Biography

Miley Ray Cyrus was born in Nashville Tennessee on November 23, 1992. She is the daughter of Leticia "Tish" 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 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 of 2007 during her concert at 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 gained her nickname "Miley" because she kept smiling ("Smiley") as a youngster. She is of 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.

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.

Cyrus was twelve 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.

Cyrus had a brief cameo in High School Musical 2 credited as "girl at pool". Cyrus also guest-starred as Yatta on Disney Channel's The Emperor's New School. Cyrus provided the voice of Penny in the 2008 computer-animated film, Bolt. Also, she has completed filming on the movie spin-off of Hannah Montana, titled Hannah Montana: The Movie which was released on April 10, 2009.

On 2006, the fourth edition was released in the DisneyMania. In 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 includes 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.

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." he 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.

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, CA 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 includes 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 number 10 and 9 respectively...and the Hannah Montana 3 soundtrack released on July 14, 2009. She now has a clothing line with Max Azria sold at Walmart and released an EP called "The Time Of Our Lives" on August 31st, 2009, and is only sold at Walmart. She is currently on her 2009 WonderWorld Tour.