Many celebrities are left-handed, but is Miley Cyrus one of them?
Yes, Miley Cyrus is indeed left-handed. She was born left-handed, but her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, taught her how to do everything with her right hand. She still uses her right hand to write but does play the guitar left-handed at times.
Learn on to read more about Miley, and other left-handed musicians like her!
Billy Ray Cyrus Taught Miley to Use Her Right Hand
Miley Cyrus may have been seen using her right hand to write and sign autographs, but the Hannah Montana alumnus was actually born left-handed. Her father, another left-handed musician, Billy Ray Cyrus, forced her to learn to write with her right hand.
Billy Ray grew up with a musician father too – in fact, he was surrounded by gospel music in his family. Billy Ray’s father played the guitar and was right-handed. When Billy Ray tried to play his father’s guitar, he couldn’t do it – and didn’t want Miley to go through the same disappointment.
Miley also wrote about this in her autobiography, saying, “I was born left-handed. My dad is also a lefty, but he’s absolutely convinced that I’m right-handed. I think it’s because he has always said lefties have to ‘learn the world backwards,’ and I know he has a hard time finding a left-handed guitar every now and then…Whatever the reason, from the time I started to write, he had me use my right hand.” Miley went on to add that even though his forceful technique worked, she now has pretty bad handwriting as a result!
Other left-handed musicians that Miley shares thus shares a common trait with include the likes of David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix, and Kurt Cobain!
Miley Learned Left Hand Guitar From Paul McCartney
Not only did Miley have to learn to play guitar using both left and right-handed approaches, she learned the former from The Beatles alumnus Paul McCartney! Miley spoke about this many years ago when she was 16 and had just jammed with Sheryl Crow on stage at a VH1 Divas event in Brooklyn. She spoke of her father’s friendship with Paul McCartney on the red carpet that same night.
She said, “My dad was, one time, hanging out with Paul McCartney and he’s left-handed too. The only way you’re going to learn left-handed guitar is from Paul McCartney. I learned right-handed (too) so I could borrow guitars.”
Paul McCartney is famous for his left-handed guitar playing; there is even a rumor that suggests he didn’t know what to do with a guitar the first time he was handed one until he saw a picture of Slim Whitman – another left-handed guitarist – and decided to flip his guitar around and reverse the strings!
Paul McCartney isn’t the only Beatle who has been associated with Miley Cyrus. Ringo Starr also praised her once; when asked to choose between Katy Perry and Taylor Swift, he simply said, “Miley is my girl.” Fun fact, Ringo Starr is also left-handed!
Miley is a long-time fan of The Beatles. She once did a cover of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, and has performed the same song live on many occasions.