Miley Cyrus Biography

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 the title character in the Disney Channel series Hannah Montana.

Following the success of Hannah Montana, 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, which included her first top ten single "See You Again". The song helped Cyrus' transition from Radio Disney to mainstream Top 40 radio success, and paved the way for many other Disney artists. 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.

Cyrus 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 film 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 over $25 million in 2008.

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. 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. Cyrus also has a younger brother, Braison, and a younger sister, Noah, who is also an actress. Cyrus' parents named her Destiny Hope because her parents believed that she would accomplish great things. She was nicknamed "Miley" because she kept smiling ("Smiley") as a baby. She is of part Cherokee descent.

Cyrus attended Heritage Middle School, where she was a cheerleader, though now attends school at Options For Youth. She also has a private tutor on the set of her TV show.

Cyrus grew up on her parents' farm outside of Nashville, Tennessee where she regularly attended The People's Church.

Cyrus became interested in acting at the age of 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. 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.

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, for the role of 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, while also performing 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 in which she plays the title role.

As well as her success with the Hannah Montana Franchise, Cyrus had a brief cameo in High School Musical 2, in which she was credited as "girl at pool" and guest-starred as Yatta on the Disney Channel production The Emperor's New School. Cyrus provided the voice of Penny in the 2008 computer-animated feature film, Bolt.

Cyrus again played the title role in the Hannah Montana movie spin-off, Hannah Montana: The Movie which was released on April 10, 2009.

As of June 2009, Cyrus is scheduled to film her upcoming movie The Last Song, based on a novel by Nicholas Sparks, in which she plays a rebellious teenage girl who spends a summer with her estranged father 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 was conceived as a "star vehicle" with the intention of introducing Cyrus to older audiences. In July 2009, Disney acquired the film rights to Aprilynne Pike's novel Wings, in which Cyrus is expected to star.

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.

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 launched another Hannah Montana soundtrack (for the third season), titled Hannah Montana 3 on July 7, 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 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.

On August 31, 2009, Cyrus will release a Wal-Mart exclusive EP entitled The Time of Our Lives. It will be released as promotion for Cyrus' clothing line. The first single, "Party in the USA," was leaked onto the internet on July 28, 2009. It was officially released to radio on July 29.