Miley Cyrus
Celebrity certainly runs in
the family for pop starlet Miley Cyrus. Although famous worldwide in her own
right, it can’t have been a bad thing to have a father like Billy Ray Cyrus,
the American country music star who had a massive hit with ‘Achy Breaky Heart’
in 1992, the year of Miley’s birth. Having a Democrat politician, Ron Cyrus, as
a grandfather probably hasn’t hindered her on her path to fame and fortune
either!
Although christened Destiny Hope, the singer was nicknamed ‘Smiley’ by her parents, because she never stopped smiling as a child. At school she was a keen cheerleader, and that need to entertain is probably what lead her toward acting. She began tacking acting classes aged just nine, and soon began appearing in minor roles in TV and film. However, it was in auditioning for a Disney Channel show about a ‘secret pop star’ in 2004 that she made the move that would lead her to worldwide fame.
Although Disney executives initially turned her away for being too young, Miley’s persistence earned her a spate of further auditions, eventually gaining a shot at the leading role, Zoe Stewart. Miley made an instant impression, and landed the role. In 2006, with the lead character’s name changed to Miley Stewart, the Hannah Montana show was launched. An instant hit, it averaged over 4 million viewers for each episode, and catapulted Miley to stardom.
Keen to cash in on the popularity of the show, the Disney Channel moved to record a soundtrack, which was eventually released in October the same year. Shooting straight to number one on the Billboard 200 charts, the album cemented Miley’s position as the hottest teen star of the decade. The following year, a second soundtrack was released in combination with Cyrus’ first solo album, which again made number one and sold even faster than its predecessor. Capitalising on her ever-rising stardom, Miley began a tour at the end of 2007 that saw her take in 69 venues across the US, with support from the Jonas Brothers. Miley was hot property: tickets for each show sold out within hours of going on sale.
There were no breaks for Cyrus after the tour had ended, nor did she want any. Work was already underway on a Hannah Montana movie, and a preceding soundtrack was released in early 2008. As well as filming, Cyrus was still keen to continue with her music career, and released her second solo album in July of that year. As with all her other releases, it was an instant success, and another number one album for the young star. Busy as ever, Cyrus also worked on the animated film ‘Bolt’, before the Hannah Montana movie was eventually released in early 2009. The film was such a worldwide hit that Cyrus has now decided to concentrate on her movie career for the near future, but don’t worry, it probably won’t be long before the hard-working star has another album in the pipeline!
