even wore the necklace he had given her. The couple briefly reconnected in 2009, and their short-lived reunion inspired the Jonas Brothers ballad “Before the Storm,” which featured Miley.
In 2009, while filming The Last Song, Miley Cyrus began dating her co-star Liam Hemsworth. Their relationship was on and off for a decade before they got married in 2018. However, Miley and Liam announced their separation just eight months later, and they were officially divorced in 2020.
Miley later admitted that the trauma of losing their home in Malibu during the California wildfires of 2018 influenced her decision to marry the Hunger Games star after being engaged for two years.
“We were together since we were 16,” she said on The Howard Stern Show in 2020. “Our house burned down. We had been engaged—I don’t know if we ever really thought we were actually going to get married—but when we lost our house in Malibu, I clung to what I had left of that house, which was just me and him. I truly loved him very, very much, and I still do and always will.”
15. During her 2020 appearance on the Call Her Daddy podcast, Miley reflected on her first “hook-up,” confirming it was Liam without directly naming her ex-husband.
“I ended up marrying the guy, so that’s pretty crazy,” she said. “I lied and said that he wasn’t the first, so I didn’t seem like a loser.”
Shortly after announcing her split from Liam, Miley made headlines when she began a whirlwind romance with Kaitlynn Carter, an alum of The Hills: New Beginnings. However, the couple broke up after just two months, with Kaitlynn admitting that the public’s interest in their relationship contributed to their separation.
“We worked really hard to maintain our privacy, but it is what it is,” she said during an episode of The Viall Files podcast in June 2020. “Going through a breakup in the public eye is incredibly difficult. It’s really tough. However, there is also a lot to be learned and gained from the experience.”
Miley came out as pansexual in 2016, stating to Variety that she struggled to understand her gender and sexuality while growing up.
“I have always disliked the word ‘bisexual’ because it feels like it puts me in a box,” she explained to the publication. “I don’t think about someone being a boy or a girl. Additionally, my nipple pasties and similar items never felt sexualized to me. I started to become aware of my feelings in the fifth or sixth grade, and my first relationship was with a girl. I grew up in a very religious Southern family.”
In 2017, Miley Cyrus claimed she was the inspiration for Katy Perry’s hit song “I Kissed a Girl.”
“I heard her on the radio, and they said, “Who did you write that about?” Miley told WKTU. She replied, “Me!” I heard it and screamed, then started freaking out.
Miley is the founder of the Happy Hippie Foundation, which aims to combat injustice faced by homeless youth, LGBTQ youth, and other vulnerable populations.
Miley Cyrus disclosed in her 2009 autobiography that she was born with tachycardia, a non-life-threatening condition causing her heart to beat significantly faster than normal.
“The tachycardia I experience isn’t harmful, but it is bothersome,” she wrote. “I am always aware of my heart while on stage.”
Miley Cyrus followed a vegan diet for six years before transitioning to a pescatarian lifestyle. She explained on The Joe Rogan Experience in 2020 that her “brain wasn’t functioning properly,” which prompted the change. Miley revealed that Liam cooked fish for her as her first non-plant-based meal in a long time. She recalled, “I cried for a long time. I cried for the fish… it really hurts me to eat fish.”
Although “Party in the U.S.A.” is one of Miley’s most successful songs, she admitted in a 2019 video, “I hate it. But people love it.”
In 2013, an online petition posted on the White House’s official “We the People” website asked President Barack Obama to change the national anthem of the United States from “The Star-Spangled Banner” to “Party in the U.S.A.”
Initially, Miley Cyrus was set to lend her voice to the 2021 animated movie Hotel Transylvania. However, she claimed in a 2019 tweet that she was fired “for buying Liam a penis cake for his birthday and licking it.” Following her departure, fellow former Disney star Selena Gomez took over her role.
In 2010, Miley’s Disney star image was tarnished when a now-infamous video emerged of her taking a hit from a bong. A decade later, Miley humorously celebrated the anniversary of the scandal on Instagram.
“Happy 10-year anniversary to the groundbreaking video of a teenager smoking a bong and saying foolish things to their friends,” she wrote. “I’m not sure the director of this fine film should be considered a ‘friend,’ but…” She also addressed a burning question, adding, “#YesItWasReallySalvia #IfYouFindWeedThatDoesThisToYouSHARE.”
In a tweet from 2019, Miley claimed that the bong incident cost her a significant endorsement contract, stating, “I lost a massive deal with Walmart at 17 for ripping a bong.”
Miley has 74 tattoos and got her first tattoo at 17.
Miley has openly discussed her sobriety journey, including her relapse during the pandemic.
“To be completely honest, I, like many others, have struggled with my sobriety,” she said during an interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music in 2020. “I would never claim that I’ve been completely sober when I haven’t. I fell off, but I’ve come to terms with it, and now I’m back on the path to sobriety—I’ve been sober for two weeks. I feel like I’ve truly accepted that chapter of my life.”
She mentioned that she’s working on accepting things, stating, “One strategy I’ve used is ‘Don’t get furious, get curious.’ Instead of being mad at yourself, ask yourself, ‘What happened?'”
Miley shared that the deaths of musicians such as Amy Winehouse, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, and Kurt Cobain prompted her to reassess her relationship with alcohol.
“Twenty-seven was a year when I really had to focus on protecting myself,” she said. “It actually motivated me to get sober because we’ve lost so many icons at that age. It’s a pivotal moment in life. You either step into the next chapter, or you face the risk of stagnation. I believe some artists struggle to manage their own power, energy, and intensity. It’s a powerful force. I was born with that energy, and no matter what, I have to navigate it.”
In March 2022, Miley’s plane had to make an emergency landing after being struck by lightning while she was traveling from Colombia to Paraguay for the 2022 Asuncionico music festival. Miley later admitted that she felt “a little traumatized” by the incident.
“It was really frightening,” she told Seth Meyers. “I was in my mom’s lap because I was pretty sure that the seatbelts didn’t matter at this point.””It was really scary,” she told Seth Meyers. “I was in my mom’s lap because I was pretty sure it didn’t matter about the seatbelts at this point.”
