Getting RealWhat We Learned About Miley Cyrus From Her Apple Music Interview

Staying Sober

“Well, I, like a lot of people, being completely honest, during the pandemic fell off and felt really a lot of … and I would never sit here and go, ‘I’ve been f–king sober,’ and I didn’t, and I fell off and I realized that I now am back on sobriety, two weeks sober, and I feel like I really accepted that time,” she admitted.

Miley also explained why she decided to go public with her sobriety journey.

“I remember it was like a couple months ago and I was doing an interview and the conversation just came up and I think I said it, just like I’m talking to you, and sometimes I forget because like — it might’ve been, like a real conversation,” she recalled. “Like how I said right now, ‘Listen, I f–ked up. I wasn’t sober over the last couple months.’ To me, it was a f–k up because I’m not a moderation person, and I don’t think that everyone has to be f–king sober. I think everyone has to do what is best for them.”

Rebuilding

After the California wildfire in November 2019, Miley lost her home. She reflected on the aftermath.

“I mean, part of you wants to just start digging through ashes and find whatever is left. So part of you wants to do that, and part of you creates the walls and what was there and you can almost see pictures. I mean, part of you, I guess, it’s somewhat of muscle memory of some kind starts putting it all back together again. Then a part of you is very peaceful,” she explained. “I also am very fortunate because I knew that I would have someplace to go that I would not be displaced. My security is fine, and I know that about my life, I never stopped being grateful for that. My life is extremely unique and I sometimes feel overly fortunate. I had my own guilt with that, you know?”

Even though she lost her home, the songstress said she felt “peace” in knowing that there was nothing she could do about it.

Finding Love

While chatting about relationships, Miley said everyone’s “lives revolve around love.”

“It’s all we want. But when you can see all the different types of love that you have in your life, at times, it’s lonely and I get that and I get wanting to have partnership and I get that people want to create families and I really get the longing for love and for … But to me, and only to me, it’s an honor to find it, but animals pair up, it’s instinctual. It’s not again, a choice. That’s programming,” she said. “And I try to not be a total servant to the programming because that to me is ingrained and embedded. And probably every woman in my family line before me probably had someone, had kids so that’s ingrained in me, but I don’t actually have that idea. So if I can disconnect from, ‘Well, that’s what I’m supposed to want, but I don’t. And I’m okay with it. And I do.”

She added, “And what I’ve also learned is like, when someone talking about timing and he’s like, ‘Well, this isn’t a good time for that.’ It’s never a good time. It’s never a good time for your house to burn down. It’s never a good time to go through a divorce. It’s never a good time for your grandma to die. It’s never a good time. It’s going to happen when it happens and acceptance and it’s not going to be easy, and I’ve made myself sit in discomfort lately and loneliness.”

Working With Dua Lipa

Miley talked about her epic collaboration with the “Don’t Start Now” songstress and said they found a mutual love for “fuzzy hats.”

“What I love about ‘Prisoner,’ I mean, I think it’s also coming at a perfect time for everybody. I mean, in a way … I feel too, I mean, we’re just trapped in our emotions right now. I mean, really me, there’s no escaping it. It’s like, ‘Locked up, can’t get you off my mind.’ Anything that you’ve tried to suppress or compartmentalize at that point, it’s coming up. It’s yours to own, to own it or release it,” the singer said. “In a way, her and I, we have a lot of things in common, if you look at us. I would say our love for fashion, this is my number one, me and Dua both. She’s probably the only person that can rival my collection of fuzzy hats.”

Miley added, “I think she wears her inside out and I love that. Because I like when you walk into a room, she’s recognizable. To me, that’s a star. I love that about her. I also love that she’s very direct. We edited this video on text message, me and her directly as artists. I just don’t want to play telephone when I’m making music. I want to make it with who I’m making with. I don’t want to do a song with someone’s manager. I want to do a song with the artist. Her allowing me to have that direct line of communication and then also the ability to just trust each other, both of us, I think our egos are pretty in check that she’s very willing and I’m very willing. There’s just, also, there’s a lack of competition because in the ways that we’re so much alike, we’re very different.”

Miley’s Superhero

“That’s why I f–king love Dolly Parton, is because she has it all. That to me is just an ultimate icon because she’s never lied, her songs are the truth,” Miley said about the country music legend. “Even if they don’t resonate with her now, maybe she’s attached from something she’s written before. That’s what happens when you have a career that’s as expanded as hers. But she just found this balance of being … She is a superhero. She almost has a character, but it’s true.”

Feeling Proud

When talking about Plastic Hearts, Miley explained why it’s taken her so long to release an album.

“I have a fear of writing new music because what I’ve been is so large,” she admitted. “I’m really excited for this record to come out because it’s the most proud I could be of anything. And again, I just feel so much gratitude towards the collaborators who helped me create it.”

Growing Up

Looking back on her 27th year of life, Miley said it was the age where she wanted to “protect” herself.

“That actually really made me want to get sober was because we’ve lost so many icons at 27. It’s a very pivotal time. You go into that next chapter or this is it for you,” she said. “I just feel that some of the artists that almost couldn’t handle their own power and their own energy and their own force. It’s an energy. I, no matter what, was born with that.”

Dear Old Dad

Miley talked about how her dad has inspired her and called him “the most eccentric person I’ve ever met in my life.”

“He’s the one and only,” she added.

Staying Sad

“I have the artist torture thing going on too sometimes, where I’m a little conflict seeking because it’s creative,” Miley admitted. “That’s another thing. I like to feel sad sometimes. I really like it. And I really liked to feel happy. I really like to feel. I like it because it’s inspiring to me.”