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Miley Ray Cyrus (born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992), is an American actress, singer and songwriter. She is known for starring as Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel Original Series, Hannah Montana. On the Disney Channel series “Hannah Montana” (2006- ), Miley Cyrus played a perky, charming middle-school student who just happened to lead a double life as the pop queen Hannah Montana, disguising her true identity by means of a wig. While the premise was the definition of hokey TV fabrications, it was actually not too far removed from Cyrus’ own life. The decidedly normal young girl from Nashville, TN, also happened to be the daughter of ‘90s country chart-topper-turned-actor Billy Ray Cyrus, and began launching her own singing career in addition to fronting “Hannah Montana.” Cyrus became an overnight sensation after she was cast in 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. In December 2007, she was ranked #17 in the list of Forbes Top twenty earners under 25 with an annual earning of US$3.5 million. As of December 2007, she is working on a movie spin-off from Hannah Montana, titled The Hannah Montana Movie which is due to be released on May 1, 2009. Cyrus was born in Franklin, Tennessee, the daughter of Leticia "Tish" (née Finley) and country singer Billy Ray Cyrus, and the granddaughter of the late Ron Cyrus. She has two older half-brothers Christopher Cody and Trace, the latter being the vocalist and guitarist of an electronic rock band, Metro Station in California. She also has an older half-sister, Brandi, a younger brother, Braison, and a younger sister, Noah, who is also an actress. She 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. Cyrus attended Heritage Middle School, and now has a private tutor. She grew up on her parents' farm outside of Nashville. Cyrus became interested in acting at age nine when the family briefly lived in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 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. She was also featured in Rhonda Vincent's music video for "If Heartaches Have Wings", and appeared on Colgate Country Showdown with her father, who was hosting the program. 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. Cyrus was persistent in her desire to be part of Hannah Montana, however, 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 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 also appeared in the Disney Channel Hannah Montana promotion, "Hannah Montana's Backstage Secrets", in which she portrays Hannah Montana in a fictional interview set in the show's canon. Cyrus had a brief cameo in the 2007 television movie High School Musical 2 credited as "Girl at Pool", where she danced before the end credits in front of the pool wearing a yellow baby doll top and denim bermuda shorts. Cyrus also guest-starred as Yatta on Disney Channel's The Emperor's New School. Bolstered by these appearances, Cyrus began pursuing an acting career in earnest, and at age 11, caught the eye of Disney Channel producers (including Michael Poryes, co-creator of the network’s biggest then hit, “That’s So Raven”) when they began casting for “Hannah Montana.” Concerns over her age and height (Cyrus is 5’ 4”) were dismissed once they saw her way with both a line and a song (Cyrus had a surprisingly mature voice for her age), and by the time she turned 13, the multi-talented girl was starring in her own Disney Channel series. Making it a true family affair, Dad Billy Ray joined her on the show to play her father-manager and dole out countrified advice (and to lend the exceptionally manic series a moment or two of quiet). “Hannah Montana” debuted on The Disney Channel on March 26, 2004 to record ratings, solidifying the show as the network’s newest hit. The inevitable tie-in products soon followed – a soundtrack CD, with five songs crooned by Cyrus, including the title theme, “Best of Both Worlds,” which cracked the Billboard Top 100 singles charts; “Hannah”-related DVDs; video games; and other ephemera were snapped up to the delight of the young fans. Cyrus also contributed a version of “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah” to the fourth volume of the phenomenally popular Disney Mania CD series in April of 2006 (she could also be heard on her father’s 2006 release, “Wanna Be Your Joe”). In June of that year, she performed as Hannah Montana live concert as Hannah Montana at Disney World, as well as signed a four-album deal with Disney’s Hollywood Records. While attending the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix premiere, Cyrus stated that they are working on ideas for a Hannah Montana movie. The feature-length film is to be produced by Cyrus's both on and off-screen dad, Billy Ray Cyrus. The Hannah Montana Movie is scheduled for a May 1, 2009 release. Cyrus was invited to present the song "That's How You Know" from the film Enchanted at the 80th Academy Awards. She also hosted the 2008 CMT Music Awards with her father in April. On April 9, 2008, Miley Cyrus appeared on the American Idol fundraiser show Idol Gives Back, and she told the audience that it has always been one of her dreams to appear on American Idol. Walt Disney Records released Cyrus's first album, Hannah Montana, on October 24, 2006. The soundtrack included eight of the songs that Cyrus performed as Hannah Montana. Cyrus also signed a four-album major record deal with Hollywood Records for her own albums. The album was later re-released twice - a Holiday Edition featuring Cyrus's cover of "Rockin' around the Christmas Tree" and a Special Edition featuring "Nobody's Perfect". Cyrus also opened for The Cheetah Girls in 2006, performing on 20 dates of their 39-city tour. On June 26, 2007, exactly eight months after the release of the first soundtrack, 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's debut album as herself. She wrote eight of the ten songs, credited by her birth name Destiny Hope Cyrus. Cyrus performed both as herself and in character as Hannah Montana on a North American Best of Both Worlds Tour that started on October 18, 2007 in St. Louis, Missouri; the tour was extended, due to high demand, until January 31, 2008, 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 large numbers 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. Though its initial run in theaters was due to last just a week, Disney extended the film's run indefinitely because of the demand. As of April 2008, Cyrus has been recording her second studio album. In an episode of her web cast show, The Miley and Mandy Show, Cyrus announced she was working on her new album titled Breakout . Cyrus also performed two new songs, "Fly on the Wall" and "Breakout" at the 2008 Disney Channel Games concert. Breakout is expected to be released on July 22, 2008. 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. It was given to her by her parents from her father's Country Music Television fan meet-and-greet when she was twelve years old. Disney released a Hannah Montana clothing collection in late summer 2007. Cyrus helped to design some of the pieces from the collection. "It's not a costume. A tween girl isn't doing dress-up, they want to look like they could be Hannah Montana's friend. This is a fashion line.". In April 2008, Cyrus announced plans to write a book about her life and career. The Disney Book Group bought the rights to the book for a reported 7 figures to be published by their imprint Disney-Hyperion Books for a scheduled release spring 2009. An initial printing run of one million copies is planned. Cyrus is good friends with fellow Hannah Montana co-stars Emily Osment and Mitchel Musso, often texting and conference calling each other during busy days. Miley Cyrus also taught Emily Osment how to play the guitar and Osment taught Cyrus how to knit. She is also friends with the stars of the highly successful TV movie High School Musical, including Ashley Tisdale, Vanessa Hudgens and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody stars including Brenda Song.In an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, she stated that she looks up to Hilary Duff as her role model. On January 29, 2008 Miley Cyrus announced her intent to officially change her name to "Miley Ray Cyrus," her middle name reflecting that of her father's. The name change became official 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 to Christianity Today, Billy Ray 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." She also has many pets, including horses, dogs, cats, fish, and chickens. In 2007, Cyrus made a large contribution to the City of Hope (she gave $1 for every HM concert ticket sold) "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 December 2007, she was ranked #17 in the list of Forbes Top twenty earners under 25 with an annual earning of US$3.5 million. In April 2008, Parade and Us Weekly reported that Cyrus earned $18.2 million in 2007. A wax figure of Miley Cyrus was unveiled at Madame Tussauds in New York City. Beginning in February 2008, Cyrus and her friend Mandy Jiroux (who is also a backup dancer for Cyrus) have been 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's bedroom. A particularly popular video was posted on April 13, featuring a dance-off "battle" pitting Cyrus and Jiroux against Jon Chu and Adam Sevani of Step Up 2. The video was choreographed and filmed over the course of two days and it is set to Madonna's song "4 Minutes". 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 magazine was about 'Miley's Gross Habits' told by her co-stars on the set of Hannah Montana. In her movie, Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert, there is a scene where she and her dad did not put their seatbelts on and, was labeled by some newspapers as a "bad role model". Billy Ray Cyrus later apologized for this, and said: "We got caught up in the moment of filming, and we made a mistake and forgot to buckle our seat belts ... Seat belt safety is extremely important." On April 25, 2008, the televised entertainment program Entertainment Tonight reported that Cyrus had posed topless for a photo shoot 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 photo shoot 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." In response to the internet circulation of the photo and ensuing media attention, Cyrus released a statement of apology on April 27: "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." The photographer Annie 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 Annie Liebovitz. 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.” |
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