Miley Cyrus Celebrates 7-Year Anniversary Of ‘Wrecking Ball’
A song that created controversy but also propelled her career forward
7 years ago, American singer-songwriter and actress Miley Cyrus reinvented herself with the release of her only Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit to date, “Wrecking Ball.” It was around the time she caught the attention of the world with her sexual and provocative VMAs performance alongside Robin Thicke. She let us all know in a not-so-subtle way that she was no longer the wholesome character of Hanna Montana we all knew her as.
The song showcased her impressive vocal range and the video, which showed her riding naked on a wrecking ball, racked up over a billion views. She celebrated the milestone on Twitter:
7 years of Wrecking Ball. My concept of time is completely askew. Feels like a lifetime ago… but somehow only yesterday. Thank you for all the support you gave me then and of course the love you’re continuing to show my art today. Forever grateful & inspired. pic.twitter.com/LKRubLOKdZ
— Miley Ray Cyrus (@MileyCyrus) August 25, 2020
In an interview with Apple Music, Miley revealed, “I had to, like, experience heartbreak to get to that song. I had to live it,” she said, saying that she didn’t have a part in writing “Wrecking Ball.” (Interestingly, it was written in part by Canadian songwriter Stephan Moccio.)
“It wasn’t a song that got sent to me on a demo and I just go ‘Cut it.’ I was living it publicly and … getting shamed at that time for the nudity in the video, and me pushing sexual boundaries, and beginning to experiment, being a pro-weed activist — and it was just all of it at the time.”
YouTube / Miley Cyrus
Miley is set to perform her new single, “Midnight Sky” at the MTV Video Music Awards tonight but is expected to be not as controversial as her performance back in the “Wrecking Ball” era.
