Miley Cyrus

Miley Ray Cyrus better known by her stage name Miley Cyrus, is an American teen actress, singer, and songwriter. Cyrus is known for starring as Miley Stewart ”Hannah Montana” in the television series Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel. Cyrus became an overnight sensation after Hannah Montana debuted in March 2006. Following the success of the show, in October 2006, a soundtrack CD was released in which she sang eight songs from the show. At the end of 2009, Billboard magazine ranked Cyrus the fourth best-selling female artist and the fifth best-selling singer overall. Forbes ranked her #29 on the Celebrity 100 and reported she had earned a total of $25 million.

Cyrus was born on November 23, 1992 in Nashville, Tennessee to Leticia Jean "Tish" and country singer Billy Ray Cyrus. Her parents named her Destiny Hope because they believed that she would accomplish great things with her life. They gave her the nickname "Smiley", which was later shortened to "Miley", because she smiled so often as a baby. Cyrus grew up on a farm in Franklin, Tennessee and attended Heritage Elementary School. 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.

Miley, 13, wins the lead role in the new Disney series, Hannah Montana, after initially being rejected because she was "too small, too young". She plays an average teen with a double life as a famous pop singer, and Billy Ray is cast as her dad. Hannah Montana becomes cable's most-watched show for kids ages 6 to 14. Its success continues in song with the Hannah Montana soundtrack album debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200, eventually going triple platinum. Miley releases her follow-up album, Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus, which sells 1.1 million copies. Cyrus’ solo music career began with the release of her debut album, Meet Miley Cyrus on June 23, 2007. Her sophomore album, entitled Breakout was released on July 18, 2008, which is Miley’s first album that does not involve the Hannah Montana franchise. Both albums debuted and peaked at #1 on the Billboard 200.

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 Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron, and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody stars including Brenda Song and Ashley Tisdale.

Cyrus starred in The Last Song, which was released on March 31, 2010, and received generally poor reviews, as did Cyrus's performance. Nonetheless, the film was commercially successful, grossing more than $88 million at the worldwide box office. The fourth and final season of Hannah Montana began airing on Disney Channel on July 11, 2010 and is scheduled to end in 2011. As of December 2010, Cyrus is set to star in two more films, LOL : Laughing Out Loud and So Undercover. She will also star in So Undercover, an action comedy film. She will learn street fighting for the role. Cyrus will host Saturday Night Live on March 5, 2011.