Career

2001–2005: Early work
Cyrus became interested in acting when she was nine, and took classes at the Armstrong Acting Studio while her family lived in Toronto, Canada.[21] Her early career was marked by minor roles, the first of which was playing a girl named Kylie on her father's television series Doc.[9][8] In 2003, Cyrus was credited under her birth name for her role as "Young Ruthie" in Tim Burton's Big Fish. Dolly Parton, Miley's godmother,[22] advised Cyrus's mother to sign Cyrus with Morey Management Group, which The Hollywood Reporter said "was the best advice she could [have gotten] on who should rep her daughter". The group's leader, Jim Morey, and his son, Jason, began co-managing Cyrus's career alongside Tish Cyrus.[23]

When Cyrus was twelve, she auditioned for the role of "best friend" in a Disney Channel television show about a "secret pop star".[24] Disney Channel executives at first judged her to be too young, but Cyrus's persistence resulted in her being called back for further auditions. She eventually auditioned for the lead role, Zoe Stewart. When she won the role, the character's name was changed to Miley Stewart. According to Disney Channel president Gary Marsh, Cyrus was chosen because of her energetic and lively performance and was seen as a person who "loves every minute of life,"[25] with the "everyday relatability of Hilary Duff and the stage presence of Shania Twain."[19] Cyrus had tried for several years to lose her Southern accent, but Disney decided to include it in the storyline. Later, Cyrus had to audition her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, for the role of the main character's father.[26] The show focuses on adolescence while incorporating a "secret identity" aspect to the storylines.

2006–June 2008: Hannah Montana
Hannah Monatana first aired on March 24, 2006 in the United States and averaged more than 4 million viewers per episode. As of 2009, the series is in its third season on Disney Channel with plans for a fourth and final season in March 2010.[27]

As the star of Hannah Montana, Cyrus became popular with children and teenagers, leading to a successful career in music. Her recording debut was on April 4, 2006, when the fourth edition of DisneyMania was released. Cyrus sang a cover of James Baskett's "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah," originally from the 1946 animated film Song of the South. On October 24 the same year, Walt Disney Records released the first Hannah Montana soundtrack. Of the nine tracks on the album performed by Cyrus, eight were credited to Hannah Montana and one, a duet with Billy Ray Cyrus titled "I Learned from You", was credited to Cyrus as herself. The album debuted at #1 on the US Billboard 200 and sold 281,000 copies in its first week, beating such artists as John Legend and rock band My Chemical Romance.[28] Cyrus, as Hannah Montana, opened for The Cheetah Girls on their The Party's Just Begun Tour. She performed at 20 dates of their 39-city tour, beginning on September 15, 2006.[29] On June 26, 2007, Cyrus released a double album, Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus. The first disc was a second Hannah Montana soundtrack, while the second disc was Cyrus's first solo album credited to herself. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 and sold 326,000 copies, selling faster in its first week than the previous Hannah Montana soundtrack.[30] It was certified Platinum three times by the RIAA after selling more than 3 million copies in the US.[31] Cyrus voiced the recurring character Yatta on the Disney Channel animated series The Emperor's New School. She had a cameo appearance in High School Musical 2 which premiered August 17, 2007; She danced beside a pool in the movie's closing number and was credited as "girl at pool".

Cyrus's first headlining tour, the Best of Both Worlds Tour, lasted from October 18, 2007 to January 31, 2008 with 69 concerts across the United States. She performed both as herself and as Hannah Montana. The Jonas Brothers were the opening act for most of the tour.[32] Tour tickets for each date sold out in record time.[33] The tour was recorded and released to theaters as a concert film in Disney Digital 3-D. Walt Disney Records/Hollywood Records released the film's soundtrack on March 11, 2008. It peaked at number three on the Billboard 200.[34]

July 2008–2009: Breakout, The Time of Our Lives EP and film career
On July 2008, Cyrus released her second studio album under her own name, entitled Breakout. Cyrus said Breakout was inspired by "what's been going on in my life in the past year."[35] Cyrus co-wrote eight out of twelve songs on the album.[35] "Songwriting is what I really want to do with my life forever, [...] I just hope this record showcases that, more than anything, I'm a writer."[36] The album debuted at #1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart with a first week sales of about 371,000 copies. As of July 31, 2008, this was the second-biggest sales week of the year for a female artist; Mariah Carey's E=MC² previously sold 463,000 copies in its first week.[4] "7 Things" was the first single to be released from Breakout and peaked at number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100.[37][38] She hosted the 2008 CMT Music Awards with her father in April.[39] In 2008, Cyrus hosted the Teen Choice Awards.[40]

Cyrus provided the voice of Penny in the 2008 computer-animated feature film, Bolt, about a television star dog on his quest to find his owner. Cyrus co-wrote and recorded one of the two original songs on the soundtrack of Bolt, which features her Bolt co-star John Travolta. Titled "I Thought I Lost You", it was later nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.[41] Cyrus again played the title role in the Hannah Montana film spin-off, Hannah Montana: The Movie which was released on April 10, 2009. The film is about Stewart returning to her country roots and deciding which life to choose, her own normal life or as pop star Hannah Montana. Her single, "The Climb" from the movie's soundtrack peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100, thus becoming her highest charting single since "See You Again" and "7 Things" which charted at #10 and #9 respectively; later "Party in the U.S.A." charted at # 2.[38] The movie's soundtrack became the third album under the franchise to take the lead of the Billboard 200 and was certified platinum by the RIAA.[42]

In June 2009, Cyrus changed her TV and movie career representation from United Talent Agency to Creative Artists Agency, which had already represented her for music.[43] Also in June, Cyrus began filming her upcoming movie The Last Song, based on a novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks, in which she plays a rebellious teenage girl who spends a summer with her estranged father at his home in a quiet beach town.[44] The film was conceived as a "star vehicle" with the intention of introducing Cyrus to older audiences.[45] Cyrus recorded a song with the Jonas Brothers titled "Before the Storm" for their fourth studio album Lines, Vines and Trying Times. She also launched another Hannah Montana soundtrack (for the third season), titled Hannah Montana 3 on July 7, 2009.

"Party in the U.S.A." was officially released to radio on July 29, 2009.[46] The song is from a Wal-Mart exclusive EP entitled The Time of Our Lives which released on August 31, 2009.[47] It was released as promotion for Cyrus's clothing line. The song made it to number one on Hot Digital Songs with 226,000 paid downloads, making her the youngest artist to top the chart, which led its big debut on the Billboard Hot 100, where it was placed at number two, topping "The Climb" (that peaked at number four).[38][48] The song thereby became the "fastest breaking single in Hollywood Records' history."[49]