Cyrus was born Destiny Hope Cyrus in Franklin, Tennessee, the daughter of country singer Billy Ray Cyrus and Leticia “Tish” Cyrus. She grew up around the entertainment industry from an early age — her father was already a country music star known for the hit “Achy Breaky Heart” — and she legally changed her name to Miley Ray Cyrus in 2008. She has several siblings and half-siblings, including fellow singer Noah Cyrus and actor Trace Cyrus.

Cyrus was cast as the lead in Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana in 2006, at age 13, playing a teenager living a double life as a secret pop star. The show ran until 2011 and turned Cyrus into one of the most recognizable young performers in the world, spinning off multi-platinum soundtrack albums, sold-out arena tours, and an enormous merchandising business that Disney has said generated over $1 billion in revenue. She began releasing music under her own name alongside the show, including the albums Meet Miley Cyrus (2007) and Breakout (2008).

Photo: Sam Borowski via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

As Hannah Montana wound down, Cyrus moved deliberately toward an adult pop career, releasing Can’t Be Tamed (2010) and then Bangerz (2013), the album and era that included the single “Wrecking Ball” and a widely discussed VMA performance that marked a permanent break from her Disney image. She continued to shift styles across Younger Now (2017, pop-country), Plastic Hearts (2020, rock-influenced), and Endless Summer Vacation (2023), which included the global hit single “Flowers” and won her first Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year and Album of the Year. She has also maintained an acting career, including the film The Last Song (2010) alongside her former husband Liam Hemsworth.

Photo: Danilo Lauria via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Cyrus’s income today is driven primarily by music royalties, streaming, licensing, and touring rather than acting. “Flowers” became one of the best-selling and most-streamed singles of 2023, and Endless Summer Vacation was a major commercial and critical success, meaningfully boosting her earnings and long-term catalog value in recent years on top of the substantial merchandising and touring income generated during the Hannah Montana years.

Cyrus signed her first major recording deal with Hollywood Records as a teenager, a relationship that continued for years alongside her Disney television contract. She later moved to RCA Records for her more recent albums. Exact contract values have not been publicly disclosed, but industry reporting has consistently placed her among the highest-earning artists to emerge from the Disney Channel pipeline, alongside peers like Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato.

Cyrus has been comparatively selective with brand endorsements relative to some pop peers, though she has participated in campaigns and partnerships tied to her music eras and has been the face of major beauty and fashion editorial features. Her income leans more heavily on music, touring, and licensing than on a large stable of commercial sponsorships.

Beyond music, Cyrus has been an active real estate investor for over a decade, regularly buying, renovating, and selling homes across Los Angeles and Nashville, a pattern widely covered by real estate outlets. She has also built a personal brand around wellness and sobriety advocacy, and continues to license her music catalog and image across film, television, and streaming platforms.

Cyrus has owned numerous properties in the Los Angeles area, including homes in Studio City and Hidden Hills, and has maintained ties to the Nashville area where she grew up. She lost a home in Malibu during the 2018 Woolsey Fire, an experience she has spoken about publicly as influencing later songwriting. She has continued to buy and sell property in the years since.