Miley Cyrus Story

• Born: 23 November 1992
• Birthplace: Franklin, Tennessee
• Best Known As: Star of the Disney Channel show Hannah Montana

Name at birth: Destiny Hope Cyrus

Miley Cyrus became a TV star at the age of 13 as the title character in the Disney Channel series Hannah Montana. Cyrus is the oldest daughter of country music star Billy Ray Cyrus, who topped the charts in 1992 with "Achy Breaky Heart." Miley began performing at an early age, and by the age of 9 was embarking on a professional career. Prior to Hannah Montana, she had a mere handful of jobs, most notably a small part in Tim Burton's Big Fish (2003, starring Ewan McGregor). After a series of auditions that began when she was 11, Cyrus landed the lead role of Hannah Montana, a teen pop star who leads a double life as an average schoolgirl. Her dad, Billy Ray, was then chosen to play her widowed father in the TV series, and the entire Cyrus family moved from Nashville, Tennessee to southern California to encourage Miley's career. The instant success of her television series led to a record deal for Cyrus, whose husky singing voice is often featured in the show. In October of 2006 the soundtrack to Hannah Montana, featuring eight songs by Miley and a duet with her father, debuted at number one on Billboard's Top 200 chart. The album Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus was released in 2007, and Cyrus toured the country in a successful Hannah Montana concert series.

Her nickname "Miley" is a shortened form of her other nickname, "Smiley Miley"... In January of 2008 she announced she had officially changed her name to Miley Ray Cyrus.

The Fan Fare

Hannah Montana becomes cable's most-watched show for kids ages 6 to 14. Its success continues in song with the Hannah Montana soundtrack album debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200, eventually going triple platinum. Miley's appeal is "charisma and a very winning personality that's easily conveyed by both television and live performance," says Billboard touring editor Ray Waddell. "She's totally non-threatening to parents and a must-see for her target audience."

Career

Cyrus became interested in acting at age nine when the family briefly lived in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. While on the set of her father's television series Doc, she received a guest role, playing a girl named Kylie. 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 television program).

Cyrus was eleven years old when she originally auditioned for Disney for the part of the "best friend"; 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 was age 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," with the "everyday relatability of Hilary Duff and the stage presence of Shania Twain." She had spent several years attempting 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. Cyrus currently stars in the show (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.

Cyrus's first guitar was a Daisy Rock Guitar — the Stardust Series Acoustic Electric Pink Sparkle, and was made a spokesperson for the company in 2004. 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.

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. 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.

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. 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 Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale. 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.

Cyrus performed as Hannah Montana at the Walt Disney Christmas Parade on December 25, 2006, singing her version of the holiday classic "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree."

In 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, credited as "Destiny Hope Cyrus", eight of the ten songs.

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.

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."

Walt Disney Records has announced that Cyrus will be performing both as herself and in character as Hannah Montana on a 54-date North American Best of Both Worlds Tour starting October 18, 2007 in St. Louis, Missouri and ending January 9, 2008 in Albany, New York. The Jonas Brothers will be the opening act. Tour tickets for each date have been selling out in record time after they have gone on sale disappointing large numbers of fans.

Pregnancy rumor hoax

On September 24, 2007 rumors began flying around that Cyrus was pregnant. 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". 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!" 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.

Vanity Fair photos

On April 25, 2008, the televised entertainment program Entertainment Tonight reported that Cyrus had posed topless for a photo shoot with Vanity Fair. The photo, and subsequently released behind-the-scenes photos, show Cyrus with her bare back exposed but her front covered with a bedsheet. The photo shoot was taken by photographer Annie Leibovitz. The full photograph was published with an accompanying story on The New York Times' website on April 27, 2008. On April 29, 2008, The New York Times clarified that though the pictures left an impression that she was bare-breasted, Cyrus was wrapped in a bedsheet and was actually not topless. Some parents expressed outrage at the nature of the photograph, which a Disney spokesperson described as "a situation [that] was created to deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old in order to sell magazines."

In response to the internet circulation of the photo and ensuing media attention, Cyrus released a statement of apology on April 27:

"I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be ‘artistic’ and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed. I never intended for any of this to happen and I apologize to my fans who I care so deeply about."

The photographer Annie Leibovitz also released a statement:

"I'm sorry that my portrait of Miley has been misinterpreted. The photograph is a simple, classic portrait, shot with very little makeup, and I think it is very beautiful."

On April 28, 2008, Vanity Fair published their full interview and photo shoot with Cyrus and her father Billy Ray Cyrus, as well as the behind-the-scenes photographs, on their website. According to the interview, Cyrus' parents and/or minders were present during the entire duration of the photo shoot. The idea to pose with the sheets on was suggested by Annie Liebovitz. When asked if she were "anxious" about the pose, Cyrus stated to interviewer Bruce Handy:

“No, I mean I had a big blanket on. And I thought, this looks pretty, and really natural. I think it’s really artsy. It wasn’t in a skanky way.… And you can’t say no to Annie. She’s so cute. She gets this puppy-dog look and you’re like, okay.”