Miley Ray Cyrus[1][2] (born Destiny Hope Cyrus; November 23, 1992)[3][4] is an American actress, singer and songwriter. She is perhaps best known for starring as Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel Original Series, Hannah Montana.
Cyrus became an overnight sensation after she was cast in Hannah Montana. Following the success of the show, in October 2006, a soundtrack CD was released in which she sang eight songs from the show. In December 2007, she was ranked #17 in the list of Forbes Top twenty earners under 25 with an annual earning of US$3.5 million.[5] As of December 2007, she is working on a movie spin-off from Hannah Montana, titled Hannah Montana: The Movie which is due to be released late 2008 or early 2009.[6]

Contents [hide] 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Personal life 4 Controversies 5 Filmography 5.1 Films 5.2 Television 6 Discography 7 Awards 8 References 9 External links

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Early life

Cyrus was born in Franklin, Tennessee,[3] the daughter of Leticia "Tish" (née Finley) and country singer Billy Ray Cyrus,[3] and the granddaughter of the late Ron Cyrus. She has two elder half-brothers, Christopher Cody and Trace, the latter being the vocalist and guitarist of an electronic rock band, Metro Station in California.[7] She also has an older half-sister, Brandi, a younger brother, Braison, and a younger sister, Noah, who is also an actress.[8] She was named Destiny Hope because her parents believed that she would accomplish great things.[3] Cyrus gained her nickname "Miley" because she kept smiling ("Smiley") as a youngster.[3]
Cyrus attended Heritage Middle School,[9] and now has a private tutor.[10] She grew up on her parents' farm outside of Nashville.[11]

Career

Cyrus became interested in acting at age nine when the family briefly lived in Toronto, Canada. Her first acting role was as a guest star on her father's television series Doc, in which she played a girl named Kylie.[12][4] 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 program.
Cyrus was eleven years old when she originally auditioned for Disney for the lead as well as the "best friend" roles;[13] 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 turned 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",[14] with the "everyday relatability of Hilary Duff and the stage presence of Shania Twain".[11] She spent several years 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.[15] Cyrus currently stars in 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.
In 2004, Cyrus became a spokesperson for Daisy Rock Guitars, when she was presented with her first Daisy Rock guitar— the Stardust Series Acoustic Electric Pink Sparkle. 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.[16]
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.[17] 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. On December 25, 2006, Cyrus performed as Hannah Montana at the Walt Disney Christmas Parade, singing her version of the holiday classic "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree".
On 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's debut album as herself. She co-wrote, eight of the ten songs and was credited as "Destiny Hope Cyrus". 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.
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.[18]
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."[19]
Cyrus performed both as herself and in character as Hannah Montana on a North American Best of Both Worlds Tour that started on October 18, 2007 in St. Louis, Missouri; the tour was extended, due to high demand, until January 31, 2008, with 69 total dates, 14 more than previously planned. The Jonas Brothers were the opening act for most of the tour.[20] Tour tickets for each date sold out in record time after they have gone on sale, disappointing large numbers of fans.[21]
In 2007, Cyrus guest-starred as Yatta on Disney Channel's The Emperor's New School. In December 2007, she was ranked at #17 in the Forbes Top 20 Earners Under 25, with an annual earning of US$3.5 million.[5]

Personal life

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.[10] 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 Ashley Tisdale,[22] Vanessa Hudgens and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody stars including Brenda Song.[23]In an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, she stated that she looks up to Hilary Duff as her role model.[22] On January 29, 2008 Miley Cyrus officially changed her name to "Miley Ray Cyrus," her middle name reflecting that of her father's.[24][25]
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.[26] When interviewed by Parade, she added that she attends church regularly with her family.[15] In an interview to Christianity Today, Billy Ray 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" [27] She also has many pets, including horses, dogs, cats, fish and chickens.[28]

Controversies

On September 24, 2007, rumors began circulating that Cyrus was pregnant.[29] 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".[30] 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!"[31][32] 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.
In January 2008, a video surfaced on YouTube which showed Cyrus perfoming as Hannah Montana on her Best of Both Worlds Tour. The video shows Hannah being ushered off the stage via a trap door and being replaced by another person who is dressed like her. The body-double holds the microphone and performs for the rest of the song.[33] On January 11, 2008, Cyrus's publicist claimed that the video was not fake and confirmed that the body double was actually being used throughout the tour.[33] The public relation firm representing Cyrus stated:

"....a body double appears approximately one to two minutes prior to the end of the song in order to allow Miley to remove the Hannah wig and costume and transform into Miley for her solo set. Other than during this very brief transitional moment in the show, Miley performs live during the entirety of both the Hannah and Miley segments of the concert."[33][34][35]

In her latest movie, Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert, there is a scene where she and her dad don't put their seatbelts on and, was labeled by some newspapers as a "bad role model".[36] Billy Ray Cyrus later apologized for this, and said

"We got caught up in the moment of filming, and we made a mistake and forgot to buckle our seat belts ... Seat belt safety is extremely important."[37]

Filmography

Films

Year Film Role Notes

2009	Hannah Montana: The Movie	Miley Stewart / Hannah Montana	Main Character
2008	Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert	Hannah Montana / Herself	One week showing has been extended
2007	High School Musical 2	Girl At Pool	Cameo dancer
2003	Big Fish	Young Ruthie	credited as Destiny Cyrus

Television

Year Show Role Notes

2006-present	Hannah Montana	Miley Stewart / Hannah Montana	Original run since March 24, 2006

Guest appearances Year Show Role Notes

2008	Extreme Makeover: Home Edition	Celebrity Guest	The Gilyeat Family
2007	The Oprah Winfrey Show	Guest	Appeared twice on the show, on November 21[38] and December 20.[22]
	The Ellen DeGeneres Show	Guest	She was together with her dad, Billy Ray Cyrus on the show.
	The Tonight Show with Jay Leno	Guest	She was together with her dad, Billy Ray Cyrus on the show
	The Replacements	Celebrity Star	Voice Actor
	The Emperor's New School	Yatta	Voice Actor
2006	The Suite Life of Zack & Cody	Hannah Montana	Concurrent with "That's So Suite Life of Hannah Montana"
2003	Doc	Kylie	One episode

Discography

• 2006: Hannah Montana (#1 US)
• 2007: Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus (#1 US)

Concert tours

• 2007-2008: Best of Both Worlds Tour (Miley Cyrus as Hannah Montana / Herself, Opening Act Jonas Brothers and Aly & AJ)

Mainstream singles

• 2007: See You Again

Awards

• 2007 Winner of the "Favorite TV Actress" for the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards
• 2007 Winner of the "Poptastic Queen" for Popstar Magazine's[39]
• 2007 Winner of the "Choice TV Actress: Comedy" for the Teen Choice Awards[40]
• 2007 Winner of the "Choice Summer Artist" for the Teen Choice Awards[40]
• 2006-2007 Winner of the "Best Child Role Model" for the Golden Icon Awards presented by Travolta Family Entertainment[41]

References

External links

• Miley Cyrus's Official Site
• Miley Cyrus at the Internet Movie Database
• Miley Cyrus at All Music Guide ......... Background information Birth name Also known as Born Genre(s) Occupation(s) Instrument(s) Years active Label(s) Website

  Cyrus, 5 minutes before taping. Signature of Miley Cyrus.

  Destiny Hope Cyrus

  Destiny Cyrus

  November 23, 1992 (1992-11-23) (age 15) Franklin, Tennessee, USA

  Teen pop, dance-pop, country pop, Pop rock

  Singer, actress, songwriter, guitarist

  Vocals, guitar

  2003-present

  Walt Disney (2006–2008), Hollywood (2008–present)

  Official Site