Credit: DisneyDisney’s most famous fictional pop sensation, Hannah Montana, just got a new face (and a new voice).
If you’re a “zillennial” (AKA a younger millennial or older member of Gen Z), odds are you grew up on the dulcet tones of Hannah Montana.
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Portrayed by Miley Cyrus, Hannah Montana was the fictional pop star who fronted the Disney Channel TV series of the same name. The show first premiered in 2006 to unprecedented success.
Focused on the double life of Miley Stewart (Cyrus) – a teenager from Tennessee who moonlights as a world-famous singer with her father, Robby Ray Stewart (played by her estranged real-life father, Billy Ray Cyrus), serving as her manager – it ran for nearly five years and even spawned its own movie, Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009).
Cyrus was only 13 years old when she was cast in the Disney series but soon found herself reaching levels of fame similar to Hannah Montana herself. Throughout the show’s run, she embarked upon arena tours in which she wigged up as Hannah (and performed as herself) and even used it as a springboard for her own pop career.
Last year, she opened up about the intense schedule that came with Hannah Montana‘s success.
In a TikTok, she read out a typical day’s timetable from 2007 that started with a 5.30 a.m. slot with hair and makeup and consisted of a constant string of interviews well into the evening and picked up again at 7 a.m. “I’m a lot of things but lazy ain’t one of them,” Cyrus said. “So, I do think this girl deserves a little endless summer vacation.”
@mileycyrus Used To Be Young (Series) – PART 12
In the years after Hannah Montana ended, Cyrus took extra care to distance herself from the character that made her famous. She also claimed that playing Hannah had had a negative impact on her self-image.
“I was told for so long what a girl is supposed to be from being on [Hannah Montana],” she told Marie Claire in 2015. “I was made to look like someone that I wasn’t, which probably caused some body dysmorphia because I had been made pretty every day for so long, and then when I wasn’t on that show, it was like, ‘Who the f–k am I?'”
Recently, however, it seems like Cyrus has warmed to her time as the blonde pop sensation – and her time on the Disney Channel. Over the weekend, Disney officially inducted Cyrus as its youngest Disney Legend to date, giving her an award reserved for those who have “made a significant impact on the Disney legacy.” Other recipients for 2024 included Harrison Ford and Jamie Lee Curtis.
Accepting the award at D23 on Sunday, Cyrus gave an emotional speech in which she declared that she was “still proud to have been Hannah Montana because she made Miley in so many ways. 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.”
Cyrus also joked about Hannah Montana’s role in building the Disney Channel up to one of its most successful eras ever. “In 2005, Disney was on a mission to rebuild and reimagine the company — that’s why they hired Bob Iger and me,” she said.
“I remember this clearly because it was during the auditioning process of Hannah Montana. There was a buzz in that Burbank Disney office, where it’s rumored they create all of us Disney kids. I definitely wasn’t created in a lab 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. Sorry, Mickey!”
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While fans were excited to see Cyrus finally embrace her time as Hannah, her appearance did disappoint in one way. Before Cyrus accepted her Disney Legends award, there was a live performance of the iconic Hannah Montana theme tune, “The Best of Both Worlds.” However, for once, Cyrus wasn’t performing the song.
Instead, country star Lainey Wilson – who previously worked as a Hannah Montana impersonator – took on the role of the blonde singer.
I got the best of both worlds that’s for sure🌎 From performing as Hannah Montana on flat bed trailers at birthday parties to honoring the legend herself…now that right there is what ya call a full circle moment. @MileyCyrus you’re such an inspiration. Thank you for letting me honor you. Still pinching myself about last night. 🕺 🪩
I got the best of both worlds that’s for sure🌎 From performing as Hannah Montana on flat bed trailers at birthday parties to honoring the legend herself…now that right there is what ya call a full circle moment. @MileyCyrus you’re such an inspiration. Thank you for letting me… pic.twitter.com/qvdgZ3CHDu
— Lainey Wilson (@laineywilson) August 12, 2024
While Wilson’s sing-along performance generated a massively positive (and loud) reception from D23 attendees, some have voiced their disappointment that Cyrus herself didn’t perform.
“No shade but nobody should ever sing this except for Miley/Hannah lol,” said @visionsoflux.
“Thought Miley was supposed to do this?” wrote @ConnorBishoff1, accompanied by a crying emoji.
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Meanwhile, @spacedudes971 said, “I‘m so sad about that Miley didn’t [perform] this song. It would have been a full circle of her career.”
Realistically, the odds of Cyrus performing to introduce her own award acceptance were always going to be slim – and Wilson undeniably killed it with her homage to the pop princess. Don’t mind us if we still try to manifest Cyrus putting the Hannah wig back on at some point in the future.
What was your favorite moment from D23?