Miley Cyrus is getting real about the Grammys, saying that her wins for hit single “Flowers” in February marked her “first time actually being taken seriously” at the awards ceremony.
In a new interview with W Magazine, Cyrus reflected on finally taking home her first Grammys — for record of the year and best pop solo performance — despite being active in the industry for over two decades.
“No shade, but I’ve been doing this for 20 years, and this is my first time actually being taken seriously at the Grammys?” Cyrus told W. “I’ve had a hard time figuring out what the measurement is there, because if we want to talk stats and numbers, then where the fuck was I? And if you want to talk, like, impact on culture, then where the fuck was I? This is not about arrogance. I am proud of myself.”
Cyrus has released eight studio albums over her career, with the most recent being 2023’s “Endless Summer Vacation.” The record earned nominations for album of the year and best pop vocal album, with lead single “Flowers” also receiving a song of the year nod. “Endless Summer Vacation” track “Thousand Miles,” featuring Brandi Carlile, also received a nomination for pop duo/group performance. Prior to the Grammys success of “Endless Summer Vacation,” Cyrus had only been nominated twice: in 2015 for pop vocal album for “Bangerz,” and in 2022 as part of Lil Nas X’s album “Montero.”
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At this year’s Grammys ceremony, Cyrus performed “Flowers” in a Tina Turner-inspired outfit. She called out the audience during the song for not showing more enthusiasm, saying, “Why are you acting like you don’t know this song?”
Of the performance, Cyrus told W that she wanted it “to be a celebration of bravery, because I perform out of fear.”
She continued, “I didn’t always have the fear of performing that I have now. But going from spending two years alone and seeing no more than one person a day during lockdown to knowing that millions of people watch the Grammys is a big shock to the nervous system. Anyone who’s ever put themselves in a position to be observed or judged is brave. It doesn’t matter if it’s eight or 8 million people — that fear is there. Before I went onstage, right as that curtain was about to lift, I was screaming at the top of my lungs, ‘I am free!'”
Cyrus most recently duetted with Beyoncé on her “Cowboy Carter” track “II Most Wanted.” The album is already earning early Grammys buzz for next year’s awards.
“I wrote that song, like, two and a half years ago,” Cyrus said of “II Most Wanted.” “My mom would always go, ‘I love that song so much.’ So when Beyoncé reached out to me about music, I thought of it right away because it really encompasses our relationship. I told her, ‘We don’t have to get country; we are country. We’ve been country.’ I said, ‘You know, between you being from Texas and me being from Tennessee, so much of us is going to be in this song.’ Getting to write a song, not just sing, for Beyoncé was a dream come true.”
Read W’s full interview with Cyrus here.
