Miley Cyrus, who rose to fame as a child star on Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana, praised fans of the show who made her “dream a reality” during an emotional speech.
The Grammy-award winning singer received a standing ovation from the 12,000-strong crowd when she became the youngest star honoured with Disney Legends status at the company’s biennial fan convention, D23.
Country singer Lainey Wilson introduced Cyrus with a rendition of Hannah Montana theme track The Best Of Both Worlds, before thanking the star for “never being afraid to step outside the box”.
🎶@LaineyWilson brings us the Best of Both Worlds! pic.twitter.com/DpqaTQZoPj
— Disney D23 (@DisneyD23) August 12, 2024
Cyrus said “a little bit of everything has changed” since she shot her first scenes as a teenager leading a double life as a famous pop star “but at the same time nothing has changed at all”.
“I stand here still proud to have been Hannah Montana,” the 31-year-old said.
“This award is dedicated to Hannah and all of her amazing, loyal fans, and to everyone who has made my dream a reality.”
“To quote the legend herself, This Is The life,” she continued, referencing the 2006 Hannah Montana track which featured on the show.
During her speech, Cyrus made a witty reference to rumours that Disney kids are created in the Californian Disney office.
“I definitely wasn’t created in a lab,” she said.
“And if I was, there must have been a bug in the system which caused me to malfunction somewhere between the years of 2013 and 2016,” she joked, referencing her Wrecking Ball era.
Cyrus became emotional on stage when giving advice about fear.
“What I want to say is that legends get scared too,” she said.
“I’m scared right now, but the difference is we do it anyway and all of you can do that every single day.
“It’s legendary to be afraid and do it anyway. There is no such thing as failure when you try, that’s the only way you lose.”
Cyrus won her first two Grammys earlier this year for her 2023 break-up song Flowers.
