Miley Cyrus rose to fame playing the character Hannah Montana but sought to establish her own artistic identity apart from that role. She released edgier music and more provocative music videos and performances that shocked fans used to her innocent image. Recently, she has moved in a more mellow, country pop direction with her music and image as shown in the music video for her single "Malibu", suggesting she has found greater personal and artistic contentment.

1. Miley Cyrus
Star Image

2. Early Years
• Ever since she was young, Miley Cyrus has been in the
public eye, recognised as a teen idol in the hit television
show, ‘Hannah Montana’ which started in 2006 when she
was only 14 years old. In the show she was only ever
recognised as the funny, popular and musical character she
played (Miley Stuart) which eventually led many teen fans
that aspired to be like her, to thinking they knew her.
• In the show she performed preppy pop songs such as: I Got
Nerve, Rock Star and Ordinary Girl, which were loved by
young teens all over the world.
• Even outside of the show, as she started to grow up, she
was always known as an innocent, pretty country girl, a role
model for young girls. This was also reflected in her 2008
album, ‘Breakout’

3. • As Miley started to get older, it was
becoming clearer that she was starting to
develop a star image outside of her role as
Hannah Montana and was on her way to
making it as a musician.
• In 2009, she released the hit song ‘Party in
the USA’ which has since received over 582
million views on Youtube, going viral all over
the world which was part of her 2009 album
‘Time of our Lives’
• Even though she had slowly started to break
away from her Hannah Montana image, at
this point she was still recognised as the
innocent country girl.
https://youtu.be/M11SvDtPBhA

4. • In 2010, Miley released the album/ single ‘Cant
be Tamed’ which was very different from
anything else she had performed/ sung before.
• I believe this album was symbolic as she was
growing out of her ‘little girl’ image into an adult.
This was shown in the music video where she is
viewed as more sexual and mysterious,
contrasting with her previous bright, happy
image.
• I think that in this album, Miley was exploring her
creative power and image, testing how far shw
could go.
https://youtu.be/sjSG6z_13-Q

5. https://youtu.be/My2FRPA3Gf8
https://youtu.be/LrUvu1mlWco
• After the show, Hannah Montana, finished in 2011 after Miley
decided that she had grown out of that phase in her life, she
wasn’t in the public eye that much until 2013 when she
released her new single – Wrecking Ball.
• This song was different to all of the other Miley had ever done
because it was filled with much more emotion than any of her
previous pop songs. This music video in particular shocked
everyone since she had completely ditched her pretty,
innocent image and traded it for an edgy, weird more sexual
one.
• This ‘reckless’ image was also portrayed in her 2014 release,
‘We Can’t Stop’ where similar images of the artist were shown
of her swearing and dancing while acting a lot more
provocative. At this stage in Miley’s life she was seen as more
free as she had the creative ability to explore and express who
she “really was” rather than being frightened to try something
different. But since this change was so extreme, none of the
public will really know whether this was the real her at the
time or just a publicity stunt.

6. • Following Miley Cyrus’ and Robin Thicke’s
2013 VMA performance and the release of
her new album ‘Bangerz’, Miley continuously
built up this rebel image which consisted of
revealing outfits, provocative dancing and the
promotion of drugs, even during her concerts.
In 2015 she then released her album ‘Miley
Cyrus & her dead petz’ which was of a similar
taste
• It became clear that she wanted everyone to
realise that she was no longer the girl that
played Hannah Montana and wanted people
to recognise that she was her own artist.
• To many people, it seemed as though she was
lost and didn’t know what she truly wanted or
who she wanted to be and received a lot of
negative criticism and hate. Some say that this
image was influenced by the breakup from
her fiancé, Liam Hemsworth.

7. https://youtu.be/8j9zMok6two
• Recently, Miley took a break from her tours and kept out of the
public eye for a short while which resulted in her releasing a
new single in May 2017 called ‘Malibu’.
• The song resembles more of a country/ pop genre with a light a
happy feel to it, completely opposing the songs in her previous
album.
• In the music video her hair is longer and more natural and she
is surrounded by nature such as waterfalls, fields and the beach
with her wearing mostly white. There is lots of smiling and
laughing while she is freely running and dancing about at her
own will. I believe that this resembles her finally being at peace
with who she is and understanding where she has come from
and is finally happy again.
• This song is a part of her new album which was released August
2017 called ‘Younger Now’ which is the sweet spot between
both of her previous albums, incorporating her love for
country/pop music and her weird, creative side.

8. Album Covers – 2008-2017
It is clear that to the viewer that all of these album covers are
different and contrast with one another. This shows how Miley
has grown as an artist and explored all different types of music
and images in search of the one that best suits her s a person.
By changing up her image so much, it constantly keeps her
audience interested in what she will do next which results in
her staying a relevant music artist, even if people do not like
her music.