Billy Ray Cyrus

Billy Ray Cyrus (2009)

William "Billy" Ray Cyrus (* 25. August 1961 in Flatwoods , Kentucky ) is an American country - singer and actor . He had his breakthrough in 1992 with the song Achy Breaky Heart , which was number one on the American country charts for five weeks .

Private life

Billy Ray Cyrus was born on August 25, 1961 in Flatwoods, Kentucky, to Ron Cyrus , a future MP in the House of Representatives from Kentucky , and Ruth Ann Cyrus. Cyrus has a brother and three sisters. In his youth, he wanted to become a professional baseball player . With a baseball scholarship , he was able to study at Georgetown College. From 1986 to 1991, Cyrus was married to Cindy Smith, who co-wrote songs for his debut album. His first son was born on April 8, 1992 from a short-term relationship with the waitress Kristin Luckey.

A few weeks earlier he had met Leticia “Tish” Finley while filming a music video , who can be seen in it as a dancer. They married 13 months after the birth of their daughter Miley Cyrus (born November 23, 1992). Tish brought Trace Cyrus (* February 1989) and Brandi Cyrus (* May 1987) into the marriage, which Cyrus adopted. The marriage resulted in Braison Cyrus (* May 1994) and Noah Cyrus (* January 2000). Cyrus moved his family to California to film Hannah Montana . First they lived in La Cañada Flintridge and from 2008 in Toluca Lake . In early 2006 his father died of lung cancer . In December 2009, Cyrus paid a visit to US forces in Iraq . The Cyrus couple filed for divorce in the fall of 2010. In spring 2011 they reconciled and withdrew the divorce.

Career

Musician

Billy Ray Cyrus with daughter Miley (2009)

While studying at Georgetown College, Cyrus discovered his love for music and bought a guitar. He founded the band Sly Dog together with his brother and was hoping for engagements. In 1982 they were booked as a house band in a club in Ironton, Ohio . A devastating house fire in 1984 destroyed all of the band's instruments. After that, Cyrus moved to Los Angeles in hopes of advancing his career there. He then returned to Kentucky and commuted from there to Nashville several times a year in search of a record deal. In the summer of 1990, thanks to the advocacy of Del Reeves, he was signed to Mercury Records .

His debut album Some Gave All was released in late spring 1992 , and a few weeks earlier the single Achy Breaky Heart , which was an instant hit. The song reached number one on the US country charts, number four on the US pop charts and became a top ten hit in many other countries. The album stayed at the top of the US pop charts for 17 weeks. All subsequent albums could no longer build on this success. The next two It Won't Be the Last and Storm in the Heartland sold quite successfully, the following Trail of Tears and Shot Full of Love less. The albums Southern Rain , Time Flies and The Other Side followed . Then Cyrus received the offer to star in the Disney series Hannah Montana on the side of his daughter Miley. In the course of his newly gained popularity, his other albums, which were released on Disney Records, sold again much more successfully. These, Wanna Be Your Joe , Home at Last and Back to Tennessee , also include duets with his daughter Miley.

In 2010, Cyrus teamed up with Samantha Maloney ( Mötley Crüe , Hole, Eagles of Death Metal) and guitarist Jamie Miller (theSTART, Snot) to form the rock band Brother Clyde , whose debut album Lately was released in the US in August 2010. In late fall 2012, he played Billy Flynn in the Chicago musical at New York's Broadway Ambassador for six weeks . In October 2012, Cyrus released his album Change My Mind . The first single from it (the title song of the album) was released in September 2012. In April 2019, Cyrus gained renewed attention through the collaboration with the American rapper Lil Nas X , and the resulting single Old Town Road , which is a Country-rap crossover.

actor

In addition to his work as a musician, Cyrus also appeared as an actor. He got his first steps into acting with episode roles in The Nanny (1995) and Diagnosis: Murder (1997), where he played himself, and in Love Boat (1999). When his music career stagnated and his father encouraged him to make acting his main occupation, he was surprised to find he was hired to make the 2000 independent action film Deadly Contact (Radical Jack) . He then starred in David Lynch's film Mulholland Drive (2001). Lynch encouraged Cyrus to keep going. Then he found out about the series called Doc , which is about a Montana country doctor who ends up in a hospital in New York City for work . He stood in front of the camera for four seasons (2001-04) and 88 episodes. His two daughters Miley and Noah had their first roles here. He then starred in the films Death and Texas and Elvis Has Left the Building (2004).

Billy Ray Cyrus during a US troop visit to Iraq on December 19, 2009, for which he also gave a concert.

From 2006 to 2011 he played the series father of his daughter Miley in the series Hannah Montana . He also had a supporting role in the 2008 film Bait Shop ( direct-to-video ). In 2009 he had leading roles in Flying By (with Heather Locklear ) and in the TV Christmas film Christmas in Canaan (co-writer Kenny Rogers ), and he was also seen in the TV film The Magicians on Board with Hannah Montana . In 2009 he starred in Hannah Montana - The Movie . In early 2010, Cyrus was in the larger supporting role of James Colton in Jackie Chan's family action comedy Spy Daddy (The Spy Next Door) in theaters. On November 8, 2011, he had a guest role on the 90210 series . On December 17, 2011, the Christmas film sequel Christmas Returns to Canaan was released .

Discography

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1992	Some Gave All	DE48 (10 weeks) DE	AT32 (6 weeks) AT	CH34 (2 weeks) CH	UK9 gold (10 weeks)UK	US1 × 9 Nine-fold platinum (97 weeks)US
1993	It won't be the last	-	-	CH27 (4 weeks) CH	-	US3 platinum (43 weeks)US
1994	Storm in the Heartland	-	-	CH40 (3 weeks) CH	-	US73 gold (12 weeks)US
1996	Trail of Tears	-	-	CH50 (1 week) CH	-	US125 (4 weeks) US
2000	Southern Rain	-	-	-	-	US102 (2 weeks) US
2003	The other side	-	-	-	-	US131 (1 week) US
2006	Wanna Be Your Joe	-	-	-	-	US113 (2 weeks) US
2007	Home at Last	-	-	-	-	US20 (29 weeks) US
2009	Back to Tennessee	-	-	-	-	US41 (4 weeks) US
2011	I'm American	-	-	-	-	US153 (1 week) US

More albums

• 1994: Heartland Live
• 1998: Shot Full of Love
• 2003: Time Flies
• 2012: Change My Mind
• 2016: Thin Line
• 2017: Set the Record Straight

Compilations

• 1997: The Best of Billy Ray Cyrus: Cover to Cover
• 2003: 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Billy Ray Cyrus
• 2004: The Definitive Collection
• 2008: Love Songs
• 2014: The Definitive Collection (2 CDs)

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1992	Achy Breaky Heart Some Gave All	DE27 (25 weeks) DE	AT6 (12 weeks) AT	CH22 (11 weeks) CH	UK3 silver (10 weeks)UK	US4th platinum (25 weeks)US
	Could've Been Me Some Gave All	DE59 (8 weeks) DE	-	-	UK24 (4 weeks) UK	US72 (9 weeks) US
	These Boots Are Made for Walkin ' Some Gave All	-	-	-	UK63 (1 week) UK	-
	Achy Breaky Heart Chipmunks in Low Places	-	-	-	UK53 (3 weeks) UK	-	Alvin & the Chipmunks with Billy Ray Cyrus
1993	She's Not Cryin 'Anymore Some Gave All	-	-	-	-	US70 (9 weeks) US
	In the Heart of a Woman It Won't Be the Last	-	-	-	-	US76 (10 weeks) US
1999	Busy Man Shot Full of Love	-	-	-	-	US46 (17 weeks) US
2000	You Won't Be Lonely Now Southern Rain	-	-	-	-	US80 (13 weeks) US
2007	Ready, Set, Don't Go Home at Last	-	-	-	-	US85 (3 weeks) US
	Ready, Set, Don't Go Home at Last	-	-	-	-	US37 (20 weeks) US	with Miley Cyrus
2009	Butterfly Fly Away Back to Tennessee	-	-	-	-	US56 (3 weeks) US	with Miley Cyrus
2014	Achy Breaky 2	-	-	-	-	US80 (1 week) US	Buck 22 feat. Billy Ray Cyrus
2019	Old Town Road (Remix)	-	-	-	-	US1 × 2 Diamond + double platinum (45 weeks)US	Lil Nas X feat. Billy Ray Cyrus

More singles

• 1992: When I'm Gone
• 1992: Some Gave All
• 1992: Wher'm I Gonna Live?
• 1993: Words by Heart
• 1993: Somebody New
• 1994: Deja Blue
• 1995: The Fastest Horse in a One Horse Town
• 1997: It's All the Same to Me
• 1998: Time for Letting Go

Video albums

• 1992: Billy Ray Cyrus Live
• 1992: Billy Ray Cyrus (US:× 4Quadruple platinum )
• 1992: Achy Breaky Heart
• 1993: Billy Ray Cyrus Live on Tour (US:× 2Double platinum )
• 1994: Video Collection (US:platinum)
• 1994: One on One
• 1997: Complete Video Collection
• 2004: 20th Century Masters - The DVD Collection: The Best of Billy Ray Cyrus

Awards for music sales

Golden record  Canada 1994: for the album Storm In The Heartland Platinum record  Canada 1994: for the video album Live 2 × platinum record  Canada 1994: for the album It Won't Be The Last

5 × platinum record  Canada 1992: for the video album Billy Ray Cyrus Diamond record  Canada 1995: for the album Some Gave All

Note: Awards in countries from the chart tables or chart boxes can be found in these.

Country / Region	silver	gold	platinum	diamond	Sales	swell
Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources)
Canada (MC)	-	gold1	8 × platinum8th	diamond1	1,310,000	musiccanada.com
United States (RIAA)	-	gold1	20 × platinum20th	diamond1	24,200,000	riaa.com
United Kingdom (BPI)	silver1	gold1	-	-	300,000	bpi.co.uk
All in all	silver1	3 × gold3	28 × platinum28	2 × diamond2

Filmography (selection)

• 1995: The Nanny ( The Nanny , season 2, guest role)
• 1997: Diagnosis: Murder ( Diagnosis Murder , Season 4, guest role)
• 1999: Love Boat ( The Love Boat , season 2, guest role)
• 2000: Deadly Contact ( Radical Jack )
• 2002: Mulholland Drive - Street of Darkness ( Mulholland Drive )
• 2001–2004: Doc (TV series)
• 2004: Death and Texas
• 2004: Elvis Has Left the Building
• 2006–2011: Hannah Montana
• 2008: Bait Shop
• 2009: Flying By
• 2009: Hannah Montana - The Movie ( Hannah Montana: The Movie )
• 2009: Christmas in Canaan
• 2010: Spy Daddy ( The Spy Next Door )
• 2011–2012: 90210 (guest role, 2 episodes)
• 2011: Christmas full of hope (Christmas Comes Home to Canaan)
• 2014: Sharknado 2 ( Sharknado 2: The Second One , TV movie)
• 2016–2017: Still the King (TV series, 26 episodes)

Artist awards

• 1992: CMA: Single of the Year
• 1993: American Music Awards: Favorite Single
• 1993: American Music Awards: Favorite New Artist
• 1997: TNN / Music City News: Single of the Year
• 1998: TNN / Music City News: Video of the Year
• 1998: TNN / Music City News: Single of the Year
• 1998: TNN / Music City News: Male Artist of the Year
• 1998: TNN / Music City News: Album of the Year
• 2005: MovieGuide Awards: Nominated Most Inspirational Television Acting in Doc
• 2011: Golden Raspberry: Nominated Worst Supporting Actor in Spy Daddy

Won

• 2009: Teen Choice Awards : Choice TV Parental Unit in Hannah Montana
• 2010: Golden Raspberry : Worst Supporting Actor in Hannah Montana - The Movie

swell

1. ↑ Report on countrymusicnews.de
2. ↑ Report on countrymusicnews.de
3. ↑ CMN: Billy Ray Cyrus is recording a rock album. Retrieved July 2, 2010 . 
4. ↑ Report on chicagothemusical.com
5. ↑ ^{a b} Chart sources: Singles Albums UK US
6. ↑ Info ( Memento from November 8, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) on celebrity.de

Web links

Commons : Billy Ray Cyrus  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Billy Ray Cyrus in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Billy Ray Cyrus at Allmusic (English)
• Billy Ray Cyrus at Discogs (English)
• Official website at billyraycyrus.com
• Cyrus at CMT