Miley Cyrus Pens Heartfelt Note to Alter Ego Hannah Montana for Show’s 15th Anniversary

Miley Cyrus has penned a heartfelt note to her former alter ego Hannah Montana, in honor of the show’s 15th anniversary. In a post shared on social media, Cyrus reflected on the hit Disney series that catapulted her to stardom and her time “growing up” on it. “We had an equal exchange in which you provided a superlative amount of fame in return for the anonymity I could gift to you,” she wrote. “But a lot has changed since then. You were like a rocket that flew me to the moon + never brought me back down.”

Cyrus also reminisced about good times she spent on set with her father — Billy Ray Cyrus — as well as her co-stars Emily Osment, Mitchel Musso, and Jason Earles. She also dedicated the lyrics of “Wherever I Go,” the very last song recorded by “teen pop sensation Hannah Montana” to the fictional character. “I am indebted not only to you Hannah but to any [and] everyone who believed in me from the beginning. You have all my loyalty and the deepest appreciation until the end.” This includes “Disney’s entire team, all fellow cast members, special guests, crew, agents [and] managers.

Cyrus also said that she “ESPECIALLY” wanted to thank her mother, Trish Cyrus, “who took me to every lesson [and] audition even when it required leaving town or making a cross-country move which my siblings so selflessly underwent.” Cyrus eventually completes her letter, after praising Hannah some more. After then tweeting the letter out, the official Hannah Montan Twitter account retweeted the post and quipped, “Nice to hear from you [Miley Cyrus]. It’s only been a decade.”

Hannah Montana debuted on the Disney Channel on March 24, 2006, and ran for four seasons — 98 episodes — airing its series finale on Jan. 16, 2011. Cyrus was 13 years old when the show premiered and portrayed the title character, a beloved teen pop-star who was secretly just a regular girl named Miley Stewart. Her real-life dad played her father in the show, Robby Ray, who was also Hannah’s manager.

In addition to the hit series, Disney also produced a concert film titled Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert (2008) which featured performances from both Cyrus and Hannah Montana. The following year, 2009, Hannah Montana: The Movie was released in theaters. The film went on to rake in $170 million at the global box office.