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Following the video of Miley's 'twerking' at the VMA's going viral, the dance move became an overnight global phenomenon. The extent of the size of the 'twerking' trend is evident in Gaunt's book which examines the racial impact that the craze had. All of this contributed to Miley's 'bad girl' image and giving her new levels of fame.

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YouTube, Twerking, and You: Context Collapse and the Handheld Copresence of Black Girls and Miley Cyrus | Voicing Girlhood in Popular Music | Taylor & Francis Group

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The moment former Disney star and mega-artist Miley Cyrus performed "twerking" in a Facebook video that went viral in March 2013, a subversion of the history,

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As well as cameos in films, Miley has appeared briefly on a number of different advertising campaigns, often promoting serious issues. For example, Miley appeared on an advert promoting the Help Haiti Home campaign in 2011. This presents Miley as a caring and charitable star, in line with her innocent persona at the stage in her career.

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As well as being an LGBTQ activist, Miley also identifies herself as a major feminist. Amongst other more serious examples of feminist campaigning, evidence of Miley's fight for equal gender rights is in her comic parody of 'Santa Baby'.

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miley cyrus puts feminist spin on 'santa baby' - cnn video

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Listen to Miley Cyrus sing her own modern rendition of the classic Christmas tune, "Santa Baby."

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Brady comments on a twitter feud between Miley and Sinead O'Connor following Miley's comparison of the music videos of Wrecking Ball and Nothing Compares to You. The article outlines how (despite O'Connor's disapproval) Miley claims that her music video empowers women by embracing feminine sexuality.

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This article examines the feminist response to a 2013 online "feud" between singers Miley Cyrus and Sinéad O'Connor that began when Cyrus connected the video for her single "Wrecking Ball" to O'Connor's video for "Nothing Compares 2 U." O'Connor's response criticised Cyrus' sexualised image, and the exchanges that followed sparked debate among feminists over the limits of sexual "agency," and the sexual politics of feminism. This took place within a wider media context that has seen an apparent increase in female celebrities explicitly identifying themselves as feminist. Critics of this "celebrity feminism" argue that the sexualised star systems of its proponents are at odds with the aims of feminist politics. This article draws on post-structuralist feminist theory to question the positioning of celebrity feminism as exterior to an imagined "feminist movement." Using the Cyrus/O'Connor feud, I argue that such a binary potentially reaffirms the structures of power that feminism seeks to oppose, and ignores the ways celebrity culture and contemporary media practice might combine to produce new understandings of the field of feminism.

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Taking time between g-string changes to educate ourselves: Sinéad O'Connor, Miley Cyrus, and celebrity feminism

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This article examines the feminist response to a 2013 online "feud" between singers Miley Cyrus and Sinéad O'Connor that began when Cyrus connected the video for her single "Wrecking Ball" to O'Connor's video for "Nothing Compares 2 U."

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Kennedy suggests that Miley acts as an analogy for the way that young girls should be able to enter the world of adulthood whilst being true to themselves and not adhering to the tight stigmas of society.

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The beginning of the twenty-first century saw a vast expansion of media aimed at the pre-adolescent female consumer demographic. Through an analysis of Hannah Montana, and in particular its lead character Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana and star Miley Cyrus, this article argues that tween popular culture uses celebrity as an allegory for growing up female. Drawing upon the concept from within girlhood studies, it demonstrates that the girl 'becoming' a woman is paralleled with the girl 'becoming' a celebrity. Both are highly invested in formulations of the real and authentic, and Hannah Montana highlights this significance of the notion of staying true to yourself through celebrity, as a way of making sense of the tween's growing up female. Fitting in with the broader contemporary postfeminist and neoliberal cultural context, Hannah Montana employs the narrative of a perpetual makeover, addressing the tween as a self-surveilling subject who must continually work to retain an 'authentic' self as she progresses towards womanhood. Both the onscreen girl and celebrity, Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana, and the franchise's star, Miley Cyrus, are constructed as simultaneously becoming a woman and becoming a celebrity, and the three personae become more enmeshed as the series nears its end; the franchise draws upon the off-screen persona of Miley Cyrus to further parallel becoming a woman and becoming a celebrity and to emphasise the investment in the real. This article demonstrates that tween popular culture addresses the young, female viewer in terms of her becoming woman by teaching the importance of investing in celebrity, and effectively preparing her for the consumption of adult female films and television programmes.

Additional information

Author information

Melanie Kennedy
Melanie Kennedy recently completed her PhD at the School of Film, Television and Media Studies at the University of East Anglia. Her doctoral thesis is entitled Bratz, BFFs, princesses and popstars: femininity and celebrity in tween popular culture. Her research areas of interest are film and television studies, gender and popular culture, girlhood studies, tweens and tweenhood, feminist theory, postfeminist media studies, youth media, and stardom and celebrity studies.

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Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: 'becoming' a woman, 'becoming' a star

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The beginning of the twenty-first century saw a vast expansion of media aimed at the pre-adolescent female consumer demographic. Through an analysis of Hannah Montana, and in particular its lead character Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana and star Miley Cyrus, this article argues that tween popular culture uses celebrity as an allegory for growing up female.

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In 2014, Miley founded the Happy Hippie Foundation, a charity which supports homeless youth, the LGBTQ community and other vulnerable populations. As well as being close to her heart, this exhibits Miley's altruistic qualities, thus battling many of the negative stigmas surrounding her image.

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Despite being in a heterosexual marriage, Miley still identifies herself as queer and has never tried to hide it. Since rising to fame, Miley has devoted herself to help suppress the discrimination towards members of the LGBTQ community around the world. This presents adds another layer to Miley's star image and also makes her extremely popular amongst the LGBTQ community.

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Since her debut on the Disney Channel, pop superstar Miley Cyrus has become one of the boldest performers of her generation. Along with openly workshopping her public image, sound and appearance, Cyrus has been fearless in her advocacy for queer people everywhere as an out-and-proud member of the LGBTQ community.

From coming out as pansexual to discussing how her marriage doesn't erase her identity, here are eight times that Miley Cyrus proved that she is an LGBTQ superhero.
1. Pride's princess of empowerment
Miley Cyrus' track "Inspired" became this year's unofficial Pride anthem for a generation of politically charged LGBTQ youth. Entangled in her raspy vocals, Miley delivers a powerful song that highlights the fight for equality. With a message to find the strength within yourself, Miley challenges her audience to become the change they want to see.
2. Pan & proud
After many years of championing LGBTQ rights, Miley Cyrus declared her own pansexuality -- meaning gender and sexuality aren't a factor in her love life. She followed the announcement with a trans-centric pictorial in Candy Magazine that left us gagged, literally.
3. A VMA legend
Miley, what's good?! Miley Cyrus has had some memorable VMA moments (will we ever look at a foam finger the same?). To close the 2015 telecast, Miley lead a pack of drag queens in a campy performance of her ode to marijuana, "Dooo It." She gave the glamazons an enormous platform, and giving drag that kind of visibility is pretty badass.
4. A voice for the trans community
While some celebrity Instagram accounts are filled with exorbitant vacation shots, Miley's images ask for more than a "like." In 2015, Cyrus teamed up with Instagram to start #InstaPride, an initiative that showcased members of the transgender community. The collaboration educated her followers on the struggles trans people face.
5. A woman on a mission
In 2014, Miley introduced the Happy Hippie Foundation, an organization dedicated to rallying young people to fight social injustices against vulnerable groups like LGBTQ youth and homeless youth. Though her twerking and sledgehammer-licking may get more attention from the media, Miley recognizes her privilege and uses her influence to make a positive impact.
6. She puts her money where her mouth is
Pop's wild child turned heads when she arrived at the 2014 amfAR LA Inspiration Gala in Los Angeles in a leather bondage number, but she didn't leave before donating $500,000 to the AIDS research organization.t's Miley's special brand of in-your-face activism that keeps people talking -- and bless her for it.
7. Married & still queer
Many people still struggle to understand that being in an opposite-sex relationship does not erase one's queerness. Cyrus spoke up about this issue in an interview with Vanity Fair, where the starlet explained that she was both queer and married to actor Liam Hemsworth. "We're redefining, to be fucking frank, what it looks like for someone that's a queer person like myself to be in a hetero relationship," she said. "A big part of my pride and my identity is being a queer person."
8. She better work on Drag Race
Following in the footsteps of icons like Lady Gaga and Christina Aguilera, Cyrus is lending her talents to the queens of RuPaul's Drag Race. The superstar will serve as a guest judge for the season 11 premiere of the show, where she will not only be offering her two cents to the queens, but infiltrating the competition. Sissy that walk, Miley!

Additional reporting by Stephen Daw.
For more stories about the LGBTQ community and our fiercest allies, follow Billboard Pride on Instagram.
More LGBTQ Icons & Allies: Ariana Grande | Lady Gaga | Madonna | Miley Cyrus | Lana Del Rey | Rihanna | Beyoncé | Kelly Clarkson | Fifth Harmony | Katy Perry | P!nk | Diana Ross

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Miley Cyrus Is a Queer Superhero: 8 Times She Showed Love to the LGBTQ Community

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Since her debut on the Disney Channel, pop superstar Miley Cyrus has become one of the boldest performers of her generation. Along with openly workshopping her public image, sound and appearance, Cyrus has been fearless in her advocacy for queer people everywhere as an out-and-proud member of the LGBTQ community.

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Despite (or possibly, because of) her shocking performance on the 2013 VMA's, Miley was asked back to present the same award show in 2015. By the public being able to see Miley outside of performing, audiences can gain a relationship with the 'real' person. She also used it as an opportunity to advertise her new project: Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz.

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Miley Cyrus on Instagram: "🍝 But make it FASHION 🍝"

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2M likes, 7,023 comments - mileycyrus on January 25, 2019: "🍝 But make it FASHION 🍝". 

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View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Miley Cyrus (@mileycyrus)

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At the centre of Miley’s current star image outside of her career is her strive to present herself as an ordinary person. This is in great contrast to the previous few years in order to show that she is now a calmer, albeit still vibrant, version of herself. The major way Miley employs this is through occasional posts on her social media which attempt to strip away her celebrity lifestyle and present her in a natural way, making her more relatable and thus likeable to the everyday person.

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Aside from creating her own lines of fashion, throughout her career, Miley has consistently been used as a fashion icon as seen in the article below. It may also be this fashion aspect that may have led her to be on the cover of magazines such as Elle, Vanity Fair and Cosmopolitan.

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Photos of Miley Cyrus' fashion through the years, from 2006 to present.

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Miley has also admitted to being a frequent user of recreational drugs in her free time. This aided Miley's 'bad girl' image even when away from the public eye and since, her recovery has been a signpost of her transition into a settled down adult

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Miley has recently appeared on The Voice (U.S.), which has both given her good exposure and contributed to her current positive image as her job as mentor is to give back and help aspiring musicians.

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Alongside an abundance of unwanted attention surrounding the provocative nature of many of her music videos, the most public of Miley's scandals was her 'twerking' at the 2013 VMA's. Despite much public outrage, 'twerking' became a global phenomenon, thus exasperating Miley's 'bad girl' image.

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In addition to the horizontal integration of her character implemented by Disney, Miley began to develop her own brand with products such as perfume and various clothing lines produced with companies such as Walmart and Converse.

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Even when not producing her own music, Miley managed to keep her involvement in the industry up by featuring in other artist's music and videos, which she used to further develop her own image. For example, in Mike WiLL Made-It's video, she is seen smoking a cigarette and acting in an erotic way to reinforce her rebellious presentation.

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Mike WiLL Made-It - 23 (Explicit) ft. Miley Cyrus, Wiz Khalifa, Juicy J

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With almost 1bn views on YouTube, the video for Miley's hit single 'Wrecking Ball' is unarguably an important factor of the fame that her controversial transformation produced.

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Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball (Official Video)

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Despite now being married, Miley has had a series of celebrity relationships, most notably Nick Jonas, who have all contributed to her name arising in various publications, mainly magazines.

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Miley is now settled and married to The Last Song co-star Liam Hemsworth, reflecting her newly found more relaxed lifestyle. Regardless of lack of relationship scandals, the large fan following that both Miley and Liam has allows them to stay a relevant celebrity couple through various social media pla

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Following a freely downloadable album and various public scandals, in 2017, Miley returned to a refined genre described as 'country pop' with the release of Younger Now. Miley has retained part of her controversial transformation, evident in her hairstyle and album cover's psychedelic design, yet she seems somewhat subdued from her rebellious phase. The premise of the album is epitomised in the title track of the album which suggests that despite having been through her rebellious phase, she does not regret it as it has developed her as a person. This aids Miley's new positive image by promoting positive ideas like embracing your past and growing from it.

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It was the release of Miley's rebellious album Bangerz, allied with her transformed look that sent her into global stardom. The drastic change of appearance and altered target audience embodies the star's effort to shrug off innocent child star image which can often inhibit young celebrities' careers from progressing. It is likely that the reason for her generally well-accepted change is due to simultaneous transformation of her major fan base,

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Miley next seemed to follow what is starting to become an inevitability for Disney child stars by showing signs of a possible public breakdown. However, it was her ability to draw attention without imploding, like fellow child stars Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears, that in fact made Miley's style change into a positive for her career.

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Although Miley gradually decided to trade her promising acting career to pursue musical stardom, brief film appearances of the star are still occurring as recent as 2017's Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol.2. Despite no longer being the lead role, these blockbuster cameos help to keep Miley's name in conversation.

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An article recognising the early signs of the sexualisation of Miley's star image, just a year prior to the release of Can't Be Tamed.

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Most moms and kids know her as Disney's child star "Hannah Montana, but In 2008, a then 17-year-old pop sensation Miley Cyrus has been looking a lot more adult lately. She has fallen under a lot of scrutiny lately for the 15-year-old Cyrus drew controversy when she posed topless (covered by a sheet in the front) for Vanity Fair. Many people at the time felt she was too young to be portrayed in a sexual manner and Cyrus went in front of the public to say she was embarrassed at the way the photos turned out. Fast forward two years and she appears to be flaunting her sexuality while parents still worry that Cyrus is sending the wrong message to her young fans.
provocative way she has been dressing and performing at her shows. After all, she is not yet 18 and in the eyes of the public, still a child (though her appearance would put her years ahead). Many are reminded of the way Britney Spears went from Disney star to sex symbol at a very young age.

It is clear that Cyrus is trying to change her image from child star to adult pop star, but many wonder if it is too soon for such a transformation and worry that she is just another example of the way children and women become victims of exploitation in the media.

Famous celebrity blogger, Perez Hilton, is in hot water now for posting "up-skirt" images of Miley Cyrus to his Twitter account. It is possible for Hilton to face legal charges due to the fact that Cyrus is still a minor and protected under sexual exploitation laws.

What do you think of the way Miley Cyrus is conducting herself in front of the media? Do you think the way she dresses and performs is appropriate for a 17-year-old?

Do you think she is sending the wrong message to her young fans?

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Miley Cyrus Goes From Disney To Sex Symbol | SheSpeaks

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It is clear that Cyrus is trying to change her image from child star to adult pop star, but many wonder if it is too soon for such a transformation and worry that she is just another example of the way children and women become victims of exploitation in the media.

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Drastic contrast between Breakout and second studio album Can't Be Tamed. The album's release coincides with Miley's 18th birthday, somewhat justifying the intense sexualisation of her previously innocent child star image, evident in the album's cover and the connotations of its title.

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Simultaneously, as her acting career was beginning to take off, Miley released her first studio album, appropriately titled: Breakout.

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After kickstarting her acting career on Disney Channel, Miley went on to appear in various feature films including a Hannah Montana spin-off and other lead roles in films such as The Last Song and LOL. These roles are an early indication of Miley's desire to be more than a Disney child star.

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An article dedicated to highlighting the extent of the commercial, and in turn financial, success of the Hannah Montana franchise.

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- Giphy

On this fateful day, 10 years ago, Disney debuted a live-action television show featuring the daughter of a washed-up country star: Hannah Montana.

The television show - and character - was an instant success for Disney. It launched the career of the phenomenon that is now Miley Cyrus. "Hannah Montana," a show about a teenage girl that led a double life as a pop star, turned into a multi-million dollar revenue stream. The show aired for four seasons over a span of five years. But that was only the base for the Hannah Montana brand. Five studio albums, two films, two tours, a live album and a slew of merchandising came out of the Hannah Montana money machine. Reruns of the show continue to air today.

But the true result of the show's success was Cyrus' career. Because she was Hannah Montana the kids show star, she was able to become Miley Cyrus, the ( sometimes controversial) celebrity.

While she performed as Hannah Montana on air and on stage, she was also able to release studio albums under her name. After the Hannah Montana era was over for Cyrus, she went on to release more music, star in films and become...well, Miley.

Say what you will about her these days, but the Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus business model worked. Many of her fellow Disney stars of that era followed her path out of Disney prime time and into real world success. Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron both started their careers in "High School Musical," a made-for-TV movie released the same year Hannah Montana started. They both went on to pursue acting careers after three High School Musical movies. Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato have similar origin stories, too.

But none of them have quite the empire that Hannah Montana did. Here are some of the money-making milestones of the show's run:

March 2006: "Hannah Montana" debuts on March 24, 2006 with 5.4 Million viewers, earning Disney the highest ratings for the kids channel at the time.

November 2006: "Hannah Montana" soundtrack debuts at No.1 on Billboard top 100 with 281,000 copies sold in stores.

June 2007: " Hannah Montana 2/Meet Miley Cyrus" double album is released. This double album served both as the season two soundtrack and the first studio album for Miley Cyrus. It debuted at No. 1 on Billboard with 326,000 copies sold. The song "See You Again"off "Meet Miley Cyrus" reached No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, marking the first time Cyrus appeared on the top 10 of the Hot 100 chart.

2007-2008: The double album was supported by the Best of Both Worlds Tour, which brought in $54 million in ticket sales.

February 2008: Parts of the tour as well as behind-the-scenes footage were released as a film entitled " Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert" in American theaters. On opening weekend the film brought in in $31 million, debuting at No. 1. The film was intended for a one-week release, but went on to stay in theaters for a total of 15 weeks. At the end of its prolonged stint on the big screen, the film raked in a total of .

2008-2009: Cyrus went on to release a successful DVD/CD set of the tour, air another season of "Hannah Montan"a and release a third soundtrack album, "Hannah Montana 3." The album debuted at No.3 on the Billboard 200 and featured her co-star Mitchell Musso and Disney star Corbin Bleu.

2009: " Hannah Montana: The Movie," a feature film following the TV show's storyline, brought in $155.5 million .

2010: The show's fourth and final season airs. The season four soundtrack, "Hannah Montana Forever" debuts at no. 11 on the Billboard 200.

2011: The season finale of "Hannah Montana" brings in 6.2 million views after being the most watched show among kids 6-14 in 2006, 2007 and 2010.

"I think the best compliment I can give is not to say how much your programs have taught me (a ton), but how much Marketplace has motivated me to go out and teach myself." - Michael in Arlington, VA

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An ode to the Hannah Montana business model

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On this fateful day, 10 years ago, Disney debuted a live-action television show featuring the daughter of a washed-up country star: Hannah Montana. The television show - and character - was an instant success for Disney. It launched the career of the phenomenon that is now Miley Cyrus.

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Miley's rise to stardom began in 2006 owing to her first lead role as the eponymous character in Disney Channel's hit series: Hannah Montana. This immediately granted Miley a young, mainly female fan base, which led to the development of her innocent, youthful star image.

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Miley's first introduction to fame arose from her descendants from pre-established country stars: Billy Ray Cyrus and Dolly Parton, which helped pave the way her own career into the country music industry.

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Mirroring her breakthrough acting role, Miley's star image can be divided into two separate entities, namely: her ever-changing primary career and various external factors that have contributed to her global celebrity image.