Miley Cyrus covers ‘Rolling Stone’ and talks making peace with her past

Brad Elterman for Rolling StoneIn a new cover story with Rolling Stone, Miley Cyrus says she’s finally at peace with her musical past.

The singer, who just released the rock-inspired album Plastic Hearts, admits it took her a while to feel proud of her career journey and that she often tried to erase whatever came before.

“I discredited myself for what I had been almost every step of the way,” she tells the mag. “During Dead Petz, discrediting Bangerz. During Bangerz, discrediting Hannah Montana. During ‘Malibu,’ discrediting Bangerz.”

She continues, “It’s almost like when I have evolved, I’ve then become shameful of who I was before. What makes you an adult, I think, is being OK with who you’ve been before.”

Miley says she’s since come to realize her past — including Hannah Montana — has had an impact on a younger generation of artists, including Lil Nas X, who ended up collaborating with her dad Billy Ray Cyrus on “Old Town Road.”

“Being a young queer kid’s idol that could turn out to be a Lil Nas X and create a whole identity for themselves off being inspired from watching me growing up. Or I hear artists like Troye Sivan say he felt more comfortable with his sexuality when I came out with ‘My Heart Beats for Love’…” Miley says. “When my peers are having these experiences and accepting themselves because of something that I demonstrated while they were a kid, that’s when I go, ‘S***, I f***ing am Hannah Montana.’”

By Andrea Tuccillo
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

By ABC Audio on December 4, 2020

Brad Elterman for Rolling StoneIn a new cover story with Rolling Stone, Miley Cyrus says she’s finally at peace with her musical past.

The singer, who just released the rock-inspired album Plastic Hearts, admits it took her a while to feel proud of her career journey and that she often tried to erase whatever came before.

“I discredited myself for what I had been almost every step of the way,” she tells the mag. "During Dead Petz, discrediting Bangerz. During Bangerz, discrediting Hannah Montana. During 'Malibu,' discrediting Bangerz.”

She continues, “It’s almost like when I have evolved, I’ve then become shameful of who I was before. What makes you an adult, I think, is being OK with who you’ve been before."

Miley says she’s since come to realize her past -- including Hannah Montana -- has had an impact on a younger generation of artists, including Lil Nas X, who ended up collaborating with her dad Billy Ray Cyrus on “Old Town Road.”

“Being a young queer kid’s idol that could turn out to be a Lil Nas X and create a whole identity for themselves off being inspired from watching me growing up. Or I hear artists like Troye Sivan say he felt more comfortable with his sexuality when I came out with 'My Heart Beats for Love’...” Miley says. “When my peers are having these experiences and accepting themselves because of something that I demonstrated while they were a kid, that’s when I go, 'S***, I f***ing am Hannah Montana.'”

By Andrea Tuccillo
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.