Billy Ray Cyrus

Billy Ray Cyrus, born William Ray Cyrus on August 25, 1961, in Flatwoods, Kentucky, is an American singer, songwriter, actor, and Broadway performer. His father, Ron Cyrus, was a steelworker who later became a politician, and his mother was Ruth Ann, née Casto. Cyrus began singing at age four, growing up surrounded by bluegrass and gospel music from a family of musicians. His parents divorced in 1966, and his grandfather was a Pentecostal preacher. As a young man he attended Georgetown College on a baseball scholarship before switching his focus to music and leaving during his junior year. Attending a Neil Diamond concert prompted him to set a ten-month goal to launch a music career. During the 1980s he performed with a band called Sly Dog, named after a one-eyed dog he owned, before eventually signing a record contract with Mercury Nashville Records.

While pursuing a recording contract in Los Angeles, Cyrus faced significant hardships, including living in a neighbor's car. He was signed to PolyGram/Mercury in 1990, the same year he opened for Reba McEntire. His debut album, Some Gave All, was released in 1992 and entered at number one on the Billboard 200, the Billboard Top Country Albums chart, the Canadian Country Albums chart, and the Canadian Albums Chart simultaneously. The album spent seventeen consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard 200, the longest such run by a debut artist and by a country artist in the SoundScan era. It was certified 9× multi-platinum in the United States, sold more than 20 million copies worldwide, and was the best-selling album in the United States in 1992 with 4,832,000 copies sold. It remains the best-selling debut album of all time for a solo male artist.

The lead single from Some Gave All, "Achy Breaky Heart," reached number one on the Hot Country Songs chart and number four on the Billboard Hot 100. It became the first single to achieve triple platinum certification in Australia and was that country's best-selling single of 1992. The song also reached number three on the UK Singles Chart. Its music video contributed to a widespread rise in the popularity of line dancing. Additional singles from the album included "Could've Been Me," which reached number two, "She's Not Cryin' Anymore" at number six, and "Wher'm I Gonna Live?" at number twenty-three. Across his career, Cyrus has released 16 studio albums and 53 singles since 1992, accumulating eight top-ten singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and 17 singles that charted in the top 40 out of 36 total charted singles.

His second studio album, It Won't Be the Last, was released in 1993 and debuted at number one on the country charts and number three on the Billboard 200. It was certified platinum by the RIAA by the end of that year. Its highest-charting single, "In the Heart of a Woman," reached number three. Also in 1993, Cyrus appeared on Dolly Parton's single "Romeo." His third album, Storm in the Heartland, followed in 1994 and was certified gold in the United States. In 1994 he also contributed the song "Pictures Don't Lie" to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Country, produced by the Red Hot Organization. His 1996 album Trail of Tears, released on Mercury Records, debuted at number twenty on the country chart. That same year, Cyrus appeared on Broadway in the play Chicago.

Cyrus released Shot Full of Love in 1998, his final album for Mercury Records, before signing with Monument Records in 1999. His Monument debut, Southern Rain, was released in 2000 and debuted at number thirteen on the country albums chart. In 2003 he recorded two Christian albums, Time Flies and The Other Side, both released that year.

Beyond music, Cyrus built a substantial acting career. From 2001 to 2004 he starred in the television series Doc, which centered on a country doctor who relocated from Montana to New York City. From 2006 to 2011 he played Robby Ray Stewart on the Disney Channel series Hannah Montana, alongside his daughter Miley Cyrus, who portrayed the title character. From 2016 to 2017 he starred as Vernon Brownmule on the CMT sitcom Still the King.

In 2019, Cyrus was featured on a remix of Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road," which reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and remained there for a record-breaking nineteen consecutive weeks, eighteen of which were credited to Cyrus. The song also spent a record-breaking twenty consecutive weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Billboard Hot Rap Songs charts, nineteen of those credited to Cyrus, a record later broken in May 2023 by SZA's "Kill Bill." The collaboration earned Cyrus his first two Grammy Awards, in the categories Best Pop Duo/Group Performance and Best Music Video.