Music

Miley Cyrus has a famous father and an even more famous godmother, and strangers are constantly prodding for information about her relationships with Billy Ray Cyrus or Dolly Parton.

In the fifth-season premiere of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman, out now on Netflix, Letterman asked Cyrus about her famous friends. Specifically, he asked, “That night at the [2024] Grammys, it seemed like an enormous celebration of women in music. Are you friends with all of those women?”

Cyrus candidly responded, “I am not very active, I would say, or very a part of my community of other artists and entertainers and celebrities. It just doesn’t feel like my people when I’m in that room. But there are certain artists, like Beyoncé, who — like us — we’ve known each other for a long time.”

The multi-platinum-certified singer continued, “When I was probably 15, I performed with Beyoncé. I was sandwiched between, you know, Rihanna and the Queen Bey, and they’re fully grown up, gorgeous, probably similar to my age now. Towering over me, completely stunning. I am super small, have acne, have braces on the back of my teeth, and I’m standing next to Mariah Carey, who is dripping in diamonds. Beyoncé was so kind to me, and now, just from seeing her, I’ve created a relationship — maybe a bit more in-depth. […] The kindness and the consistency is everything, so I’m a part of my community in that way, but again, it’s all quality, not quantity. I’m not very active in that.”

Letterman’s reference to the 2024 Grammys concerned Cyrus’ first-ever Grammy wins (Record Of The Year and Best Pop Solo Performance), thanks for “Flowers,” which was the root of her show-stopping performance.

Beyoncé welcomed Cyrus as a featured artist on her Cowboy Carter album, and “II Most Wanted” stands to be nominated for Record Of The Year at the 2025 Grammys.

“I wrote that song, like, two and a half years ago,” Cyrus recently told W. “My mom would always go, ‘I love that song so much.’ So when Beyoncé reached out to me about music, I thought of it right away because it really encompasses our relationship. I told her, ‘We don’t have to get ­country; we are country. We’ve been country.’ I said, ‘You know, between you being from Texas and me being from Tennessee, so much of us is going to be in this song.’ Getting to write a song, not just sing, for Beyoncé was a dream come true.”