Miley Cyrus

Miley Cyrus is an American singer, songwriter, and actress whose two-decade career — beginning with her childhood role on Disney Channel's Hannah Montana (2006–2011) — has produced one of the most-iconic American singer-actress career arcs of the 21st century. She was born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992, in Franklin, Tennessee, the daughter of country singer Billy Ray Cyrus. She legally changed her name to Miley Ray Cyrus in 2008 — "Miley" being a nickname her father had given her as a small child for being "smiley."

Her Disney Channel breakthrough came in 2006 at age 13 with Hannah Montana — the Disney series in which she played the Tennessee teenager Miley Stewart whose secret double-life identity was the blonde-wigged pop star Hannah Montana. The show ran for four seasons across 98 episodes through 2011 and was the foundational program of Disney Channel's late-2000s commercial peak. The accompanying Hannah Montana album franchise sold over 33 million copies worldwide.

Her 2008 transition to the adult-pop persona came with her 2008 single "7 Things" and the 2009 single "The Climb." The 2013 album Bangerz — and its accompanying music videos and 2013 MTV Video Music Awards performance with Robin Thicke — shaped her public persona-shift away from her Hannah Montana child-star identity. The 2013 single "Wrecking Ball" became one of the American pop singles of the 2010s.

Her subsequent albums have continued to range across genres — the 2017 country-pop album Younger Now, the 2020 rock-influenced Plastic Hearts, and the 2023 album Endless Summer Vacation (which produced the Grammy-winning single "Flowers" — her first Hot 100 #1 since 2013). She won the 2024 Grammy Award for Record of the Year. She has been with American actor and musician Maxx Morando since 2021.

Her name Miley is a phonetic variation of the English nickname "Smiley" — anchored exclusively to Miley Cyrus's American cultural visibility. Miley has been continuously among the most-popular American girls' names since the 2000s.