Billy Ray Cyrus Finally Speaks Out Amid Backlash Over Miley’s Controversial Name Change Following Dolly Parton’s Death
That history made Billy Ray’s comparison particularly notable when he addressed the name controversy.
He did not see Miley removing Cyrus as rejecting her family. Instead, he compared the move to Parton reaching the point where simply saying Dolly was enough.
Billy Ray said he once wanted to do almost exactly the same thing
Billy Ray also revealed that Miley’s decision reminded him of his own early ambitions.
“Bet you didn’t know… I was just CYRUS before Achy Breaky Heart came out in ’92,” he wrote.
Before his breakthrough single turned him into a country star, Billy Ray said he had even commissioned merchandise with the name.
“All of my swag and T-shirts only read, CYRUS SOME GAVE ALL with a picture of a POW MIA flag on it and the words… ‘You are not forgotten,’” he recalled.
Some Gave All became Billy Ray’s enormously successful 1992 debut album and included Achy Breaky Heart, the hit that made his full name internationally recognizable.
“Now… if only Mercury / Polygram would have just not insisted on the ‘Billy Ray’ part and just let me be CYRUS… I could have done something!!!” he joked. “Ha ha!!! All good.”
He finished his comments by throwing his support behind Miley’s next musical chapter.
“And the legend continues!” he wrote. “Looking forward to the new album.”
“This is not about you,” a reader wrote
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