Miley Cyrus

Miley Ray Cyrus (born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992) is an American singer, actress, and author. Cyrus is best known for starring as Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana in the Disney Channel series 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. Cyrus' solo music career began with the release of her debut album, Meet Miley Cyrus on June 23, 2007. Her second album, Breakout, was released on July 22, 2008. Breakout is Cyrus' first album that does not involve the Hannah Montana franchise. Both albums debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200. In 2008 she released her Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert film.

She 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 movie spin-off of Hannah Montana, titled Hannah Montana: The Movie which was released on April 10, 2009. In addition, she has recorded the main single, "The Climb", for the movie soundtrack. 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 over US$25 million in 2008.

Early life
Cyrus was born in Nashville, Tennessee on November 23, 1992. She is the daughter of Leticia "Tish" (née Finley) and country singer Billy Ray Cyrus. She has an older brother Trace, a vocalist and guitarist of an electronic rock band Metro Station in California. She has an older sister, Brandi. The two were Tish's children from a previous relationship, whom Billy Ray Cyrus adopted when they were very young. She also has an older half-brother, Christopher Cody, her father's son from a previous relationship, but she has not seen Christopher since November 2007 during her concert in Fort Worth, Texas. Miley also has a younger brother, Braison, and a younger sister, Noah, who is also an actress. Cyrus was named Destiny Hope because her parents believed that she would accomplish great things. Cyrus was nicknamed "Miley" because she kept smiling ("Smiley") as a youngster. She is of part Cherokee descent.

Cyrus attended Heritage Middle School and was a cheerleader, but now goes to school at Options For Youth. She also has a private tutor on the set of her TV show. She grew up on her parents' farm outside of Nashville, Tennessee where she also attended The People's Church.

Acting career
Cyrus became interested in acting at age nine, taking classes at the Armstrong Acting Studio in Toronto, Canada, when she and her family lived there for four years. Her first acting role was as a guest star on her father's television series Doc, in which she played a girl named Kylie. In 2003, she played "Young Ruthie" in Tim Burton's Big Fish and was credited as Destiny Cyrus. As of June 2009, Cyrus is scheduled to film her upcoming movie The Last Song in which she plays a teenage girl who tries to bond with her father during a summer at his home in a quiet beach town. It is scheduled for release in 2010 and filming is expected to start from June 15-21, 2009. The Last Song is designed to be a star vehicle for Cyrus and is part of her transition to adult fare.

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.

Disney career
Cyrus was 12 years old when she originally auditioned for Disney for the lead role of Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana, as well as the show's "best friend" roles, but Disney Channel executives judged her to be too small. However, Cyrus was persistent in her desire to be part of Hannah Montana, so Disney called her back for further auditions. According to Disney Channel Executive Vice President Gary Marsh, Cyrus was chosen for the show 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." She spent several years trying 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. 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 June 2009, Cyrus announced that the fourth season of Hannah Montana will be the last season of her portraying the title role.

Cyrus had a brief cameo in High School Musical 2 credited as "girl at pool". Cyrus also guest-starred as Yatta on the Disney Channel's The Emperor's New School. Cyrus provided the voice of Penny in the computer-animated film, Bolt. She also starred in a Hannah Montana movie spin-off, titled Hannah Montana: The Movie which was released on April 10, 2009.

2006-2007
In 2006, the fourth edition of DisneyMania was released. On it, Cyrus made a cover of Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah, from the 1946 animated movie Song of the South, originally performed by James Baskett. Later, Walt Disney Records released the first Hannah Montana soundtrack, on October 24, 2006. The soundtrack included eight of the songs that Cyrus performed as Hannah Montana and other artists include her father, Billy Ray Cyrus. The album debuted at #1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 selling 281,000 copies in its first week, beating out such artists as John Legend and rock band My Chemical Romance. where it remained for two weeks. It was the eighth best selling album of 2006 in the U.S., with nearly two million copies sold that year. The album was later re-released twice — a Holiday Edition featuring Cyrus' cover of "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" and a Special Edition featuring "Nobody's Perfect", the first appeared on 2007 album Disney Channel Holiday. Cyrus also opened for The Cheetah Girls, performing on 20 dates of their 39-city tour.

Once again, Cyrus recorded a remake version of a classic Disney song "Part of Your World" for DisneyMania fifth edition. On June 26, 2007, 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' debut solo album as herself. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 and sold 326,000 copies, selling faster in its first week than the previous soundtrack. On the strength of holiday season sales, the album returned and remained in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 in December on the strength of holiday season sales, and sold more than 700,000 copies during that period. The album, having sold more than 3 million copies in the U.S was certified three times Platinum by RIAA. The album had five of its songs debut on the Billboard Hot 100, "See You Again" peaked at #10, which also become Cyrus' first song to enter the top ten on the Hot 100.



Cyrus performed both as herself and in character as Hannah Montana on a North American Best of Both Worlds Tour with 69 total dates, 14 more than previously planned. The Jonas Brothers were the opening act for most of the tour. Tour tickets for each date sold out in record time after they went on sale, disappointing a large number of fans. The tour was recorded and released to cinemas in Disney Digital 3-D. The concert film brought in $8,651,758 on its opening day, and continued on to gross $31,117,834 to finish off the weekend, making it the highest-grossing opening weekend for a film to be released under 1000 screens, and on July 26, 2008 it was released on Disney Channel.

After that, Walt Disney Records/Hollywood Records released a live album recorded by Cyrus during this tour. It features seven songs as her character, Hannah Montana, and another seven as herself. The album peaked at number three in the United States.

2008–present
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. The single debuted at number 84 on the Billboard Hot 100. Two weeks later of released, it rose sixty spots from number 70 to number nine.

She hosted the 2008 CMT Music Awards with her father in April. In 2008, Cyrus hosted the Teen Choice Awards. On September 5 2008, Cyrus along with many female singers performs a single for the anti-cancer campaign Stand Up to Cancer, titled "Just Stand Up!", was performed live during the one-hour U.S. On September 14, 2008, Cyrus participated in other philanthropy action — along with other performers, performed at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California for the City of Hope Benefit Concert that will help raise for cancer research and training programs.

On November 4, 2008, Hollywood Records released a Christmas themed CD titled All Wrapped Up. Which include Cyrus version of the Christmas hit "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town". Cyrus co-wrote and recorded one of the two original songs to the soundtrack of Bolt, the song also features the other Bolt star John Travolta. Titled "I Thought I Lost You", it was later nominated to a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. Her single, "The Climb" from the Hannah Montana: The Movie soundtrack debuted at number six on the Billboard Hot 100, thus becoming her highest charting single to date since "See You Again" and "7 Things" which charted at #10 and #9 respectively. And she will now launch Hannah Montana 3 on July 14, 2009.

On June 3, 2009 Cyrus announced her "2009 North American Tour." The tour will begin on September 14, 2009 in Portland, Oregon and span 45 dates across North America. On June 5, 2009 more dates were announced for the United Kingdom making the tour change names to the "2009/2010 Miley Cyrus World Tour." The tour will feature the band Metro Station as a special guest. Tickets will go on sale to the general public on June 13, 2009 and for the UK dates on June 12, 2009. Cyrus also recorded a song with the Jonas Brothers titled "Before The Storm" for their fourth studio album Lines, Vines and Trying Times.

Entrepreneurship
Cyrus became a spokesperson for Daisy Rock Guitars in 2004, when she was presented with her first Daisy Rock guitar — the Stardust Series Acoustic Electric Pink Sparkle. Disney released a Hannah Montana clothing collection in late summer 2007. Cyrus helped to design some of the pieces from the collection. In December 2007, she was ranked #17 in the list of Forbes Top Twenty Superstar Earners under 25 with an annual earning of US$3.5 million. A wax figure of Cyrus was unveiled at Madame Tussauds in New York City. In April 2008, Cyrus signed a contract to pen an autobiography reflecting on her life up to the age of 16. The memoir, called Miles To Go (ISBN 978-1-42-311992-0) was written with Hilary Liftin and was published by Disney-Hyperion Books in March 2009. The memoir discusses Cyrus' relationship with her father, her thoughts on the media, her love life, her future ambitions and milestones she still has to reach in her life. Miles to Go reached #1 on the New York Times children’s best seller list. An initial printing run of one million copies of Miles to Go is planned.

Personal life
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 (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 mostly filmed in Cyrus' bedroom. In June 2009, it was confirmed that Cyrus broke up with Nashville Star contestant Justin Gaston.

In 2007, Cyrus made a large contribution to the City of Hope, giving $1 for every "Hannah Montana" concert ticket sold. She said that "the cool thing about being a part of City of Hope is that they are a cancer research center. They're not only helping kids that are there, but also finding out how they can heal them by figuring out what exactly is going on, which is amazing." In the September 2008 issue of Seventeen, Cyrus stated she was in a relationship with Nick Jonas for two years, and that the two "were in love." They broke up at the end of 2007. In June 2009, in an interview on talk show Larry King Live, Joe Jonas implied that Cyrus and Nick Jonas are back together.

Cyrus celebrated her 16th birthday with a charity fundraiser at Disneyland, which was closed early for the event attended by 5,000 fans at $250 per ticket. The proceeds went to the charity Youth Service America, a youth volunteering organization. Ten outstanding youth volunteers from Youth Service America were invited to attend, and later in the evening, Cyrus presented a $1 million check to the organization.

In December 2008, TV Guide reported that Cyrus was selected as one of the United States top ten most fascinating people of 2008 for an Barbara Walters ABC special aired on December 4, 2008.

Pregnancy hoax
On September 24, 2007, rumors began circulating that Cyrus was pregnant. 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." 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!" The real story on J-14's page 16 article was "Miley's Gross Habits" told by her co-stars on the set of Hannah Montana.

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' 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' 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 were "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."

Religion and same-sex marriage
In April 2009, Cyrus was criticized by the American Family Association (AFA) for a comment she made in a Twitter communication to Perez Hilton. In response to a question from Hilton regarding same-sex marriage, Cyrus wrote: "I am a Christian and I love you - gay or not - because you are no different than anyone else! We are all God's children and everyone should be happy." The AFA said: "Clearly she is confused and does not understand the Bible. Please pray for the Lord to open her eyes to the truth."

Discography

 * Studio albums
 * 2007: Hannah Montana 2/Meet Miley Cyrus
 * 2008: Breakout


 * Live albums
 * 2008: Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert


 * Tours
 * 2007/2008: Best of Both Worlds Tour
 * 2009/2010: 2009/2010 Miley Cyrus World Tour


 * Soundtracks
 * 2006: Hannah Montana
 * 2007: Hannah Montana 2/Meet Miley Cyrus
 * 2008: Bolt
 * 2009: Hannah Montana: The Movie
 * 2009: Hannah Montana 3