After the Grammy Awards
Four reasons why Miley Cyrus is so successful
Miley Cyrus celebrated her first Grammys
© AFP
Miley Cyrus won her first Grammy award and made a splash with her rock star performance. Four reasons why the singer is so successful.
She has been in the spotlight since she was 14 years old, has released 17 albums and yet is only now releasing her first one Grammy Award: Miley Cyrus is more successful than ever. Four reasons why the 31-year-old is so popular.
1. Nepo-Baby Miley: Everyone knows her
Miley Cyrus practically grew up in front of the public’s eyes: for years she was Disney’s child star in the series “Hannah Montana”, where she was able to combine her talent for acting and music. The series was extremely successful and gave Cyrus live tours and her own albums. But she was no stranger when she was born: her father is the country singer Billy Ray Cyrus, her godmother is country legend Dolly Parton. Cyrus is a so-called “nepo baby”, a child of nepotism, as they like to say on TikTok. In the USA she is considered a show great and has hosted her own live New Year’s Eve show for the TV station NBC about twice.
2. “Flowers” is the hit she was missing
“She had already made it high in the charts in 2013 with “Wrecking Ball,” but it was only the breakup anthem “Flowers” that catapulted her to number one in the American charts. No one could get past this song in 2023, it was named singles of the year and won a Grammy as best pop song. By the way: The producers behind it had already successfully helped Harry Styles to find a new sound.
3. Miley Cyrus is daring
Since she cut herself off from the Disney image, Cyrus has repeatedly polarized: For example, she sat naked and with short shaved hair on a wrecking ball in the clip for “Wrecking Ball” or twerked so lasciviously at Robin Thicke at the MTV Music Video Awards in 2013 that it was Audience gasped. And she doesn’t mince her words in interviews either, having to backtrack every now and then. Her love for marijuana is no secret. But that’s exactly what many fans like, because…
4. She seems authentic
The performance at the Grammys summed it up: Miley Cyrus has come into her own. She sang her hit “Flowers” in a tight fringed dress that was reminiscent of Tina Turner and a blow-dry wave that would have been unparalleled even in the 70s. “I just got my first Grammy!” she cheered exuberantly in the middle of the verse and shouted to the audience: “Why are you all acting like you don’t know the song?” It was a rock star’s casual look, and she knew it.