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Credit: Video Screenshot, Miley Cyrus 'Flowers'When she was just 13 years old, Miley Cyrus exploded onto the scene when she started as Miley Stewart in the hit Disney Channel show, Hannah Montana. The show quickly gained a massive fandom, and Miley Cyrus became even more famous than her country singer father, Billy Ray Cyrus. In the series, Miley Stewart was not your average teenage girl. While she went to school and had her typical teenage struggles, she led a double life, where she was secretly the international pop star, Hannah Montana.
Hannah Montana not only tested Cyrus’s acting skills, but also her singing abilities. As with many actors and actresses starring on the Disney Channel during the early 2000s, Cyrus had to be able to act and sing. Of course, this was even more important on Hannah Montana, since she did play a professional singer.
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Along with acting in the show, Miley Cyrus developed her own music career alongside her Hannah Montana persona. She even made headlines for her more risqué performances as she tried to distance herself from her Disney Channel good girl look.
If you are a big Miley Cyrus fan, then you might know that it has been a really long time since Miley Cyrus last went on tour — eleven years to be exact. It might seem odd that such a young singer would stop touring at the height of her career, but continue to make music.
However, in a new interview, Ms. Cyrus opened up about the serious condition that makes singing incredibly difficult, but also gives her voice its unique edge.
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Cyrus recently appeared on Apple Music’s The Zane Lowe Show, where she spoke about a rare medical condition that has affected her life and her career in many ways.
The singer revealed that she has Reinke’s edema, a non-cancerous vocal cord disorder, which causes the person to have hoarseness and an overall deeper voice.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, Reinke’s edema occurs “when fluid builds up in the outer layer of your vocal folds.” It affects less than one percent of the population and is typically found in people who are long-term smokers, but can also affect people who suffer from chronic acid reflux or have a history of “repetitive vocal trauma.”
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Because of this issue, Cyrus struggles to sing and compared it to “running with ankle weights.”
“This is what I look like. So, I have this very large polyp on my vocal cord, which is giving me a lot of the tone and the texture that has made me who I am, but it’s extremely difficult to perform with, because it’s like running a marathon with ankle weights on.”
“When I’m talking, sometimes at the end of the day, I’ll call my mom, and she’ll go, ‘Oh, you sound like you’re talking through a radio.’ And that’s how you know I’m really tired, because it creates that ultimate vocal fry.”
Cyrus said that she has had the condition for years, and admitted that her drinking and smoking in her younger years, while not causing the edema, definitely did not help.
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Now, there are ways to treat Reinke’s edema, including two surgical methods — microlaryngoscopy and laser therapy. During a microlaryngoscopy, the surgeon goes in and uses small tools to safely remove the swollen tissue. In laser therapy, the surgeon will use a laser to either shrink or remove the swollen tissue.
However, even with these options available to her, Cyrus does not want to do anything surgical. As with any surgery, there are risks, and she said that she was worried about waking up after the procedure and not sounding like herself.
Ms. Cyrus said that she would love to be able to tour again, even planning out what a tour would look like. Unfortunately, she says that she only sings live, and with this medical condition, a tour is just not feasible.
Was Hannah Montana one of your favorite Disney Channel shows? What Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus songs do you love to sing along to? Let us know in the comments!