Early life
Born in
Franklin,
Tennessee,
[1] Miley Cyrus attended Heritage Middle School,
[5] but now has a private tutor.
[6] She grew up on her parents' farm outside of Nashville.
[7] Cyrus is the daughter of
country singer
Billy Ray Cyrus and Leticia "Tish" Cyrus,
[1] and the granddaughter of the late
Ron Cyrus and Ruth Ann Cyrus. She has two elder half-brothers, Christopher Cody and Trace, the latter being the vocalist and guitarist of an electronic
rock band,
Metro Station in California.
[8] She also has an elder half-sister, Brandi, a younger brother, Braison, and a younger sister,
Noah, who is also an actress.
[9] She was named Destiny Hope because her parents believed that she would accomplish great things.
[1] Cyrus gained her nickname "Miley" because she kept smiling ("Smiley") as a youngster.
[1] In an interview with
USA Today, Cyrus was quoted as saying her faith is "the main thing" and is the reason why she works in Hollywood.
[10] When interviewed by
Parade, she added that she attends church regularly with her family.
[11] She also has many pets, including horses, dogs, cats, fish and chickens.
[12] Career
Cyrus became interested in acting at age nine when the family briefly lived in
Toronto,
Canada. Her first acting role was as a guest star on her father's television series
Doc, in which she played a girl named Kylie.
[13][2] In
2003, she played "Young Ruthie" in
Tim Burton's
Big Fish and was credited as Destiny Cyrus. She was also featured in
Rhonda Vincent's music video for "If Heartaches Have Wings", and appeared on
Colgate Country Showdown with her father, who was hosting the program.
Cyrus was eleven years old when she originally auditioned for Disney for the lead as well as the "best friend" roles;
[14] Disney Channel executives then judged her to be "too small", however Miley was persistent in her desire to be part of the show, so Disney called her back for further auditions when she turned 12. According to Disney Channel Executive Vice President
Gary Marsh, Cyrus was chosen for
Hannah Montana because of her energetic and lively performance and was seen as a person who "loves every minute of life",
[15] with the "everyday relatability of
Hilary Duff and the stage presence of
Shania Twain".
[7] She spent several years to get rid of her Southern accent, but in the end Disney wanted her to revive it. Later in an unusual twist, Cyrus had to audition her own father,
Billy Ray Cyrus, to see if he would fit the role as Hannah's dad.
[16] Cyrus currently stars in
Hannah Montana as the lead character
Miley Stewart, whose
alter ego is the
pop music sensation
Hannah Montana. Cyrus also performs in character as Hannah Montana for albums and concerts.
In 2004, Cyrus became a spokesperson for
Daisy Rock Guitars, when she was presented with her first
Daisy Rock guitar— the Stardust Series Acoustic Electric Pink Sparkle. It was given to her by her parents from her father's
Country Music Television fan meet-and-greet when she was twelve years old.
[17]On
June 22,
2006, a performance of a
Hannah Montana concert (featuring Cyrus as Hannah Montana) at
Disney's Typhoon Lagoon in
Walt Disney World in
Orlando, Florida was recorded for the Disney Channel. Cyrus spent the rest of 2006 opening for
The Cheetah Girls on 20 dates of their 39-city tour.
[18] Cyrus also appeared in the Disney Channel
Hannah Montana promotion, "Hannah Montana's Backstage Secrets", in which she portrays Hannah Montana in a fictional interview set in the show's
canon.
Walt Disney Records released the
Hannah Montana soundtrack on
October 24,
2006. The soundtrack included eight of the songs that Cyrus performed as Hannah Montana. Cyrus also signed a four-album major record deal with
Hollywood Records for her own albums. On
December 25,
2006, Cyrus performed as Hannah Montana at the
Walt Disney Christmas Parade, singing her version of the holiday classic "
Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree".
On
June 26,
2007, exactly eight months after the release of the first soundtrack, Cyrus released a double album,
Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus. The first disc served as the second
Hannah Montana soundtrack, while the second disc was Cyrus' debut album as herself. She co-wrote, eight of the ten songs and was credited as "Destiny Hope Cyrus". Cyrus had a brief cameo in
High School Musical 2 credited as "Girl at Pool", where she danced in front of the pool wearing a yellow baby doll top before the end credits.
While attending the
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix premiere, Cyrus stated that they are working on ideas for a Hannah Montana movie. The feature-length film is to be produced by Cyrus's both on and off-screen dad,
Billy Ray Cyrus.
[19]Disney released a
Hannah Montana clothing collection in late summer. Cyrus helped to design some of the pieces from the collection. "It's not a costume. A tween girl isn't doing dress-up, they want to look like they could be Hannah Montana's friend. This is a fashion line."
[20]Cyrus is performing both as herself and in character as
Hannah Montana on a North American
Best of Both Worlds Tour that started on
October 18,
2007 in
St. Louis, Missouri; the tour was extended, due to high demand, until
January 31,
2008, with 69 total dates, 14 more than previously planned. The
Jonas Brothers are the opening act for most of the tour.
[21] Tour tickets for each date have been selling out in record time after they have gone on sale, disappointing large numbers of fans.
[22]In 2007, Cyrus guest-starred as Yatta on Disney Channel's
The Emperor's New School. In December 2007, she was ranked at #17 in the
Forbes Top 20 Earners Under 25, with an annual earning of US$3.5 million.
[3] Pregnancy rumor hoax
On
September 24,
2007, rumors began circulating that Cyrus was pregnant.
[23] The cause of the rumor was an image of a page of
J-14 Magazine circulating on the Internet entitled "Miley's Meltdown" and saying among other things "Miley herself confirmed the pregnancy rumors during a J-14 interview".
[24] J-14 immediately responded saying that, "Someone doctored the
"This Just In" article that appeared on page 16 of J-14's July 2007 issue" and that "this story is completely fabricated!"
[25][26] The real story on J-14's Page 16 magazine was about 'Miley's Gross Habits' told by her co-stars on the set of Hannah Montana.
Personal life
Cyrus is good friends with fellow
Hannah Montana co-stars
Emily Osment and
Mitchel Musso, often
texting and
conference calling each other during busy days.
[6] Miley Cyrus also taught Emily Osment how to play the guitar and Osment taught Cyrus how to knit. She is also friends with the stars of the highly successful
TV movie High School Musical, including
Ashley Tisdale[27],
Vanessa Hudgens and
The Suite Life of Zack and Cody stars including
Brenda Song.
[28]In an appearance on
The Oprah Winfrey Show, she stated that she looks up to
Hilary Duff as her role model.
[27]