Destiny Hope Cyrus was born November 23, 1992, in Franklin, Tennessee. Her parents nicknamed her "Smiley", which they later shortened to "Miley", because she was such a happy child. In 2008, she legally changed her name to Miley Ray Cyrus. Her middle name honors her grandfather, Democratic politician Ronald Ray Cyrus from Kentucky.

In 2013-14, Miley's behavior generated a considerable amount of controversy, but country singer Dolly Parton said of her goddaughter "The girl can write. The girl can sing. The girl is smart. And she doesn't have to be so drastic. But I will respect her choices. I did it my way, so why can't she do it her way?"

After her father took her to see a 2001 production of Mamma Mia! at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, Cyrus grabbed his arm and told him, "This is what I want to do, Daddy. I want to be an actress." Shortly thereafter, she began singing and acting lessons at the Armstrong Acting Studio in Toronto.

Hannah Montana follows the daily life of Miley Stewart (portrayed by Miley Cyrus), a teenage girl living a double life as an average schoolgirl by day and as the famous pop singer Hannah Montana by night. Cyrus' real-life father, country singer Billy Ray Cyrus, played her father Robby in the series.

They're playing my song,
And the butterflies fly away
Noddin' my head like, yeah
Movin' my hips like, yeah
I got my hands up,
They're playin' my song
You know I'm gonna be okay
Yeah, it's a party in the USA

Cyrus was born with supraventricular tachycardia, a non-life threatening condition that causes an abnormal resting heart rate.

Miley and friend Mandy Jiroux began posting videos on YouTube in February 2008, referring to the clips as "The Miley and Mandy Show". It was one of the first YouTube sensations and garnered a large online following.

Miley released "Wrecking Ball" as the second single from her Bangerz album. The accompanying music video, which shows her licking a sledgehammer and swinging naked on a wrecking ball, was viewed over nineteen million times within its first day of release. The single became Cyrus' first hit to top the Hot 100 in the US and sold over two million copies.

And every tomorrow is a day I never plan
If you're gonna be my man understand
I can't be tamed

Her first tattoo was of the words "Just Breathe" tattooed on the left side of her rib cage when she was just 17 years old, a tribute to her friend Vanessa who died from lung disease in 2007 and her grandfather who also died of lung cancer. "It reminds me not to take things for granted," Miley says, "I mean breathing--that was something none of them could do, the most basic thing. And I put it near my heart because that is where they will always be."