Billy Ray Cyrus Shares Message to Miley Cyrus Amid Alleged Family Rift

Billy Ray Cyrus is remembering when Miley Cyrus used to be young. 

The "Achy Breaky Heart" singer took a stroll down memory lane when he shared a throwback picture of him and Miley, reminiscing on the moment it was taken.

"One of my best memories ever: @cma Fest, back when it was Fan Fair," he began his June 7 post, which featured a framed photo of him holding a young Miley, over two handwritten pages. "That's @mileycyrus and me, surrounded by thousands of incredible fans at the fairgrounds. The next day, someone handed me this picture, and I wrote that poem right then on the bus."

In addition to looking back on the moment, Billy Ray also celebrated her current successes.

"I'm incredibly proud of her," he continued. "She's a survivor and a true artist. She learned early on to love and appreciate the fans who make everything possible. We both cherish the connection we have with our fans and are grateful for every single one of you!"

The 62-year-old's poignant post comes amid an alleged ongoing rift in the Cyrus family. In the two years since his divorce from ex-wife Trish Cyrus after almost 30 years of marriage, his relationship with Miley has appeared to grow estranged.

In fact, the father-daughter relationship in recent years has been a far cry from their closeness as costars on Hannah Montana, according to a source close to Miley. 

"The divorce between her parents have put a strain on her relationship with her dad and it's been hard to connect with him in the last year," an insider told E! News in 2022, adding that Miley "has been closer to her mom Tish" and "doesn't have a relationship" with Billy Ray's new wife Firerose, whom he wed in 2023.

And when the "Flowers" singer won her first Grammy awards earlier this year for the chart-topping track, he was notably absent from her speech. 

After thanking Tish—who has since found love with Dominic Purcell—sister Brandi Cyrus and boyfriend Maxx Morando, who were all in the audience, Miley finished her speech with, "Thank you all so much. I don't think I forgot anyone, but I might've forgotten underwear. Bye!"

Then, when the 31-year-old shared an additional post-Grammys message of gratitude to social media, Billy Ray—who also shares kids with Trace Cyrus, 34, and Braison Cyrus, 29, and Noah Cyrus, 24—once again went without a mention. 

"To my mommy @tishcyruspurcell I love you more than anything in the entire universe," Miley wrote, "my family, @brandicyrus thank you for being there like always, my godmother @dollyparton - I felt your fairy dust everywhere."

For a full rundown of the Cyrus family drama, keep reading. 

Billy Ray Cyrus married Tish Cyrus (née Leticia Finley) on Dec. 28, 2003.

At the time they already shared 12-month-old daughter Destiny Hope Cyrus—you may know her as Miley Cyrus now—and Tish was pregnant with their son Braison Cyrus, who was born May 9, 1994.

Seven months before Miley was born on Nov. 23, 1992, Billy Ray's ex-girlfriend Kristin Luckey gave birth to their son Christopher Cody Cyrus on April 8.

When the "Achy Breaky Heart" singer married Tish, he adopted her daughter Brandi Cyrus (born May 26, 1987) and son Trace Cyrus (Feb. 24, 1989), whose biological father is their mom's ex-husband Baxter Helson.

Trish and Billy Ray's youngest, daughter Noah Cyrus, was born Jan. 8, 2000.

From 2006 to 2010, Billy Ray played the father of Miley's normal-kid-who-moonlights-as-a-pop-star character in the Disney Channel sitcom Hannah Montana and a 2009 film adaptation.

While the Cyrus family was still based in Nashville, Billy Ray and Miley made the move to L.A. to jumpstart her own entertainment career.

Billy Ray and Tish announced in October 2010 that they were getting divorced, but by the following year were back together.

They filed for divorce again in June 2013 but reconsidered barely a month later, telling E! News at the time that they'd been to couple's counseling and it had done wonders for them.

But before they reconciled, when the news broke that her dad had made the first move in a Nashville court to end his marriage after 19 years, Miley tweeted, "@billyraycyrus since your text and email obviously aren't working would you like to talk like this?"

After a decade of being together off and on, and in the wake of losing their Malibu home in a fire, Miley and her The Last Song co-star Liam Hemsworth married in December 2018.

The decision came "from a place of trauma and just trying to rebuild as quickly as we could," Miley recalled on her "Used to Be Young" TikTok series.

But Liam filed for divorce in August 2019 and they finalized the paperwork in January 2020.

"It's honestly very simple," a source told E! at the time. "They fell in love when they were young and they are just different people now."

Tish and Billy Ray became grandparents in 2021 when their son Braison and his wife Stella welcomed son Bear Chance Cyrus on June 8. 

Tish filed for divorce fo a third time in April 2022, and this time it stuck.

Moreover, her petition citing "irreconcilable differences" noted that she and her husband of almost 30 years hadn't lived together since February 2020. 

"It is after 30 years, five amazing children and a lifetime of memories, we have decided to go our separate ways—not with sadness, but with love in our hearts," Tish and Billy Ray told People in a statement. "We have grown up together, raised a family we can be so proud of, and it is now time to create our own paths."

The exes noted that they hadn't come to the decision to split up for good "lightly or quickly," adding, "We will always be family and look forward to a continued and loving shared experience as friends and parents."

Billy Ray quietly got engaged to Australian singer Firerose, who's 27 years his junior, in August 2022 but waited to confirm the news until that November.

"Growing up in Australia, my love of music was predominant over everything," Firerose told People. "I've known his music since forever."

What started as a friendship turned into more during the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"All of the sudden, the life that I've always known as a touring artist didn't exist anymore," Billy Ray said. "A moment of so much change. And at the same time, Firerose, who had been such a light of positivity, such a best friend. And then when we began sharing the music, it just evolved more into, as musical soulmates, to soulmates, happy, pure love that to me, I didn't know could exist."

Around the time her ex-husband confirmed his engagment in November 2022, Tish went Instagram-official with Prison Break actor Dominic Purcell.

They got engaged in April 2023 and tied the knot that August in Malibu at sunset with Miley, Trace and Brandi all standing by their mom's side.

"Life is unpredictable & always full of changes," Trace captioned a photo of himself and two of his sibling with the bride. "I think the most important thing to do is cherish the past, look forward to the future, & always be happy in the present moment because that’s really all we have."

"To see my mom this happy and in love is very emotional for me," Miley told Vogue last summer ahead of her mom's wedding. "Dom and my mom share the sweetest, most genuine love. It's almost like it's for the first time, which is so fitting for my mom who is such a young soul."

As for her dad's next chapter, however, a source close to Miley told E! News in October 2022 that she wasn't in love with it and didn't have a relationship with her future stepmom.

"The divorce between her parents put a strain on her relationship with her dad and it's been hard to connect with him in the last year," the source said. "She hopes they can eventually work on their relationship."

Billy Ray told People that November, however, that his family had "no hard feelings" about his engagement.

"Everybody's turning the page," he said. "It's been a lot, but everyone knew that it was time for a change."

He and Firerose got married on Oct. 10, 2023, calling it the "beautiful, joyous day that our two souls united as one in holy matrimony."

Whatever rift opened up between Miley and her dad apparently hadn't been repaired by the night of the 2024 Grammys on Feb. 4.

Tish and Brandi were there, as was Miley's boyfriend Maxx Morando, and they all got shout-outs when the "Flowers" singer won Record of the Year.

As Miley concluded her speech, "I don’t think I forgot anyone."

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