Biography
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. The 2008 film Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour was a hit, and Hannah Montana: The Movie took in $34 million on its opening weekend in 2009, proving that Cyrus was still a very popular star.
Daughter of Tish Cyrus and country singer Billy Ray Cyrus.
Siblings: Christopher Cody (older paternal half-brother), Trace Cyrus (older maternal half-brother), Brandi Cyrus (older maternal half-sister), Braison Cyrus (younger brother), and Noah Lindsey Cyrus (younger sister).
Her favorite novel is "Don't Die, My Love" by Lurlene McDaniel.
Her favorite song by her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, is "Achy Breaky Heart".
Has written over one hundred songs and some of them have been used for her show, "Hannah Montana" (2006).
Likes to eat Chinese food.
Has a Maltese dog named Sophie that her parents gave to her for her 16th birthday.
Miley was on the green team for 2 summers in a row in the Disney Channel Games.
She has never taken formal singing lessons [as of June 2007].
Started auditioning for "Hannah Montana" (2006) when she was 11 years old. She originally tried out for the part of "Lilly Truscott".
Was ranked #17 on Forbes List of The 20 Top-Earning Young Superstars (2007).
Was ranked #12 on interview magazine's Hollywood faces to watch "Future Stars of Tomorrow" (2007).
In January 2008, she legally changed her name from Destiny Hope Cyrus to Miley Ray Cyrus. "Ray" is for her grandfather, Ronald Ray Cyrus, whom she was very close to and "Miley" came from her childhood nickname "Smiley", which was shortened to "Miley", that was given to her because of her constant smiling as a young child.
Released a 3D concert movie of her Best of Both Worlds Tour on February 1st, 2008. It became the highest grossing Super Bowl weekend release ever.
Was ranked #22 on Entertainment Weekly's '30 Under 30' the actress list (2008).
Was ranked #1 on TV Guide's Top 10 Teen Star Countdown (2008).
Befriended her backup dancer, Mandy Jiroux, while on tour. The two have a Youtube channel called MileyMandy, that they regularly update with new videos. Their show is called "The Miley and Mandy Show".
Miley's half-brother, Trace Cyrus, and her "Hannah Montana" (2006) co-star Mitchel Musso's brother, Mason Musso, are in the band "Metro Station".
Godmother is Dolly Parton.
Likes the bands Coldplay, Radiohead, and The Killers.
Close friends with Ashley Tisdale.
Lived in Toronto, Canada where she attended the Armstrong Acting Studio.
Was ranked #22 on Moviefone's 'The 25 Hottest Actors Under 25' (2008).
On 25 September 2006, the Disney Channel was finally launched in South Africa. The first episode of "Hannah Montana" (2006) was broadcast on Friday, September 29, 2006, the show immediately became the channel's "Flagship" show. Miley Cyrus is the most recognized Disney Channel star in South Africa with the most DVD releases of the show and 2 versions of her "Best of Both Worlds Concert" - one standard edition and one double disc extended 3-D edition. The extended 3D edition was released on Disney Blu-Ray simultaneously in August 2008.
Ex-girlfriend of Nick Jonas [December 2007].
Good friends with Demi Lovato.
Her favorite actresses include Angelina Jolie, Jodie Foster, and Jennifer Aniston.
Best friends with her "Hannah Montana" (2006) co-star Emily Osment, who also plays her on-screen best friend.
Loves to ride horses.
Likes to watch the TV show "Sex and the City" (1998).
Admirer of Meryl Streep.
Her musical influences include John Mayer, Elvis Presley, Rob Thomas, and John Lennon.
Participated in the 25th Anniversary Edition of "We Are the World" which was performed in memory of Michael Jackson as well as for relief efforts for the earthquake in Haiti.
While performing at the 02 arena in London, she changed the lyric in her song Party in the U.S.A from "And a Britney (Britney Spears) song was on" to "And a Michael song was on". Michael being referred to Michael Jackson, who was suppose to have performed at the 02 Arena in July of 2009 but passed away before leaving to perform in London.
Has 3 tattoos: one under her left breast which says 'Just Breathe' and another one on her ear which says 'Love' and has an outline of a 'heart' on her ring finger on her right hand.
Career
Image and personal life
In 2008, Cyrus earned $25 million, up from her earnings of $18 million in 2007, and was ranked number 35 on Forbes magazine's "Celebrity 100" list. Parade magazine reported she was the richest teenage celebrity and that her franchise would be worth approximately $1 billion by the end of the year. With Cyrus's increased success came increased media attention. In a May 2008 interview with The Los Angeles Times, Francois Navarre, the proprietor of the X17 photo agency, said Cyrus's market value had picked up considerably after the Vanity Fair photo controversy: "She's started to sell more. [...] It used to be $300, and now it's $2,000 for a picture." Estimates for a picture of the then-15 year old's first kiss ranged from $30,000 to $150,000. Navarre noted that Cyrus rarely behaved against her wholesome image or went out without a parent and stated, "She has people waiting for the moment she starts to be less traditional. [...] It's natural. Any teenager. But it's going to come very fast. [...] As soon as her mom lets her go out by herself. It's going to start to be interesting." Time magazine included her on the 2008 Time 100, the magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Her write-up was written by former child star Donny Osmond, who warned, "As an idol to tweens the world over, singer-actress Miley Cyrus, 15, is riding a huge tidal wave at the pinnacle of her career; this is as it should be. I hope she enjoys it. [...] Within three to five years, Miley will have to face adulthood. [...] As she does, she'll want to change her image, and that change will be met with adversity."
Cyrus celebrated her 16th birthday at Disneyland with a charity fundraiser for Youth Service America, a youth volunteer service organization.
At the end of 2009, Billboard magazine ranked Cyrus the fourth best-selling female artist and the fifth best-selling singer overall.Forbes ranked her #29 on the Celebrity 100 and reported she had earned a total of $25 million.
On October 8, 2009, Cyrus deleted her account on the social networking site Twitter, citing a desire for more privacy. She also told Parade magazine, "I deleted my Twitter account because I said on there that I believed in gay marriage because everyone should have the right to love each other, and I got such hate mail about my being a bad person." Cyrus was very popular on the site: her account was watched by approximately 2 million Twitter users in addition to the general public at the time of deletion.
On October 26, 2010, less than a month before Cyrus's eighteenth birthday, her father Billy Ray Cyrus filed for divorce from her mother in Tennessee, citing irreconcilable differences.In a statement made to People the next day announcing the split, the couple said, "As you can imagine, this is a very difficult time for our family... We are trying to work through some personal matters. We appreciate your thoughts and prayers."
Controversies
In December 2007, a brief controversy emerged when photos Cyrus had posted on her private MySpace account, depicting her and a female friend sharing a piece of licorice, were spread across the internet. "For me, I was like, That's two girls—it's not a big deal. But they got spread around. Like someone copied and pasted and said, Omigod, look at this, and blah blah blah," said Cyrus.
In April 2008, several provocative images of Cyrus in her underwear and swimsuit were leaked onto the web by a teenager who hacked Cyrus's Gmail account. Cyrus described the images as "silly, inappropriate shots" and stated, "I am going to make mistakes and I am not perfect. I never intended for any of this to happen and I am truly sorry if I have disappointed anyone." On April 25, 2008, the televised entertainment program Entertainment Tonight reported that Cyrus, then 15, had posed topless for a photoshoot taken by photographer Annie Leibovitz for Vanity Fair. 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."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."[1 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."
In May 2008, Gossett, Cyrus's longtime acting agent, left Cunningham Escott Slevin Doherty for United Talent Agency, partially with the hope of "giving Cyrus the major-agency backing that would support a widening career", according to The Hollywood Reporter. About a year later in June 2009, Cyrus left both Gossett and UTA, which had recently negotiated her deals for The Last Song and the fourth season of Hannah Montana, and joined the Creative Artists Agency, which had already represented her for music. Nikki Finke, who broke the news, reported, "Is this fair to UTA? Of course not. But I hear the decision was made by Miley's mother Trish Cyrus".
Cyrus's performance of "Party in the U.S.A." at the 2009 Teen Choice Awards incited a media uproar, with some viewers criticizing Cyrus's provocative outfit and inclusion of a brief pole dance as inappropriate for her age, then sixteen, and for her young fans. Conversely, Newsday reported that her sexualization "has been coming for some time." Ian Drew, senior editor of US Weekly, said, "She already has this risque image, so it really wasn't much of a stretch. That's how Britney [Spears] took off. She was the good girl gone bad, and it looks to be working for Miley as well."Cyrus was also criticized that year for dating Gaston, five years her senior and for a photo displaying Cyrus and friends making "slant-eyed" expressions, which the Organization of Chinese Americans claimed was offensive to the Asian community. Cyrus apologized for the photo on her website, defending her actions and saying, "In NO way was I making fun of any ethnicity!"
Later in 2010, TMZ released a video of Cyrus, then 16, giving Adam Shankman, producer of The Last Song, a lap dance at the film's wrap party. Cyrus's father defended her actions, saying Miley was just "having fun" and that "it's what people her age do". Later that year in December, TMZ released a video of Cyrus, which took place five days after her 18th birthday at her Los Angeles home, in which she is seen smoking the psychoactive plant salvia divinorum from a bong. Salvia is legal in the state of California, and Cyrus was of legal age at the time the video was shot. Cyrus's father expressed his sadness regarding the matter on Twitter, saying, "Sorry guys. I had no idea. Just saw this stuff for the first time myself. Im so sad. There is much beyond my control right now".
Miley Cyrus Awards:
2009 Golden Globe: Best Original Song - Motion Picture - Nominee
2010 People's Choice Awards: Favorite Breakout Movie Actress - Winner
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