Untangling the Rift Dividing Miley Cyrus, Billy Ray Cyrus and More of Their Sprawling Family
Trace Cyrus Says He and His Sisters Are “Genuinely Worried” About Dad Billy Ray Cyrus
Billy Ray Cyrus‘ kids are concerned about him, according to son Trace Cyrus.
Noting that he could “barely recognize” the man he once so idolized, Trace wrote on Instagram Jan. 22, “You may be upset with me for posting this but I really could care less at this point. Me and the girls have been genuinely worried about you for years but you’ve pushed all of us away. Noah desperately has wanted you to be a part of her life and you haven’t even been there for her. That’s your baby girl. She deserves better.”
Noah Cyrus, 25, is the youngest of Billy Ray and ex-wife Tish Cyrus‘ five children. (He’s also dad to son Christopher Cody Cyrus from a prior relationship.)
Trace’s Hail Mary post comes almost a year after it became apparent that not all was hunky-dory between the “Achy Breaky Heart” singer and at least some of his kids when Miley Cyrus seemed to purposely snub him at the 2024 Grammys.
After racking up eight nominations over the course of her career, she finally won two—Best Pop Vocal Performance and Record of the Year—for her mega-hit “Flowers.” The Feb. 4 ceremony also doubled as a date night for Miley and boyfriend Maxx Morando and a family outing with Tish and older sister Brandi Cyrus.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
And when Miley thanked her mom and sibling during her Record of the Year acceptance, she added, sounding rather pointed, “I don’t think I forgot anyone—but I might’ve forgotten underwear. Bye!”
Now, the 32-year-old comes from a big family and has a slew of friends and artistic collaborators she could’ve spent five minutes thanking, so you can’t expect a girl to namecheck everyone, ever, when she’s only got 45 seconds to communicate a lifetime of appreciation.
Hence the 32-year-old following up the next morning with a lengthy Instagram post once again thanking Tish and Brandi, as well as her godmother Dolly Parton, Grammy presenter Mariah Carey for “being so iconic,” her fans, her “lover,” her “momos” and many, many more.
And, for the record, Miley also noted in a subsequent post: “PS I was only kidding…. I had on matching custom @gucci panties.”
But notably missing from both of her speeches and all of her social media posts after the Grammys was any mention of her father, who starred on the Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana with her and helped her get started in music.
A few months later Billy Ray shared a throwback pic of him and Miley performing at CMA Fest’s Fan Fair back in the day. “I’m incredibly proud of her,” he wrote. “She’s a survivor and a true artist. She learned early on to love and appreciate the fans who make everything possible. We both cherish the connection we have with our fans and are grateful for every single one of you!”
No comment was forthcoming from Miley.
Eric Charbonneau/Le Studio/Wireimage
While her candor about some things is legendary, she’s been more delicate when it comes to discussing her immediate family. Actions speak louder than words, though, and neither she nor any of her siblings were present when Billy Ray married Australian singer Firerose, who’s 27 years his junior, in October 2023.
And it’s unclear whether the subsequent implosion of their union just seven months later thawed the ice at all.
“My father, I’m grateful for being able to watch him ahead of me,” Miley told host David Letterman on a June 2024 episode of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction. “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.”
Meanwhile, she called her mother her hero.
And now Trace, who in his post mentioned that he’s been “clean from alcohol” for a year and a half, is pleading with their dad to let him help before it’s too late.
“I don’t know what you’re struggling with exactly but I think I have a pretty good idea & I’d love to help you if you would open up and receive the help,” the 35-year-old wrote. “You know how to reach me. Till that day comes I will continue to pray for you.”
Here’s a guide to the once extremely tight-knit Cyrus family and why some members aren’t as close as they used to be:
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How the Cyrus Family Started
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—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.
Barry King/FilmMagic
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.
Chris Polk/FilmMagic
Trish and Billy Ray’s youngest, daughter Noah Cyrus, was born Jan. 8, 2000.
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Father-Daughter Stardom
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.
Steve Granitz/WireImage
Where There’s Smoke…
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?”
Rich Polk/Getty Images for Disney
Miley Starts Over
After starring in 2010’s The Last Song together and dating off and on for a decade, Miley and Liam Hemsworth married in December 2018, not long after their Malibu home burned down.
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.”
Instagram/Trace Cyrus
The Family Tree Keeps Growing
Braison and his wife Stella Cyrus welcomed son Bear Chance Cyrus on June 8.
Amy Sussman/FilmMagic
Billy Ray and Tish Split Up for Good
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.
Larry Busacca/Getty Images
“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 Cyrus Moves on With Firerose
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.”
Tish Cyrus Finds Love With Dominic Purcell
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.”
Miley Weighs in on Her Mom’s Love Life
“To see my mom this happy and in love is very emotional for me,” Miley told Vogue 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.”
Instagram/Billy Ray Cyrus
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.”
Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
Only Some of Miley’s Family Get Their Flowers
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.”
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
Wait, What?
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.”
Instagram/Firerose
Billy Ray Cyrus Moves on From Firerose
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, 2024, as their date of separation.
However, Billy Ray amended his plan and filed for divorce, which was settled that August.
“This has been absolutely the most crazy insane scam I have ever heard of,” Billy Ray said in a statement to E! News. “Let alone the fact I’m right in the center and basically the target of the scheme. It’s unfortunate it played out this way.”
Instagram/Trace Cyrus
Trace Cyrus’ Public Plea to Dad Billy Ray Cyrus
“Since my earliest memories all I can remember is being obsessed with you and thinking you were the coolest person ever,” Trace began a Jan. 22, 2025, Instagram post directed at his father. “I wanted to be just like you. The day you adopted me was the happiest day of my life. Sadly the man that I wanted so desperately to be just like I barely recognize now.”
Referring to his sisters, he continued, “Me and the girls have been genuinely worried about you for years but you’ve pushed all of us away.”
Noah was especially hurt, according to Trace.
“Noah desperately has wanted you to be a part of her life and you haven’t even been there for her,” he wrote. “That’s your baby girl. She deserves better. Somehow just like me she still idolizes you though. We are all hanging on to memories of the man we once knew & hoping for the day he returns.”
(Originally published Feb. 5, 2024, at 2:32 p.m. PT)
