Country singer Billy Ray Cyrus (Kentucky, 65 years old) spoke out this Wednesday, September 2, about his daughter Miley Cyrus’s decision not to include her last name as part of her stage name on her new album, Bass Persuades—whose first single will be released this Thursday—something she had done on the previous nine albums. “It is a natural process for a legendary and iconic superstar,” he posted on his Instagram account—where he has 1.8 million followers—alongside an old photo with his daughter and his youngest son, Braison Cyrus. “I have always called my little Miley. Simply… Miley. Just as I have always called my little Braison,” he begins his text.
The artist denies that there is any controversy behind his daughter’s decision and confirms having had a friendly conversation with the former Hannah Montana performer about this matter. “Yesterday I told Miley that I thought it was fine for her to keep her first name. I mentioned Dolly and Cher. The more I think about it… Elvis… Prince… and so on,” the singer wrote.
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The Wrecking Ball singer has not only dropped her last name for her new project but also removed it this Monday from her Instagram profile—with 205 million followers—without any explanation and after posting two photos in red and black, which has sparked fan theories about the reasons for this change, pointing to a possible family conflict. For her father, however, it is a return to the name he has always called her by: a name that comes from her childhood nickname, Smiley.
The former Disney actress, for her part, has not yet officially commented on her decision, which has fueled speculation about the on-and-off relationship with her father, from whom she distanced herself after finishing the filming of Hannah Montana—where they were also father and daughter in fiction—in 2011. This situation worsened with Billy Ray Cyrus’s separation from the artist’s mother, Tish Cyrus, in April 2022. Additionally, the singer then started dating Firerose, his daughter’s co-star in Hannah Montana, whom he married in October 2023 and divorced just seven months later. When Miley Cyrus won the Grammy for her album Flowers in October 2024, she thanked many close people, including her brother, her mother, her partner, and her team, but did not include her father.
In May 2025, however, father and daughter reunited to celebrate Braison’s birthday, her brother. That same year, Secrets was released, a song the singer described as “a gesture of peace” for a person she lost for a time but always loved. “This song is for my father,” she admitted on the Reclaiming podcast by Monica Lewinsky. Additionally, they publicly reunited last March in the special celebrating two decades since the premiere of Hannah Montana.
Although the artist has not yet commented on her name change, she has revealed that the new album—available from September 18—is about a love story. “It is not a one-dimensional theme, but it does have a romantic thread because, as in several of my albums, it reflects where I am in life,” she mentioned in an interview with actress Daryl Hannah for Wonderland magazine. The actress, engaged to drummer Maxx Morando, said she had never experienced a relationship like the one she has with her current partner: “It is a peaceful love that I have reflected in my last three albums.” For now, Miley will give two concerts at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on October 16 and 18.
