Miley Cyrus

Destiny Hope Cyrus is an American singer and actress who performs under the name Miley Cyrus. She was born on November 23 1992 in Nashville, Tennessee. Her father is the country singer Billy Ray Cyrus, while her godmother is Dolly Parton. Her stage name comes from a childhood nickname given to her by her parents; she officially changed her name to Miley in 2008.

Cyrus and her family moved to Toronto in 2001 where she began singing and acting classes. She landed her first role in the TV show Doc, and in 2003 she appeared in Tim Burton’s Big Fish movie.

Aged 11, she auditioned for the role of the best friend on Disney’s Hannah Montana but was asked to audition for the lead character instead. She was initially told she was too young and too small to take the part but was eventually cast as the lead. In 2006, the show’s theme song ‘The Best Of Both Worlds’ was released, as sung by Cyrus – although it was credited to her character, Hannah Montana.

Cyrus released her debut studio album as part of the double-disc release ‘Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus’. The first disc was the show’s soundtrack while the second was the singer’s own record. It sold 326,000 copies in its first week and topped the US Billboard 200 chart. Cyrus toured the album in 2007, for which tickets sold out in minutes.

On July 22 2008, her second album ‘Breakout’ was released. The singer co-wrote eight of its 12 tracks, which she said were inspired by “what’s been going on in my life”. The album again topped the Billboard 200 chart and is certified platinum in the US.

A year later, Cyrus starred in the film, Hannah Montana: The Movie. It grossed $79,576,189 in the US and Canada, making $17,436,095 in its first day of release alone. In 2009, she launched her first clothing line in conjunction with Max Azria and Walmart. In August of the same year, she released an EP, ‘The Time Of Our Lives’, which the singer described as a “transitioning album” as she aimed to change her image to something more grown up.

Her third album ‘Can’t Be Tamed’ was released on June 21 2010. It entered the Billboard 200 chart at Number Three, her first record not to debut at Number One. The album also scored Cyrus’ lowest first week sales, only selling 106,000 copies. After touring the record in South America, she announced she was taking a break from music to concentrate on her acting career. She went on to appear in a handful of films, such as LOL and Hotel Transylvania, while she made a guest appearance in sitcom Two And A Half Men.

Cyrus returned to music in 2013 with a new, provocative image and a new sound on fourth album, ‘Bangerz’. ‘Wrecking Ball’ was the second single to be taken from it before the LP was released and clocked up 19.3 million views on Vevo in 24 hours, setting a new record. The song also went straight to Number One on the Billboard Hot 100, Cyrus’ first to do so.

‘Bangerz’ was released on October 4 2013, featuring guest appearances from Britney Spears, Nelly and Future, amongst others. It sold 270,000 copies in its first week and debuted at Number One on the Billboard 200. It also topped the charts in eight other countries, including Brazil and the UK.

Soon after, Cyrus began collaborating with psych-pop outfit The Flaming Lips. Together they worked on her fifth album, the 92-minute long record ‘Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz’ which was released for free on Soundcloud in October 2015.

In 2016, Cyrus was confirmed to be joining as a coach on the US version of the television talent show The Voice, replacing previous pop star Gwen Stefani. Cyrus also returned to television screens as a weed-selling hippy in Woody Allen’s latest show ‘Crisis in Six Scenes’ alongside the director.

Cyrus is currently working on her sixth album, which is likely to be a more mainstream pop offering.