Miley Cyrus and her famous dad, Billy Ray Cyrus, have had an up and down relationship over the years. But it seems as if the Hannah Montana staple is ready to bury the hatchet for good with her country singing father.
Using music as healing, her new single, “Secrets,” is partially a tribute to her dad. She released the song on September 18.
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The 32-year-old sensation revealed on Instagram that the single was written as a gesture of healing for someone she had “lost for a time but always loved.” She wrote: “This song was written as a peace offering for someone I had lost for a time but always loved,” adding, “In my experience, forgiveness and freedom are one and the same.”
She co-wrote the track with Fleetwood Mac legends Lindsey Buckingham and Mick Fleetwood. She previously revealed the song was written with her wanting to reconnect with her dad.
During a June 2025 episode of Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky, Miley explained the song and her intention. “I wrote this song about my dad, because I wanted him to tell me… even though they were secrets, even though I didn’t really wanna know,” she said at the time. She continued, “I always wanted my family to feel like I was the safe place… that I always had the white flag when they came to talk to me.”
The rift in their relationship reportedly began in 2022 when Billy Ray announced he and Miley’s mom, Tish, were divorcing after 30 years of marriage. Tish quickly married Prison Break actor Dominic Purcell in 2023. Two of Miley’s siblings were absent from the ceremony. Billy Ray is now dating actress Elizabeth Hurley, going public with their relationship in April 2025, after he ended another contentious marriage.
Miley has been open about how her parent’s tumultuous times impacted her, and how she took on much of her mother’s emotions. “As I’ve gotten older, I’m respecting my parents as individuals instead of as parents — because my mom’s really loved my dad for her whole life, and I think being married to someone in the music industry and not being a part of it is obviously really hard,” she said in an episode of The Interview podcast from The New York Times. “I think I took on some of my mom’s hurt as my own because it hurt her more than it hurt me as an adult, and so I owned a lot of her pain.”
She said her mom moving on in her new marriage was pivotal in mending her relationship with her dad. “I think timing is everything,” Miley said, adding that she is glad both of her parents have moved on. “Now that my mom is so in love with my stepdad, who I completely adore, and now that my dad, I see him finding happiness, too — I can love them both as individuals instead of as a parental pairing. I’m being an adult about it.”
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