Miley Cyrus

Birth name:                Destiny Hope Cyrus

Also known as:           Destiny Cyrus

Born:                           November 23, 1992 (1992-11-23) (age 17), Nashville, Tennessee, United States

Genres:                       Pop

Occupations:              Singer, actress, author, songwriter, musician

Instruments:               Vocals, guitar, piano

Years active:              2003–present

Labels:                        Hollywood Records

Associated:                 Billy Ray Cyrus, Jonas

Acts:                           Brothers

Website:                     www.MileyCyrus.com

Miley Ray Cyrus (born November 23, 1992 as Destiny Hope Cyrus) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Cyrus is best known for starring as the title character in the Disney Channel series Hannah Montana. Following the success of Hannah Montana, in October 2006, a soundtrack CD was released in which she sang eight songs from the show. Cyrus's solo music career began with the release of her debut album, Meet Miley Cyrus on June 23, 2007, which included her first top ten single "See You Again". Her second album, Breakout, was released on July 22, 2008. Breakout is Cyrus's first album that does not involve the Hannah Montana franchise. Both albums debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200. In 2008, she appeared in the Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert film.

Cyrus also starred in Bolt in 2008, and recorded "I Thought I Lost You" for the soundtrack for which she earned a Golden Globe nomination. She starred in the film spin-off of Hannah Montana, titled Hannah Montana: The Movie which was released on April 10, 2009. In 2008, Cyrus was listed in Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People in The World. Forbes magazine ranked her #35 on the "Celebrity 100" list with earnings of $25 million in 2008. Her rank improved to #29 in 2009. As of the beginning of Cyrus's Wonder World Tour, as noted in Cyrus's tour book, she has sold more than fourteen million albums worldwide.

Early life

Cyrus was born in Nashville, Tennessee on November 23, 1992 to Leticia "Tish" (née Finley) and country singer Billy Ray Cyrus. Cyrus has five siblings. Her elder siblings Trace and Brandi Cyrus are Tish's children from a previous relationship, whom Billy Ray adopted when they were very young. Trace is a vocalist and guitarist for the electronic pop band Metro Station, while Brandi has played guitar for Cyrus's concerts and formed a band with The Secret Life of the American Teenager star Megan Park. Cyrus also has an older half-brother, Christopher Cody, from her father's previous relationship, as well as a younger brother, Braison, and a younger sister, Noah, who is also an actress. She is the granddaughter of Democratic politician Ron Cyrus. Cyrus chose the name "Ronnie" for her character in the 2010 film The Last Song in honor of her grandfather.

Cyrus's parents named her Destiny Hope because they believed that she would accomplish great things. She was nicknamed "Smiley", later shortened to "Miley", because she kept smiling as a baby. She is of part Cherokee descent. Cyrus attended Heritage Middle School, where she was a cheerleader.  She currently attends school at Options For Youth Charter Schools and studies with a private tutor on the set of her TV show. Cyrus grew up on her parents' farm outside of Nashville where she regularly attended The People's Church.

Career

2001–2005: Early work

Cyrus became interested in acting when she was nine, and took classes at the Armstrong Acting Studio while her family lived in Toronto, Canada. Her early career was marked by minor roles, the first of which was playing a girl named Kylie on her father's television series Doc. In 2003, Cyrus was credited under her birth name for her role as "Young Ruthie" in Tim Burton's Big Fish. Parton advised Cyrus's mother to sign Cyrus with Morey Management Group, which The Hollywood Reporter said "was the best advice she could [have gotten] on who should rep her daughter". The group's leader, Jim Morey, and his son, Jason, began co-managing Cyrus's career alongside Tish Cyrus.

When Cyrus was twelve, she auditioned for the role of "best friend" in a Disney Channel television show about a "secret pop star". Disney Channel executives judged her to be too young, however Cyrus's persistence resulted in her being called back for further auditions. She eventually auditioned for the lead role, Zoe Stewart. When she won the role, the character's name was changed to Miley Stewart. According to Disney Channel president Gary Marsh, Cyrus was chosen 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." Cyrus tried for several years to lose her Southern accent, however Disney later decided to include it in the storyline. Later, Cyrus had to audition her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, for the role of the main character's father. The show focuses on adolescence, meanwhile incorporating a "secret identity" aspect.

2006–June 2008: Hannah Montana

Hannah Montana first aired on March 24, 2006 in the United States and averaged more than 4 million viewers per episode. As of 2009, the series is in its third season on Disney Channel with plans for a fourth and final season in 2010.

As the star of Hannah Montana, Cyrus became popular with children and teenagers, leading to a successful career in music. Her recording debut was on April 4, 2006, when the fourth edition of DisneyMania was released. Cyrus sang a cover of James Baskett's "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah," originally from the 1946 animated film Song of the South. On October 24 the same year, Walt Disney Records released the first Hannah Montana soundtrack. Of the nine tracks on the album performed by Cyrus, eight were credited to Hannah Montana and one, a duet with Billy Ray Cyrus titled "I Learned from You", was credited to Cyrus as herself. The album debuted at #1 on the US Billboard 200 and sold 281,000 copies in its first week, beating such artists as John Legend and rock band My Chemical Romance. Cyrus, as Hannah Montana, opened for The Cheetah Girls on their The Party's Just Begun Tour. She performed at 20 dates of their 39-city tour, beginning on September 15, 2006. On June 26, 2007, Cyrus released a double album, Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus. The first disc was a second Hannah Montana soundtrack, while the second disc was Cyrus's first solo album credited to herself. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 and sold 326,000 copies, selling faster in its first week than the previous Hannah Montana soundtrack. It was certified Platinum three times by the RIAA after selling more than 3 million copies in the US. Cyrus voiced the recurring character Yatta on the Disney Channel animated series The Emperor's New School. She had a cameo appearance in High School Musical 2 which premiered August 17, 2007; She danced beside a pool in the movie's closing number and was credited as "girl at pool".

Cyrus's first headlining tour, the Best of Both Worlds Tour, lasted from October 18, 2007 to January 31, 2008 with 69 concerts across the United States. She performed both as herself and as Hannah Montana. The Jonas Brothers were the opening act for most of the tour. Tour tickets for each date sold out in record time. The tour was recorded and released to theaters as a concert film in Disney Digital 3-D. Walt Disney Records/Hollywood Records released the film's soundtrack on March 11, 2008. It peaked at number three on the Billboard 200.

July 2008–present: Breakout and film career

On July 2008, Cyrus released her second studio album under her own name, entitled Breakout. Cyrus said Breakout was inspired by "what's been going on in my life in the past year." Cyrus co-wrote all but two songs on the album. "Songwriting is what I really want to do with my life forever, [...] I just hope this record showcases that, more than anything, I'm a writer." The album debuted at #1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart with a first week sales of about 371,000 copies. As of July 31, 2008, this was the second-biggest sales week of the year for a female artist; Mariah Carey's E=MC² previously sold 463,000 copies in its first week. "7 Things" was the first single to be released from Breakout and peaked at number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100. She hosted the 2008 CMT Music Awards with her father in April. In 2008, Cyrus hosted the Teen Choice Awards.

Cyrus provided the voice of Penny in the 2008 computer-animated feature film, Bolt, about a television star dog on his quest to find his owner. Cyrus co-wrote and recorded one of the two original songs on the soundtrack of Bolt, which features her Bolt co-star John Travolta. Titled "I Thought I Lost You", it was later nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. Cyrus again played the title role in the Hannah Montana film spin-off, Hannah Montana: The Movie which was released on April 10, 2009. The film is about Stewart returning to her country roots and deciding which life to choose, her own normal life or as pop star Hannah Montana. Her single, "The Climb" from the movie's soundtrack peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100, thus becoming her highest charting single since "See You Again" and "7 Things" which charted at #10 and #9 respectively; later "Party in the U.S.A." charted at # 2. The movie's soundtrack became the third album under the franchise to take the lead of the Billboard 200 and was certified platinum by the RIAA.^[

In June 2009, Cyrus changed her TV and movie career representation from United Talent Agency to Creative Artists Agency, which had already represented her for music. Also in June, Cyrus began filming her upcoming movie The Last Song, based on a novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks, in which she plays a rebellious teenage girl who spends a summer with her estranged father at his home in a quiet beach town. The film was conceived as a "star vehicle" with the intention of introducing Cyrus to older audiences. Cyrus recorded a song with the Jonas Brothers titled "Before the Storm" for their fourth studio album Lines, Vines and Trying Times. She also launched another Hannah Montana soundtrack (for the third season), titled Hannah Montana 3 on July 7, 2009.

"Party in the U.S.A." was officially released to radio on July 29, 2009. The song is from a Wal-Mart exclusive EP entitled The Time of Our Lives which released on August 31, 2009. It was released as promotion for Cyrus's clothing line. The song made it to number one on Hot Digital Songs with 226,000 paid downloads, making her the youngest artist to top the chart, which led its big debut on the Billboard Hot 100, where it was placed at number two, topping "The Climb" (that peaked at number four). The song thereby became the "fastest breaking single in Hollywood Records' history."

Cyrus announced her 2009 North American Tour. The tour began on September 14, 2009 in Portland, Oregon and span 45 dates across North America. Eventually, additional dates were announced for the United Kingdom making the tour change names to the Wonder World Tour. The tour will feature the band Metro Station as a special guest. Tickets went on sale to the general public on June 13, 2009 and for the UK dates on June 12, 2009. In July 2009, Disney acquired the film rights to Aprilynne Pike's novel Wings, in which Cyrus is expected to star. Cyrus is set to perform at the Royal Variety Performance in the 7th December for the queen of England held in Blackpool. In December, Timbaland will release his album, Shock Value II, which features a track with Cyrus called "We Belong to the Music". Cyrus's song The Climb was nominated for songwriting for the 52nd Grammy Awards, though the song was nominated, Cyrus herself was not.

Personal life

Cyrus suffers from a mild form of a heart condition causing tachycardia. In her autobiography, Miles to Go, Cyrus writes, "There is never a time onstage when I'm not thinking about my heart". In January 2008, Cyrus announced her intent to officially change her name to "Miley Ray Cyrus," her middle name reflecting that of her father. The name change became official on May 1, 2008. 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. When interviewed by Parade, she added that she attends church regularly with her family. In an interview with Christianity Today, Billy Ray Cyrus said, "Being Christian, we believe in heaven," and "We also had a great church, and when you give up your church, your pastor, and the community you are involved in, you're making a big sacrifice. Let's face it, Hollywood is a completely different environment than Franklin, Tennessee."

In February 2008, Cyrus and her friend Mandy Jiroux (who is also a backup dancer for Cyrus) began creating videos on YouTube called The Miley and Mandy Show. The show, described as a "YouTube hit," is said to be filmed for fun by Cyrus and Jiroux and to be entirely their work, with Cyrus and Jiroux editing the footage together. It is filmed mainly in Cyrus's bedroom. Cyrus was also popular on the social networking site Twitter; her site was watched by approximately 2 million Twitter users in addition to the general public when she deleted it on October 8, 2009. In the September 2008 issue of Seventeen, Cyrus stated she had been in a relationship with Nick Jonas for two years, and that they "were in love". They broke up at the end of 2007. In June 2009, Cyrus ended a nine month long relationship with Nashville Star contestant and model Justin Gaston.

Controversies

Vanity Fair photos

On April 25, 2008, the televised entertainment program Entertainment Tonight reported that Cyrus had posed topless for a photoshoot 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 photoshoot 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." Gary Marsh, president of entertainment for Disney Channel Worldwide, was quoted by Portfolio magazine to have said, “For Miley Cyrus to be a ‘good girl’ is now a business decision for her. Parents have invested in her a godliness. If she violates that trust, she won’t get it back.” Branding consultants John Tantillo and Michael Stone appeared on Fox Business News to discuss possible repercussions for Cyrus's brand and her best marketing strategy going forward.

In response to the Internet circulation of the photo and ensuing media attention, Cyrus released a statement of apology on April 27, 2008: "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." 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's 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 Leibovitz. When asked if she was "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." On December 2, 2008, TV Guide reported that Cyrus is interested in working with Leibovitz again in the future and is even considering a career in photography for herself, "That's what I want to do with my life. I would love to be a photographer... I want to come to London to study. I hear there are some great art schools here so I would love to do that."

2009 Teen Choice Awards performance

Cyrus performed "Party in the U.S.A." at the 2009 Teen Choice Awards on August 10, and incited controversy due to the performance themes. Critics of the performance complained that she danced provocatively, performed along on a dance pole that was on top of an ice-cream pushcart and that one theme seemed to be her poking fun at American culture. Some drew negative comparisons to Britney Spears, though Cyrus herself welcomed comparisons to the former teen pop star. Others defended Cyrus, arguing still images of the performance circulated on the Internet made the performance seem more lewd than it actually was, and opining that the ensuing controversy took focus away from the six awards she won that night. Others observed that Cyrus already had a risque image, and sought to broaden her appeal to audiences, with the performance a part of her transition into an entertainer for older audiences, much as had been observed years earlier with Britney Spears. Cyrus's label, Hollywood Records, and The Walt Disney Company, which produces Hannah Montana, offered no comment on the performance, though Disney asserted that all performances on the Disney Channel are appropriate for children age 6 - 14. The Fox Network, which broadcast the awards, also offered no comment, other than to confirm that the performance would be included in its broadcast of the ceremony.

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
2003	Big Fish	Ruthie	Billed as "Destiny Cyrus"
2007	High School Musical 2	Girl at Pool	Cameo appearance
2008	Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert	Herself	Main Role
	Bolt	Penny	Voice
2009	Hannah Montana: The Movie	Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana	Main Role
2010	The Last Song	Veronica "Ronnie" Miller	Post-production, main role.
	Sex and the City 2	Herself	Cameo
2011	Wings	Laurel	Main Role. Confirmed on July 14, 2009
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
2003	Doc	Kylie	Guest appearance
2006	The Suite Life of Zack & Cody	Miley Stewart	"That's So Suite Life of Hannah Montana" (crossover episode)
2006–2010	Hannah Montana	Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana	Lead Role
2007	The Emperor's New School	Yata	Voice
	2007 Disney Channel Games	Herself	Disney Channel special
2007–2008	The Replacements	Celebrity Starr	Voice
2008	Studio DC: Almost Live	Herself	Disney Channel special
2009	The Suite Life on Deck	Miley Stewart	"Wizards on Deck with Hannah Montana" (crossover episode) A Disney Channel special