Miley Cyrus

The biography of Miley Cyrus

Born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992, in Franklin, Tennessee, Miley Cyrus is the daughter of '90s country star Billy Rayy Cyrus. (She later changed her name to "Miley," the nickname she was given as a baby for often smiling.) Cyrus grew up on the family farm, near Nashville, Tennessee, with two siblings and three half-siblings. She was passionate about acting at a young age, appearing on her father's television series, Doc, and in Tim Burton's Big Fish (2003).

'Hannah Montana'

in 2004, Cyrus beat out 1,000 hopefuls to land the starring role of Miley Stewart on the hit Disney show Hannah Montana. The tween series features a young pop superstar (Montana) who hides her celebrity identity to be an everyday teen in real life (Stewart).

To accommodate filming, the entire family moved to Los Angeles, California, in 2005; Billy Ray plays her fictional dad-manager on the show. Cyrus released a successful Hannah Montana soundtrack album in 2006.

In 2007, Cyrus's double album, Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus, launched a tour: "Best of Both Worlds." The concert series sold out in record time, and the show was extended by 14 dates to help placate disappointed fans. Her successful 3-D concert film collected $31.3 million during its opening weekend in February 2008. Cyrus reportedly earned $18.2 million in 2007.

Pop and Film Star

Cyrus changed her legal name to Miley Ray Cyrus in 2008. That same year, she found


herself amidst controversy for posing for revealing photographs taken by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz, which appeared in Vanity Fair magazine. The resulting criticism and media frenzy did little damage to her career, however. Her second studio album, Breakout (2008), was a huge hit, reaching the top of the pop album charts.

Also in 2009, Cyrus released the EP The Time of Our Lives, featuring the hit singles "Party in the U.S.A." and "When I Look at You," the former being the singer's most successful song to date, selling more than 5.38 million copies and earning a spot among the best-selling singles of all time.

In 2010, Cyrus starred in the romantic drama The Last Song, a film based on a novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks.

Enthusiasm for Cyrus's TV alter ego remained strong for several years, as well. In April 2009, Hannah Montana: The Movie scored at the box office, bringing in more than $79 million. The young star followed that success with the release of a new album, 2010's Can't Be Tamed.

Cyrus has sought to distance herself from her Hannah Montana persona. She cut her hair short and took to wearing edgy fashions as part of her effort to craft a new image of herself. But no one was quite prepared for how far she would go. At the MTV Video Music Awards ceremony held in August 2013, Cyrus stunned the audience with her lewd and raunchy performance of her latest single, "We Can't Stop." But the controversy stirred up by this stunningly explicit appearance seemed to bolster sales of Cyrus's fourth studio album, Bangerz, released in early October 2013.