What did the “Wrecking Ball” singer do before she was a celebrity?
Miley Cyrus has always been somewhat famous. She is the daughter of Billy Ray Cyrus, an established country singer, best known for his number 1 hit “Achy Breaky Heart.” For this reason, Miley Cyrus was accustomed to fame from a young age. She became known to the public in her own right, after becoming the title character on the Disney Channel series Hannah Montana. Now, she’s an award-winning singer.
Keep reading to learn more about the early life of Miley Cyrus, and how she got her music career started.
The Beginnings of Miley
Miley Cyrus was born Destiny Cyrus on November 23, 1992, in Tennessee.
The singer had a rough start to life since she was born with supraventricular tachycardia, a condition that causes an abnormal heart rate.
Her father is country music singer Billy Ray Cyrus. Her mother is Leticia “Tish” Jean Finley who works as a manager for her daughter.
The name “Miley” came about because the baby Cyrus was so smiley, and this was eventually shortened to “Miley.” The singer officially changed her name in 2008.
Miley has two younger full siblings—Braison and daughter Noah. She also has two half-siblings though her mother’s previous relationships—Brandi and Trace, and one half-brother through her father—Christopher Cody Cyrus.
As a kid, Miley wanted to act. She saw Mamma Mia! When she was 8 and told her dad, “This is what I want to do, daddy. I want to be an actress.”
She got her taste of acting when she had a small role in her father’s television series Doc. After, she started having singing and acting lessons at the Armstrong Acting Studio in Toronto.
She then auditioned for Hannah Montana, when she was 11 years old. She actually auditioned for the part of the title character’s best friend but was asked to go for the main part instead.
Producers initially told her she was too “young and small,” but the young Miley ended up getting picked anyway because of her impressive singing and acting skills.
Hannah Montana premiered in March 2006 and had the highest viewership ever recorded in the Disney Channel’s history to that date. It became an instant success, and Miley was labeled a “teen idol.”
Miley even released music as “Hannah Montana,” which was a hit among her young audience.
Due to the success of her music career as Hannah Montana, Miley signed a four-album recording deal with Hollywood Records, to release music with her real name.
She released a two-disc album, titled Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus in 2007. One disc in the set was the second soundtrack of Hannah Montana. The second was tracks released with the real singer’s persona.
The same year, Miley took off on a nationwide tour (with one Canadian event) titled “Best of Both Worlds Tour.”
The company in charge of selling the tickets remarked that they had not seen a level of demand like it since The Beatles or Elvis.
Miley released the album Breakout in 2008, which topped the chart.
In 2009, Miley released an EP titled The Time of Our Lives. She described the album as “a transitioning album […] really to introduce people to what I want my next record to sound like and with time I will be able to do that a little more.”
Her lead single from the EP, “Party in the U.S.A.” went on to become one of her most popular songs of all time.
She became the fourth best-selling female artist according to Billboard in 2009.
Now that more than a decade has passed since her unprecedented new-found fame, and despite a huge transition from the Hannah Montana sweetheart we thought we knew, Miley Cyrus has proven she’s here to stay.
Listen to her 2020 banger “Midnight Sky” below.