Miley Cyrus is 27, divorced, and a bit intense. Over the past decade the award-winning singer-songwriter, actress, and record producer has had a tumultuous time in both her personal and professional life. We got it, Miley. You’re not Hannah Montana anymore.
She proves it further on a recent episode of the popular podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, where the star laid it on the line in a funny, charming, and authentic way; talking about her career, (“The music comes first,”) her dad Billy Ray and the rest of her fam, former husband Liam Hemsworth, influencers and mentors (FYI: Rue Paul and Dolly Parton, respectively), and whatever else Rogan could think to ask her about.
10 How Her Voice Got So Distinctive
“I had surgery on my voice. I had something called Reiki’s Edema.” This ailment comes from the abuse of the vocal cords, aka people who talk too much.
Miley explained: “I started touring at probably 12. It’s not really the singing that affects your voice, it’s afterward. You’re totally on, and it’s really hard to get that sleep. You stay up talking all night [which] turns into smoking all night, and now this is kind of where we’re at.” She concluded that her heavy voice reflects that she’s “been through some heavy things.”
9 She No Longer Smokes Or Drinks
“I’ve been sober, since the vocal surgery. I now just avoid really drinking because I like to wake up at 110 percent.”
The host and his guest talked about how people should be made more aware of the effects of drugs and alcohol, which prompted the Party In The USA singer to share: “I want to do a book series of realistic children stories,” where we don’t live in a sunshine world and everyone walks on a rainbow.” She doesn’t want to scare kids, just give them the heads up about what the real world is like.
8 She’s Survived Because She’s Loved
“I don’t mean heart still beating survival, I mean I have a lot of people that love me around. I didn’t kick all the people who had my best interests at heart out—that’s when you die.”
She gives a shout out to her “awesome” parents as well, her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, in particular, who we learned has no WiFi or internet and two Blackberries which he believes equals an iPhone. “My dad’s loopy as hell, but I love him so much. It was really good to have him [be famous] before me, you know, that buddy system.”
7 Her Divorce Sucked
Miley met Liam in 2009 and they became a couple in 2010, announced their engagement in 2012, broke up, got re-engaged in 2016, married in 2018, and by 2019 it was O.V.E.R.
“I just went through a very public divorce that f___ing sucked. What really sucked about it wasn’t the fact that me and someone that I loved realized that we don’t love each other the way that we used to anymore; I can accept that. I can’t accept the villainizing and all those stories. I had to start remembering that just because they write it down doesn’t mean it’s true.”
6 She Loves The Immediacy Of The New Music Industry
“What I used to do when doing promo for a record—I’m 12 years old and I’m printing physical copies of my album so I had to write my lyrics six months before, so you’re always telling a story from being behind. Now what I love about a show like [The Joe Rogan Experience] is we talk about it right now and people hear it right now, so you’re getting the real information.
“That’s what I love about the new way that music is happening and streaming and I love the idea that I threw up that Flaming Lips record I did on SoundCloud and no one had to buy it. It’s very exciting because now I can use my art [to] talk to the public.”
5 She’s In Therapy
When she was walking through an airport at 17, she saw a book titled Change Your Brain, Change Your Life by Dr. Daniel Amen who’s now been her therapist for 10 years. “I couldn’t get on this plane, I was having a full anxiety attack with smoking a lot of weed I was taking a lot of ‘shrooms and I started getting a little cray-cray so I got this book and it got me to get onto the plane.”
Dr. Amen suggested she get rid of the weed, the psychedelics, and drop gluten from her diet. He also did a brain scan. It was determined that if she was going to live a stressful life she was going to have to be diligent about taking care of herself.
4 She Had A Childhood Brain Injury
It happened when she was only a 2-year-old. “My dad had me in a baby backpack and I was on a dirt bike with my dad. He was riding and a tree had fallen and he ducked and I didn’t and I hit my head on the tree,” to which Rogan responded: “OH.”
Oh, indeed. But the look-on-the-bright-side Nothin’ Breaks Like A Heart singer answered: “Everybody always asks me what’s wrong with me, well that’s it. Maybe I’m thankful for it; maybe it knocked me into this identity.”
3 She Doesn’t Like How She’s Perceived
Billy Ray set her up for failure and disappointment and what made me her tough. “Sometimes it scares me that I’m too tough. I’m not jaded and I’m not cold, but I feel too tough. I used to meet people and they’d be like ‘You’re not as crazy as I thought you’d be,’ and I’m like ‘um, Thank you’. That’s just a weird thing to say to someone.”
Then about her ability to move on without emotion from adversity, “Everybody is proud of me because I’m resilient, but have a lot of guilt about that.”
2 She Wants An Autonomous Partner
Hey older dudes, the Malibu songstress is looking for you. “I don’t need a man or woman to take care of me. I’ve got money; I’ve got all the things that I need to take care of myself. I need them to be able to take care of them.”
In fact, she admitted that she doesn’t need to be in a relationship at all, adding, “What’s painful isn’t the relationship, it’s that when it’s done you holding on for that extra however long you try to make work something that’s not working. A non-negotiable in my dating life is: Know what you want because I’m just not interested in taking another 10 years like I did with my first love figuring that out.”
1 The Cyrus Family Values
“My whole family’s a bunch of stoners.” And moving right along, Billy Ray didn’t want her to go on auditions at first, but her mom brought her anyway because she said if Miley stayed in their small Nashville town she’d end up on drugs. “So, she took me to LA. Mom, like hello?” The Wrecking Ball singer revealed early life on the road was hard on her younger siblings. But now, “[Braison] has his chickens and his ducks and a small little place. He’s also a badass talent. He wants to make music [on Spotify] because he loves it.” Her sister Noah has an album out too but wants Miley-type fame.
The performer also said that the entire family hasn’t been away together in forever because the last time they did, Miley had a run-in with a revolving door and the Cyruses spent their getaway in the ER. “We never went on vacation again.”