Miley Cyrus
Miley Cyrus (born Destiny Hope Cyrus, on November 23, 1992) is a singer and actress who rose to fame as the teenage star of Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana, and daughter of country singer Billy Ray Cyrus. Throughout her career, however, she’s shed her shiny pop image – seen in early releases such as “Party in the USA” – to defy expectations and become one of the genre’s biggest mavericks.
A hint of this rebellion came with the release of Can’t Be Tamed in 2010, the same year that she wrapped filming on the final series of Hannah Montana and caused controversy under the scrutiny of celebrity culture (see: the infamous bong video). In 2013, she released the defiant party album Bangerz, spawning infamous moments including the video for “Wrecking Ball” and twerking at the VMAs.
Cyrus took another unexpected turn in 2015, with the independent release of an album with The Flaming Lips, Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz. Videos released alongside the record include the glittery “Dooo It” and the adult-baby-featuring “BB Talk”. A more low-key country pop album, Younger Now, arrived in 2017, with guest vocals from Dolly Parton (AKA Cyrus’s godmother and close family friend).
Cyrus made her major return to TV in Woody Allen’s critically panned Crisis in Six Scenes(2016). Her turn as a disillusioned pop star in the fifth season of Black Mirrorenjoyed a much better reception, arriving just after the release of her second EP, She Is Coming, in 2019. Later that year, she also shared a new collaboration with Lana Del Rey and Ariana Grande for the soundtrack of that year’s Charlie’s Angelsreboot.
In 2020, Cyrus released one of her biggest albums to date, Plastic Hearts, featuring Dua Lipa, Joan Jett and Billy Idol. Amid the pandemic, she released a video for the single “Prisoner” with Dua Lipa, and reignited her longstanding Backyard Sessions to be crowned the contemporary queen of cover songs.
