BILLY RAY CYRUS

'Billy Ray Cyrus' (born August 25, 1961 in Flatwoods, Kentucky) is an American country singer and film and television actor, who is best known for his hit single "Achy Breaky Heart" (1992). He is also a multi-platinum selling recording artist, with one number one country single and eight top-ten singles. From 2001 to 2004, he starred in the television series ''Doc'', a show about a doctor from the ranch adjusting to the large city. Starting in 2006, he is currently co-starring in the Disney Channel original television series, ''Hannah Montana'', which stars his daughter Miley.

Contents

Biography

Career

Marriage and Children

Awards

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Selected filmography

See also

References

External links

Biography

Billy Ray Cyrus was born on August 25, 1961, in Flatwoods, Kentucky. His father was a Pentecostal preacher who used to sing with Billy Ray in church when he was just 4 years old. Billy Ray later went to college on a baseball scholarship, before switching his focus to music. After years of searching in Nashville, he signed with PolyGram Records in 1990.

Career

After moving to Los Angeles alone, Cyrus signed to Mercury Nashville Records in 1990. The success of "Achy Breaky Heart" from his first album ''Some Gave All'' helped renew the popularity of line dancing and made Cyrus a star. At the time he was widely known for his signature mullet hairstyle.
In 1993, Cyrus was scheduled to perform for Queen Elizabeth II but had to cancel due to family reasons.
Cyrus' follow-up, ''It Won't Be the Last'', began strong but sales wound up being disappointing compared to ''Some Gave All''. He continued to chart and release four more albums over the next six years. These were ''Storm in the Heartland'' in 1994, ''Trail of Tears'' in 1996, ''Shot Full of Love'' in 1998, and ''Southern Rain'' in 2000. He has had some success as a gospel singer with his album ''The Other Side'' in 2003. His most recent albums are ''Wanna Be Your Joe'' in 2006 and ''Home At Last'' in 2007.
In 2004, ''Blender'' magazine selected "Achy Breaky Heart" as the magazine's choice for "second worst song ever." Some people claim Cyrus is a one-hit wonder^[1], mainly because "Achy Breaky Heart" was his only major hit on the Billboard Hot 100. He did land six Top Ten singles on the country charts, including "Could've Been Me", "Busy Man", and "In the Heart of a Woman". Cyrus also holds the record for the longest time at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart for a debut record (17 weeks).
"We The People", the working people’s anthem from ''Southern Rain'' became the campaign theme song for President George W. Bush during his 2000 election campaign.

Cyrus starred in the 1999 independent film ''Radical Jack''. Cyrus also had a small part in David Lynch's 2001 film ''Mulholland Drive'' as Gene, a pool cleaner who had been having an affair with the wife of Adam Kesher (Justin Theroux).
In 2001, Cyrus played the lead role on the PAX (now ION Television) comedy-drama ''Doc''. ''Doc'' became the highest-rated show on the network.
In 2005, Cyrus expanded his acting career in a stage production of ''Annie Get Your Gun'' in Toronto, as the role of Frank Butler.
Cyrus' television credits include ''The Nanny'', ''Diagnosis Murder'', ''Love Boat, The Next Wave'', and TNN’s ''18 Wheels Of Justice''. In 2004, Cyrus guest starred in the episode, "The Power of Love" of the Canadian teen drama '' as the limo driver, Duke.
Cyrus has also been the subject of many television specials that detail his rise to fame and his career. These include two ABC documentaries, ''Dreams Come True'' and ''A Year On The Road'', a VH1 exclusive, as well as the TNN specials ''I Give My Heart To You'', and ''The Life and Times of Billy Ray Cyrus''.
In late 2005, Cyrus and his daughter Miley began filming the first twenty episodes of a new Disney Channel original television series, ''Hannah Montana''. The show revolves around a young teenage girl (Miley) who lives a double life as pop singing sensation "Hannah Montana." Cyrus plays the pop star's widowed father, manager, and famous singer Robby Stewart. ''Hannah Montana'' is currently airing on the Disney Channel, and has received positive reviews from critics and viewers. His character is loosely based on his real life; footage of Robbie Ray as a famous singer in the past is actual footage and photos of Cyrus himself as a singer, and many times allusions are made to the singer, as in the episode ''New Kid in School'' where Robby Stewart dons a mullet wig and introduces his character as Billy Ray Cyrus; in the episode ''Ooo, Ooo, Itchy Woman'' where his character refers to his single "Achy Breaky Heart" by asking a mouse which was crawling around inside the Stewarts' piano, "Lynda, you know 'Achy Breaky Heart'?"; and in the episode "On the Road Again", where Cyrus performs his song "I Want My Mullet Back", a track from his latest CD. Also, in the episode, ''It's a Mannequin's World'', when Robby does the limbo and cracks his back, he says, "Ohh, my Achy Breaky back!" Also in one of the more recent episodes when Hannah is about to reveal her secret to a reporter the family must pretend to be others and so he says that he is Billy Ray Cyrus.
He also sang "The Star Spangled Banner" at Game 5 of the 2006 World Series in St. Louis, Missouri.
In March 2007, Cyrus joined several other celebrities to take part in the fourth season of the US version of ''Dancing with the Stars''.^[2] He and his partner Karina Smirnoff, were eliminated in the eighth week (May 8, 2007) after having also placed in the "bottom two" the week before.^[3]
In 2007, Cyrus filmed the music video for his latest hit, ''Ready, Set, Don't Go''. He dedicated this song to Miley. The video showed pictures from Hannah Montana along with others.

Marriage and Children

Cyrus has one child from a previous relationship, Christopher Cody.^[4] Cyrus is now married to Leticia "Tish" Finley Cyrus,^[5] whom he married on December 28 1992. Together, they have three children, daughters Destiny Hope (who is also known as Miley), Noah Lindsey, and son Braison Chance. She had two children from a previous relationship, son Trace (singer/guitarist for Metro Station) and daughter Brandi.
In a 2004 interview on ABC News: 'Primetime', Cyrus stated that daughter Miley (with Finley) and son Cody (from another relationship) were both born in 1992 while Cyrus was unmarried, and that he and Finley secretly married on December 28 of 1992.^[6]
The family resided on a 500-acre farm in Thompson's Station, outside of Nashville, Tennessee, before moving to Los Angeles for the filming of ''Hannah Montana''.^[7]

Awards

In addition to several music awards from various organizations, Cyrus also holds awards from charitable work.
In 1999, Cyrus received the International Entertainment Buyer Association’s "Humanitarian of the Year" Award for his philanthropic work. His charitable efforts have been recognized by the Country Radio Broadcasters, who honored him with their Artist Humanitarian Award, and by the Kennedy Center Honors, which recognized him for his work with children. He also received the first ever Bob Hope Congressional Medal of Honor Society Entertainer’s Award for his dedication to philanthropy.

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Album	U.S. Top Country	U.S. Billboard 200	RIAA Certification	U.S. Sales
1992	''Some Gave All''	1	1	9X Platinum	9,000,000+
1993	''It Won't Be the Last''	1	3	Platinum	1,000,000+
1994	''Storm in the Heartland''	11	73	Gold	550,000+
1996	''Trail of Tears''	20	125	—	—
1997	''	23	—	—	—
1998	''Shot Full of Love''	32	—	Gold	500,000+
2000	''Southern Rain''	13	102	—	—
2003	''Time Flies''	56	—	—	—
	''The Other Side''	18	131	—	—
2006	''Wanna Be Your Joe''	24	113	Gold	500,000+
2007	''Home At Last''	3	20	—	100,000+

Singles

Year	Song	U.S. Country	U.S. Hot 100	Album
1992	"Achy Breaky Heart"A	1	4	''Some Gave All''
	"Some Gave All"B	52	-
	"Could've Been Me"C	2	72
	"Wher'm I Gonna Live?"	23	-
1993	"She's Not Cryin' Anymore"	6	70
	"In the Heart of a Woman"	3	76	''It Won't Be the Last''
	"Somebody New"	9	104
	"Words by Heart"	12	119
1994	"Talk Some"	63	-
	"Storm in the Heartland"	33	108	''Storm in the Heartland''
	"Deja Blue"D	-	-
1995	"Fastest Horse in a One Horse Town"D	-	-	''NASCAR: Hotter Than Ashpalt''
1996	"Trail of Tears"D	-	-	''Trail of Tears''
	"Three Little Words"	66	-
1997	"It's All the Same to Me"	19	-	''Best of Billy Ray Cyrus: Cover to Cover''
1998	"Time for Letting Go"	70	-	''Shot Full of Love''
1999	"Busy Man"	3	46
	"Give My Heart to You"	41	-
2000	"You Won't Be Lonely Now"	17	80	''Southern Rain''
	"We the People"	60	-
2001	"Burn Down the Trailer Park"	43	-
	"Crazy 'Bout You Baby"	58	-
	"Southern Rain"	45	-
2003	"When I Leave This House" (with Adam Gregory)E	-	-	''Workin' On It'' (Adam Gregory album)
	"Face Of God"	54	-	''The Other Side''
	"The Other Side"	45	-
2006	"Wanna Be Your Joe"D	-	-	''Wanna Be Your Joe''
2007	"Ready, Set, Don't Go"F	47	85	''Home At Last''

'Notes'

★ ^A "Achy Breaky Heart" also peaked at #23 on U.S. Adult Contemporary.

★ ^B Album cut.

★ ^C Reached #1 on ''Radio & Records'' U.S. country singles chart.

★ ^D Failed to chart.

★ ^E Released only in Canada.

★ ^F "Ready, Set, Don't Go" also peaked at #58 on the US Pop 100 and #41 on U.S. Digital.

Selected filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	''Dancing with the Stars''	Himself	Television series
2006 - present	''Hannah Montana''	Robby Stewart	Television series
2004	''Death and Texas''	Spoade Perkins	--
	''Elvis Has Left the Building''	Hank	--
2002	''Wish You Were Dead''	Dean Longo	--
2001	''Doc''	Dr. Clint Cassidy	Television series
	''Mulholland Drive''	Gene	--
2000	''Radical Jack''	Jack	--

See also

★ List of best-selling albums in the United States

★ List of number-one hits (United States)

References

1. 100 Greatest: One Hit Wonders: VH1.com
2. Meet the New Cast of 'Dancing With the Stars unknown
3. Singer Cyrus booted off dance show
4. "BILLY RAY CYRUS - Bio"
5. Billy Ray Cyrus (Dr. Clint Cassidy)
6. Once a Country Superstar, He Got Out of the Spotlight for Fatherhood
7. Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: A Tale of Two Tweens Jacques Steinberg


★ Kingsbury, Paul. (1998). "Billy Ray Cyrus". In ''The Encyclopedia of Country Music''. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 123-4.

External links

★ Billy Ray Cyrus official website

★ Billy Ray Cyrus' Sony Nashville website

★ Billy Ray Cyrus CMT website

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