Miley Ray Cyrus (/ˈmaɪli ˈsaɪrəs/ MY-lee SY-rəs, born Destiny Hope Cyrus; November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. An influential figure in popular music, Cyrus is known for her evolving artistry and image reinventions. A daughter of singer Billy Ray Cyrus, she was an established child star before developing a successful entertainment career as an adult. Cyrus emerged as a teen idol as Miley Stewart in the Disney Channel television series Hannah Montana (2006–2011), growing a profitable franchise and achieving two number-one soundtracks on the Billboard charts.

Cyrus's solo career started with the US number-one pop rock albums Meet Miley Cyrus (2007) and Breakout (2008). The single "Party in the U.S.A." from her EP The Time of Our Lives (2009) became a best-seller, certified 14-times platinum in the US. She aimed for a mature image with her dance-pop album Can't Be Tamed (2010), which received mixed reviews. Cyrus signed to RCA Records, transitioning to hip hop and R&B with Bangerz (2013), her fifth chart-topping album, featuring "We Can't Stop" and her first Billboard Hot 100 number-one "Wrecking Ball". She explored various genres on her albums Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz (2015), Younger Now (2017), and Plastic Hearts (2020). After signing with Columbia Records, she released her eighth studio album Endless Summer Vacation (2023), led by the internationally successful "Flowers", her second US number-one, winning two Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year. Her ninth studio album, Something Beautiful (2025), is a visual album and a musical film.

As an actress, Cyrus starred in the films Bolt (2008), Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009), The Last Song (2010), LOL (2012), and So Undercover (2013). On television, she was the subject of the documentary Miley: The Movement (2013), led the miniseries Crisis in Six Scenes (2017), served as a coach on two seasons of The Voice (2016–2017), and starred in the "Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too" episode of Black Mirror (2019). She also hosted the holiday special Miley's New Year's Eve Party (2021–2022).

Cyrus has received various accolades, including three Grammy Awards, one Brit Award, five Billboard Music Awards, three MTV Video Music Awards, and eight Guinness World Records. She was named a Disney Legend, in recognition for her contributions to The Walt Disney Company. Cyrus was ranked the ninth-greatest Billboard 200 female artist, and among the greatest pop stars of the 21st century by Billboard, and is the eighth-highest-certified female digital singles artist by the RIAA. She has featured in listicles such as the Time 100 (2008 and 2014), Forbes Celebrity 100 (2010 and 2015), and 30 Under 30 (2014 and 2021). Outside of entertainment, Cyrus founded the non-profit Happy Hippie Foundation in 2014, which focuses on the LGBTQ community and youth homelessness, and was supported by the web video series Backyard Sessions (2012–2023).

Destiny Hope Cyrus was born on November 23, 1992, in Franklin, Tennessee, to Leticia "Tish" Jean Cyrus (née Finley) and country singer Billy Ray Cyrus. She was born with supraventricular tachycardia, a condition causing an abnormal resting heart rate. Her birth name, Destiny Hope, expressed her parents' belief that she would accomplish great things. Her parents nicknamed her "Smiley", which they later shortened to "Miley", because she often smiled as an infant. In 2008, she legally changed her name to Miley Ray Cyrus; her middle name honors her grandfather, Democratic politician Ronald Ray Cyrus, who was from Kentucky. Cyrus's godmother is singer-songwriter Dolly Parton.

Against the advice of her father's record company, Cyrus's parents secretly married on December 28, 1993, a year after her birth. They had two more children, son Braison and daughter Noah. From a previous relationship, her mother has two other children, Brandi and Trace. Her father's first child, Christopher Cody, was born in April 1992 and grew up separately with his mother, waitress Kristin Luckey, in South Carolina.

All of Cyrus's maternal siblings are established entertainers. Trace is a vocalist and guitarist for the electronic pop band Metro Station. Noah is an actress and, along with Braison, models, sings, and is a songwriter. Brandi was formerly a musician for the indie rock band Frank + Derol and is a professional DJ. The Cyrus farmhouse is located on 500 acres of land outside Nashville.

Cyrus attended Heritage Elementary School in Williamson County while she and her family lived in Thompson's Station, Tennessee. When she was cast in Hannah Montana, the family moved to Los Angeles and she attended Options for Youth Charter Schools studying with a private tutor on set. Raised as a Christian, she was baptized in a Southern Baptist church before moving to Hollywood in 2005. She attended church regularly while growing up and wore a purity ring. In 2001, when Cyrus was eight, she and her family moved to Toronto, Canada, while her father filmed the television series Doc. After Billy Ray Cyrus took her to see a 2001 Mirvish production of Mamma Mia! at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, Miley Cyrus grabbed his arm and told him, "This is what I want to do, daddy. I want to be an actress." She began to take singing and acting lessons at the Armstrong Acting Studio in Toronto.