These 30 Fascinating Facts About Miley Cyrus Can’t Be Tamed
We’re looking back on Miley Cyrus’ life, career and relationships as we reveal 30 secrets about the Flowers singer who turned 31 on Nov. 23.
There’s always a “Party in the U.S.A.” when it comes to Miley Cyrus.
Since sky-rocketing to fame on the hit Disney Channel series Hannah Montana in 2006 when she was just 13 years old, Cyrus, who turned 31 on Nov. 23, has gifted us with many hit songs and even more headline-making pop culture moments. Who can forget her infamous twerking at the 2013 MTV VMAs? Or when she hilariously got E! News to change its Instagram bio to “We’re sorry for all the s**t we said about Miley Cyrus” in 2020.
Hey, “Nobody’s Perfect,” and, besides, she can buy herself “Flowers,” right? And more recently she bestowed upon us yet another hit, the “Used To Be Young.”
“This song is about honoring who we’ve been, loving who we are & celebrating who we will become,” she wrote in an Aug. 25 Instagram post. “I feel proud when reflecting on my past and joyful when thinking about the future.”
In honor of the superstar’s birthday, we’re revealing a bunch of tidbits you might not know about Cyrus, including who inspired her to audition for Hannah Montana and which of her most popular songs she hates. Oh, and did you know Miley isn’t her real name? Sweet niblets!
Forget “7 Things,” because we have 30 facts about Cyrus right here…
1. She was born Destiny Hope in 1992. Her parents Billy Ray Cyrus and Tish Cyrus chose that name because, her father told US Weekly, “She’s a giver. She believes that we’re all put here for a reason, and that’s to give back to our fellow man. I’m real proud of her.”
2. Because she smiled often as a child, her family nicknamed her “Smiley,” which was eventually shortened to Miley. The star legally changed her name to Miley Ray Cyrus in 2008.
3. Her godmother is Dolly Parton, who became close with her Billy Ray after they worked together in the early 1990s.
“We just kind of gelled, ’cause we’re both country kids. We had a lot of fun just talking about that,” Parton said on SiriusXM’s Just Jenny in 2019. “And then when Miley came along, I said, ‘She’s got to be my fairy goddaughter.'” (Parton would later make an appearance on Hannah Montana as the тιтular character’s fairy godmother.)
4. Miley knew she wanted to pursue a career in the entertainment industry after seeing a production of Mamma Mia! with her dad, who told the Toronto Star that she grabbed his arm and said, “‘This is what I want to do, daddy. I want to be an actress.'”
5. She made her acting debut on Billy Ray’s PAX TV series Doc.
6. At age 11, Miley auditioned for the Disney Channel series Hannah Montana.
The producers initially thought she was too young, but after an exhaustive six-month search that had over 1,000 actresses read for the role of the secret pop star, executives brought Miley, then 12, back in.
“She stood in front of us and knocked us out,” Gary Marsh, Disney’s president at the time, told USA Today in 2007. “I remember I came back to my desk that night and wrote a note to my team saying, ‘This is either something extraordinary or a chance that didn’t pay off.’ That bet has paid off in truly unimaginable ways.”
7. During a 2020 interview with Hilary Duff on her Instagram Live show Bright Minded, Miley admitted the Lizzie McGuire star inspired her to audition for Hannah.
“The only reason I wanted it was so I could do whatever you did,” Miley told Hilary. “And so really, I don’t think I gave a s–t about being an actress or a singer. I just wanted to copy you no matter what.”
8. Hannah Montana premiered in March 2006 and quickly became one of Disney Channel’s highest rated series of all time and made Miley one of Hollywood’s most popular young stars. By 2008, paparazzi pH๏τos of Miley were being sold for anywhere from $30,000 to $150,000, according to The Los Angeles Times.
9. While they portrayed best friends on-screen, Miley revealed she and co-star Emily Osment “struggled to get along” during the first two seasons.
“There was compeтιтion between us—girls struggle with that, and we were no exception. I didn’t do much to fix it,” Miley wrote in her 2009 memoir, Miles to Go. “I mean, I wanted to, but I had no idea how to go about fixing it. I never got along with girls as well as I did with guys.” But the two eventually became friends, with Miley explaining, “It took us a while to get into a groove. We both needed to learn how to be sensitive to each other.”
