Miley Cyrus' Tragic True-Life Story

Miley Cyrus made history in 2024 as the youngest celebrity to be named a Disney Legend, accepting the award at Disney's D23 Expo in Anaheim, California. While sharing the stage with the likes of Harrison Ford, Angela Bassett, and James Cameron, the Grammy-winning pop star fought back tears as she accepted the honor and paid tribute to her years as a Disney star on "Hannah Montana," saying (via CNN), "This award is dedicated to Hannah and all of her amazing loyal fans, and to everyone who has made my dream a reality. To quote the legend herself, 'This is the life.'"

Sadly, the road to becoming a Disney Legend wasn't easy. As her career morphed from child star to tabloid fodder to pop icon, Cyrus faced the whole gamut of difficulties life has to offer. There have been controversies that shook the zeitgeist, romances that captured the public's attention, and a whole lot of growing up and learning lessons in front of the entire world. 

On the other hand, Cyrus has also dealt with struggles that the public hasn't always been aware of, including issues with her own health as well as moments of loss and grief. While Cyrus is still quite young as far as Disney Legends go, when you look back at the Disney star's tragic true life story, you realize just how overdue her year of success has been. 

Miley Cyrus has spent her whole life in the entertainment industry. Her father Billy Ray Cyrus's song "Achy Breaky Heart" topped the country charts the same year his second daughter, Destiny Hope Cyrus (nicknamed "Smiley" and later shortened to "Miley"), was born. It's easy to romanticize Miley's early years, especially considering that her godmother was fellow country star Dolly Parton. However, things weren't so easy at home, as Cyrus would later reveal.

It was her 2009 memoir "Miles to Go" which disclosed that Cyrus was born with tachycardia, a rare medical condition that causes her heart to beat at an irregular resting rate. Although the condition isn't life-threatening, it's something that Cyrus had to learn to live with, writing (via MTV), "There is never a time onstage when I'm not thinking about my heart."

Cyrus' admission of having tachycardia even drew criticism in her later years. Her public consumption of drugs and alcohol concerned medical professionals, who pointed out how damaging that type of behavior could be to her overall health. Cyrus was even forced to cancel a concert in 2014 after she was hospitalized for an allergic reaction to antibiotics, proving that her partying lifestyle could have had more disastrous consequences due to her birth defect. 

There's no shortage of stories from younger female stars about the kinds of treatment they've experienced growing up in the entertainment industry. Miley Cyrus is no outlier, as she's dealt with sexism ever since she was a minor. Whether it's the Disney kid image or the assumption that every pop star is a diva, Cyrus has spoken out about the misogynistic comments that have been directed her way. 

One such example was in 2008, when the teen Disney star was photographed with her nude back exposed by Annie Leibowitz in an issue of Vanity Fair, which sparked outrage from parents of "Hannah Montana" fans. However, back then, Cyrus was less inclined to speak her mind, issuing an apology to those offended families for what she had seen as an artistic photograph of herself. 

Later in her career, Cyrus did not tolerate sexist comments, especially in professional settings. She spoke on Joe Rogan's podcast (via EW) about a conflict she had with the directors of the VMAs in 2020, after a dispute over lighting caused one of them to say, "You want to be treated like a guy? We wouldn't be dealing with this if a guy was doing it," to which Cyrus replied, "Well, a guy wouldn't be doing this because a guy doesn't sell your show with sex the way that I'm going to."

Miley Cyrus' big break as a child star came when she was 13 years old in Disney Channel's "Hannah Montana," playing a teen girl (also named Miley) who moonlights as the titular blonde-haired pop star. A springboard for Cyrus' pop stardom, the show found the actor sharing the screen with her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, who played her character's dad, also a famous country singer in the show. Ironically, the show's major conflict ended up bleeding into Cyrus' own personal life.

On the "Rock This with Allison Hagendorf" podcast in 2021, Cyrus revealed that it became hard to differentiate between the Miley Stewart character on "Hannah Montana" and herself, saying, "The concept of the show is that when you're this character, when you have this alter ego, you're valuable ... So that was drilled into my head, like, you know, without being Hannah Montana, like, no one cares about you." She likened her experience to an "identity crisis." 

That identity crisis also ended up informing an episode of Netflix's "Black Mirror," which starred Cyrus as a dissatisfied and controlled pop star named Ashley O, a role that was written specifically for her. Many critics even compared Cyrus' portrayal of Ashley O to a dystopian version of Hannah Montana. 

When "Hannah Montana" ended in 2011, Miley Cyrus was 19 years old and had spent her most integral years as a teenager playing a version of herself on the Disney Channel. However, Cyrus was never the same after her breakout role, as she struggled to live life on her own terms while also being a public figure admired by children. This double life led to a huge scandal in 2010, when Cyrus was caught on-camera smoking an herb called salvia, which — despite being legal in California – forced Cyrus to reconcile with her status as a role model to kids. 

We all know how the story continued after "The Bong Incident," but Cyrus saw her less-advisable ways of living in her early 20s as a natural part of growing up. As she told British Vogue in 2023, "I was creating attention for myself because I was dividing myself from a character I had played. Anyone, when you're 20 or 21, you have more to prove. 'I'm not my parents.' 'I am who I am.'" Although she was judged harshly by the world, and herself, she's more forgiving towards herself and others as an adult.

For what it's worth, many younger artists have credited Cyrus with inspiring them, in spite of having a rebellious streak. It was still important for Cyrus to learn that being a role model didn't mean fitting into society's expectations.

Outside of "Hannah Montana," Miley Cyrus' pop career paved the way for some iconic hits, like "Party in the U.S.A." and "The Climb," but in 2013 things took a turn for the controversial. "We Can't Stop" established Cyrus as a party animal for a new generation, while "Wrecking Ball" became her first Billboard No. 1 hit. The music video for the song was even a huge departure for her as she swung nude on a wrecking ball.

Cyrus' behavior wasn't without consequences, as the former Disney star was fired from the cast of "Hotel Transylvania" for posting a photo of herself licking an explicit birthday cake. The media had a field day with Cyrus' behavior, though some chose to defend her, including godmother Dolly Parton, who told Time in 2014, "If I didn't know how smart and talented Miley is, I might worry about her ... I did it my way, so why can't she do it her way?"

Her performance with Robin Thicke at the 2013 VMAs was where things really blew up, as Cyrus memorably twerked on the singer on live TV. If Cyrus wasn't previously detached from her Disney origins, that performance certainly did the job. Reactions were divided across the Internet, from rampant slut-shaming to now-legendary memes. Not everybody had the reaction that Taylor Swift did in the audience, to say the least. 

Although public perception of her was forever changed, Miley Cyrus' reaction to the media frenzy of the VMAs was surprisingly level-headed, as she was inspired to use the opportunity to do some good in the world. In 2014, she started the Happy Hippie Foundation to support homeless LGBTQ+ youth, and even invited a homeless fan to accept Video of the Year for "Wrecking Ball" the year after the infamous Robin Thicke incident.

Miley Cyrus' work with homeless youth wasn't just a way for her to redirect the public's attention towards herself. Cyrus told Paper magazine that she felt personally responsible for the increasing problem of homelessness among LGBTQ+ youth, saying, "I can't drive by in my f***ing Porsche and not f***ing do something ... How the f*** is that fair? How am I so lucky?" The Happy Hippie Foundation has since been instrumental in feeding the homeless, providing transgender HIV patients with housing, and counseling victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting in 2016. 

Other big changes in Cyrus' behavior stemmed from things like grief. Her dog Floyd passed away in 2013, prompting Cyrus to almost immediately convert to veganism. Years later, Cyrus shifted to a pescatarian diet under the recommendation of her doctor, though it wasn't ideal for the animal lover, who told Joe Rogan, "I cried, like, for a long time. I cried for the fish ... it really hurts me to eat fish."

Miley Cyrus won her first two Grammys in 2024, for best pop solo performance and record of the year, for her hit single "Flowers," which felt like a long time coming for the pop star. However, her career up to that point had been a mix of ups and downs when it came to the critics. Her first album away from Disney's own Hollywood Records, "Bangerz," which featured "We Can't Stop" and "Wrecking Ball," took the pop music world by storm when it came out in 2013, despite some reviews criticizing its lack of good songs beyond the singles. 

"Miley Cyrus and Her Dead Petz" was surprise-released on SoundCloud in 2015, featuring Cyrus' exploration of psychedelic rock, though many reviews for the 23-song album were quite scathing. However, The AV Club had a more empathetic analysis, writing, "Whether the music or art is good is almost secondary to [Miley's] ability to maintain uncensored self-expression and unfettered emotional bloodletting."

Sadly, Cyrus' later projects in the 2010s kept failing to capture the zeitgeist the way "Bangerz" did. "Younger Now," released in 2017, was an attempt to distance herself from the misogyny of modern-day hip-hop. While some praised Cyrus' songwriting, her return to a country sound was labeled as disingenuous by some critics. It wasn't until her 2020 album "Plastic Hearts," which leaned into glam rock, that critics consistently felt Cyrus coming into her own as an artist. 

Not even celebrities are immune to the consequences of natural disasters. In 2018, the Woolsey Fire spread across the Los Angeles region of California, devastating nearly 100,000 acres of land and costing nearly $6 billion in damage. While Miley Cyrus was safe in South Africa filming "Black Mirror," then-husband Liam Hemsworth was there to save her animals. Cyrus reacted to the freak accident that nearly killed Hemsworth on Twitter, writing, "My house no longer stands but the memories shared with family & friends stand strong. I am grateful for ... all I have left."

The loss of the home was traumatic for Cyrus, given that the house was the very same one in which she recorded her first album as Miley Cyrus, not Hannah Montana, prior to Hemsworth purchasing it by coincidence. Cyrus particularly credited the house, which at the time belonged to her producer, Matthew Wilder, as where she discovered her voice as a songwriter. However, the wildfire took not just the house, but belongings, photographs, and decades' worth of memories for the couple. 

This loss ended up inspiring Cyrus and Hemsworth to marry, as Cyrus told Vanity Fair, "When you experience what we experienced together with someone, it is like glue. You're the only two people in the world who can understand."

Unfortunately, Miley Cyrus' recklessness as a younger singer took a toll on her quite earlier than most singers experience. Despite being one of many celebrities whose voices are recognizable almost instantly, Cyrus didn't take care of her voice like an instrument, partaking in substances and behavior that nearly threatened her entire music career. 

Speaking with Joe Rogan (via YouTube), Cyrus revealed she was diagnosed with Reinke's edema, a throat condition that she was told resulted from vocal abuse, saying, "I started touring at probably 12 or 13, and ... the adrenaline that you have after a show ... afterwards, you're totally on ... you stay up talking all night, later the talking all night turned into smoking all night, and now, this is kind of where we're at."

Cyrus underwent vocal surgery in 2021, having discovered it was urgent after being hospitalized for tonsillitis. However, surgery wasn't a fix-all solution, as Cyrus also had to learn about vocal rest in order to maintain her voice's strength in the future. Part of the lifestyle changes following the surgery involved having to quit drugs and alcohol and go completely sober, which helped her avoid damaging her voice any more than she already had. According to her mom Tish, it had an overall positive impact on Cyrus' life. 

Miley Cyrus' romance with actor Liam Hemsworth was a lifelong on-and-off love affair. The two met on the set of the underrated drama "The Last Song," got engaged in 2012, broke it off in 2013 after months of tabloid rumors, rekindled their romance in 2016, and got married in 2018. Less than a year later, the two got divorced. Although from the outside, the relationship may look like a whirlwind, on the inside, Cyrus has been adamant that there was true love there.

Cyrus reminisced in a TikTok video on the decision to wed, having accepted that while the marriage was born out of love, it was also a result of the trauma of losing their home. She revealed that her performance at Glastonbury in 2019 was "the day that I had decided that it was no longer going to work in my life, to be in that relationship." And yet, in a very Hannah Montana move, Cyrus still performed, with some publications labeling it a reinvention of Cyrus' artistic image. 

The divorce from Hemsworth was clearly a hard thing for Cyrus to accept after all the years of them trying to make it work, especially given the incessant speculation over how or why it ended. On the plus side, it inspired a lot of music from Cyrus, including her 2020 album "Plastic Hearts" as well as her Grammy-winning hit single "Flowers."

2020 saw the Cyrus family face an incredible loss in the death of Loretta Finley, Miley's grandmother, who was affectionally nicknamed "Mammie." Her grandmother was widely known by Cyrus' fans, having appeared on many red carpets alongside her granddaughter, and even visiting her on the set of "The Voice" while Cyrus was a coach on the program and godmother Dolly Parton was guest appearing. 

Cyrus shared the news of her grandmother's passing in an Instagram post, memorializing her by saying, "I will keep your spirit here by continuing to do good for others and treating them the way we all desire to be treated. With an infinite amount of the same gentle kindness you displayed daily." She later dedicated a song on her album "Endless Summer Vacation," called "Wonder Woman," to her grandmother, about the strength that had been passed down from her, to Cyrus' mother, to Cyrus herself. 

Cyrus at least gets to remember her grandmother's impact on her career in very strange ways. One of those was a skit from when Cyrus hosted the 2015 VMAs, in which Mammie baked weed-laced cookies with Snoop Dogg — which Cyrus revealed in 2023 actually were edibles. 

Although 2024 was a huge year for Miley Cyrus professionally, from being named a Disney Legend to winning her first two Grammys, there was also some personal strife. Billy Ray Cyrus and Tish Cyrus have been divorced since 2022, with Miley and her older sister Brandi not attending their father's second wedding to Firerose, who he first met on the set of "Hannah Montana." Red flags were again raised by the media after Miley opted to not mention her father during her acceptance speeches at the 2024 Grammys. 

Things have only gotten more messy as Billy Ray and Firerose have headed for a divorce. Leaked audio recorded by Firerose showcased Billy Ray insulting not only his current wife, but also his daughter and her mother, calling them sexist slurs. Miley hasn't gotten involved publicly in her parents' divorce, though she has been very supportive of her mom's romantic endeavors since her split from Billy Ray. 

For what it's worth, Miley seems to be keeping quiet about the potential estrangement between her and her father, while also admitting to David Letterman on "My Next Guest Needs No Introduction" (via Billboard) that "[There's] a map of what to do and what not to do, and he's guided me on both. ... I also inherited the narcissism from my father." Given how Miley's career has been going lately, it seems that the only map she needs to follow now is her own.