Miley Cyrus Details Relationship With Parents Tish and Billy Ray Cyrus Amid Rumored Family Rift

Must be something in the water, or that Miley Cyrus is her mother and her father's daughter. 

Indeed, the Hannah Montana alum is sharing where she got the power throughout her life and career—and two big factors, for better or worse, are her parents Tish Cyrus and Billy Ray Cyrus. 

"Honestly, my mom is my hero," Miley explained on David Letterman's My Next Guest Needs No Introduction episode, released June 12. "My father—I'm grateful for being able to watch him ahead of me. He's almost given me this map. There is a map of what to do and what not to do. And he's guided me on both."

Billy Ray and Tish—who were married for nearly 30 years before officially filing for divorce in April 2022—share Miley, as well as Brandi Cyrus, 37, Trace Cyrus, 35, Braison Cyrus, 30, and Noah Cyrus, 24. And while Billy Ray—who also fathers Christopher Cyrus,32, with ex Kristin Luckey—starred alongside Miley in her hit Disney series from 2006 to 2011, the 31-year-old noted that it was her mother who raised her. 

As Miley noted, the "Achy Breaky Heart" singer's and Tish's impact "can't be weight on the same scale."

Still, the "Flowers" singer added, her parents' own upbringings likely had an impact on how they raised their children. While her mom grew up in a loving home, her dad did not. 

"My dad had a really rough childhood," Miley noted. "And my childhood—I mean, we can go and talk about the hard times or the struggles—but I had food, I had love, I grew up in a beautiful big house and my dad didn't have that."

But while she was empathetic to her father's struggles, the Grammy winner didn't hold back the honesty when it came to what she learned from her dad. 

"I also inherited the narcissism from my father," she admitted, before noting a few of the pros. "He also has a relationship and a foot on the ground to nature and to the real. And he always did, even when he was super famous."

Miley's rare comments about her parents come amid a changing family dynamic that has been heavily publicized. Shortly after her parents' divorce, a source close to the singer told E! News that the separation put a "strain" on Miley's relationship with her father. 

The insider added that Miley didn't have a relationship with her father's now-ex Firerose—whom Billy Ray filed for divorce from last month after seven months of marriage—but she had hoped that she and her dad could "eventually work on their relationship."

And while Miley notably left her father out of her speech after winning her first Grammy in February, saying,  "I don't think I forgot anyone but I might've forgotten underwear," Billy Ray appears to have recently extended an olive branch. 

"I'm incredibly proud of her," he wrote of Miley in an Instagram post June 7. "She's a survivor and a true artist."

Miley's alleged rift with Billy isn't the only factor of the Cyrus family's complicated relationships. Keep reading for everything to know. 

Billy Ray Cyrus married Tish Cyrus (née Leticia Finley) on Dec. 28, 2003.

At the time they already shared 12-month-old daughter Destiny Hope Cyrus—you may know her as Miley Cyrus now—and Tish was pregnant with their son Braison Cyrus, who was born May 9, 1994.

Seven months before Miley was born on Nov. 23, 1992, Billy Ray's ex-girlfriend Kristin Luckey gave birth to their son Christopher Cody Cyrus on April 8.

When the "Achy Breaky Heart" singer married Tish, he adopted her daughter Brandi Cyrus (born May 26, 1987) and son Trace Cyrus (Feb. 24, 1989), whose biological father is their mom's ex-husband Baxter Helson.

Trish and Billy Ray's youngest, daughter Noah Cyrus, was born Jan. 8, 2000.

From 2006 to 2010, Billy Ray played the father of Miley's normal-kid-who-moonlights-as-a-pop-star character in the Disney Channel sitcom Hannah Montana and a 2009 film adaptation.

While the Cyrus family was still based in Nashville, Billy Ray and Miley made the move to L.A. to jumpstart her own entertainment career.

Billy Ray and Tish announced in October 2010 that they were getting divorced, but by the following year were back together.

They filed for divorce again in June 2013 but reconsidered barely a month later, telling E! News at the time that they'd been to couple's counseling and it had done wonders for them.

But before they reconciled, when the news broke that her dad had made the first move in a Nashville court to end his marriage after 19 years, Miley tweeted, "@billyraycyrus since your text and email obviously aren't working would you like to talk like this?"

After a decade of being together off and on, and in the wake of losing their Malibu home in a fire, Miley and her The Last Song co-star Liam Hemsworth married in December 2018.

The decision came "from a place of trauma and just trying to rebuild as quickly as we could," Miley recalled on her "Used to Be Young" TikTok series.

But Liam filed for divorce in August 2019 and they finalized the paperwork in January 2020.

"It's honestly very simple," a source told E! at the time. "They fell in love when they were young and they are just different people now."

Tish and Billy Ray became grandparents in 2021 when their son Braison and his wife Stella welcomed son Bear Chance Cyrus on June 8. 

Tish filed for divorce fo a third time in April 2022, and this time it stuck.

Moreover, her petition citing "irreconcilable differences" noted that she and her husband of almost 30 years hadn't lived together since February 2020. 

"It is after 30 years, five amazing children and a lifetime of memories, we have decided to go our separate ways—not with sadness, but with love in our hearts," Tish and Billy Ray told People in a statement. "We have grown up together, raised a family we can be so proud of, and it is now time to create our own paths."

The exes noted that they hadn't come to the decision to split up for good "lightly or quickly," adding, "We will always be family and look forward to a continued and loving shared experience as friends and parents."

Billy Ray quietly got engaged to Australian singer Firerose, who's 27 years his junior, in August 2022 but waited to confirm the news until that November.

"Growing up in Australia, my love of music was predominant over everything," Firerose told People. "I've known his music since forever."

What started as a friendship turned into more during the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"All of the sudden, the life that I've always known as a touring artist didn't exist anymore," Billy Ray said. "A moment of so much change. And at the same time, Firerose, who had been such a light of positivity, such a best friend. And then when we began sharing the music, it just evolved more into, as musical soulmates, to soulmates, happy, pure love that to me, I didn't know could exist."

Around the time her ex-husband confirmed his engagment in November 2022, Tish went Instagram-official with Prison Break actor Dominic Purcell.

They got engaged in April 2023 and tied the knot that August in Malibu at sunset with Miley, Trace and Brandi all standing by their mom's side.

"Life is unpredictable & always full of changes," Trace captioned a photo of himself and two of his sibling with the bride. "I think the most important thing to do is cherish the past, look forward to the future, & always be happy in the present moment because that’s really all we have."

"To see my mom this happy and in love is very emotional for me," Miley told Vogue last summer ahead of her mom's wedding. "Dom and my mom share the sweetest, most genuine love. It's almost like it's for the first time, which is so fitting for my mom who is such a young soul."

As for her dad's next chapter, however, a source close to Miley told E! News in October 2022 that she wasn't in love with it and didn't have a relationship with her future stepmom.

"The divorce between her parents put a strain on her relationship with her dad and it's been hard to connect with him in the last year," the source said. "She hopes they can eventually work on their relationship."

Billy Ray told People that November, however, that his family had "no hard feelings" about his engagement.

"Everybody's turning the page," he said. "It's been a lot, but everyone knew that it was time for a change."

He and Firerose got married on Oct. 10, 2023, calling it the "beautiful, joyous day that our two souls united as one in holy matrimony."

Whatever rift opened up between Miley and her dad apparently hadn't been repaired by the night of the 2024 Grammys on Feb. 4.

Tish and Brandi were there, as was Miley's boyfriend Maxx Morando, and they all got shout-outs when the "Flowers" singer won Record of the Year.

As Miley concluded her speech, "I don't think I forgot anyone."

None of the three officially confirmed or denied eyebrow-raising reports that Noah was involved with Dominic before her mother was, but the Grammy-nominated singer had some choice words for an Instagram commenter in April 2024 after the person crudely suggested that Noah and Tish both had "sexy time" with the actor.

"I'm so sorry but will you pleeeeeass just choke on the fattest c--k," Noah wrote in response. "Just for a lil bit. Great thanks."

Barely eight months after they tied the knot, Billy Ray filed to annul the union, alleging in court documents the marriage was "obtained by fraud."

He listed May 22 as their date of separation.

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