Before the world knew of Miley Cyrus, there was Hannah Montana.
The fictional tween — regular girl by day, global pop star by night — captured the imagination of fans who tuned into the Disney hit series. Miley Cyrus, who herself had been living a fame-adjacent life at the time as country star Billy Ray Cyrus’ daughter, stepped into her alter ego with ease. Donned only in a bedazzled tank top, knee-high boots, and a blonde, banged wig, Cyrus belted out hit after hit while making her way towards child superstardom.
However, Cyrus isn’t the same, starry-eyed Disney child of yesteryear. In the years that followed the series, the young actress made moves that moved her farther away from her good girl persona. Her Bangerz era saw her shifting towards rap, with critics arguing that she was co-opting Black culture. Her twerking against Robin Thicke at that year’s VMAs during a performance of “Blurred Lines” divided her audience even further; Rolling Stone described it as a “pop culture crime.” On the tenth anniversary of Hannah Montana in 2016, Cyrus wrote on Instagram, “Even though HM is chopped up into little tiny pieces and buried in my backyard, she will always hold a very special place in my heart!”
But despite the backlash that Cyrus has received in recent years, there’s also no denying that her rebrand was a deliberate choice to position herself as her own type of rock star. Her latest albums, such asPlastic Hearts, Endless Summer Vacation, and Something Beautiful, saw her playing with rock ballads, synths, and a deeper, richer voice that bears almost no resemblance to her light, bubbly sound as Hannah Montana.
“I boldly and unapologetically presented myself to the world at the time, where I could have gone the other way and played it safe,” Cyrus told Variety on the topic of reinventing herself. “Maybe that would have been successful at the time, and it wouldn’t have been such a cross to bear, but I wouldn’t have had the reward. I don’t know if I would have had the sustainability that my career has now.”
Two decades later, and the impact that Hannah Montana has had on a generation of millennials and cuspers is unquestionable. To date, the show has amassed more than half a billion hours streamed globally on Disney+. It racked up four Emmy nominations, 14 platinum and 18 gold albums worldwide, along with two feature films. Its Season 1 album, which includes tracks like “The Best of Both Worlds” and “This is the Life,” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 2007, making it the first TV soundtrack to secure the top spot.
The Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special, which debuts on Disney+ on March 24, is set to reunite Cyrus with the show and character that launched her into the global spotlight. Filmed in front of a live studio audience, the special will see her sit down with Call Her Daddy host Alex Cooper for an in-depth conversation on her Hannah Montana era. “Get the teakettle,” Cyrus jokes in the special’s latest teaser.
Cyrus revisits her Hannah Montana roots for this special, but, just like her fans, the rock star has spent the last twenty years growing up and charting her own path through adulthood. Although it may be easy to discount the 20th anniversary special as a nostalgia grab (which it is, in a way), it’s also Cyrus’ return to the alter ego that launched her career. “I used to think of Hannah as something separate from myself,” Cyrus tells Variety, “[but] this special is my reclaiming of merging Hannah and Miley together.”
