Miley Cyrus suffered tragic chain of events before deciding to change name

First there was Cher, then there was Madonna, and now there is a new pop icon going by just her first name: Miley.

The artist formerly known as Miley Cyrus recently revealed that she'd decided to drop her famous last name in favour of being known solely by the mononym 'MILEY' ahead of her next album.

Cyrus... Sorry, Miley, is yet to explain why she's dropped her last name, but it would appear the 33-year-old is pretty committed to the move, even updating her website URL from mileycyrus.com to mileyofficial.com.

The change has even been updated on Google, with searches for 'Miley Cyrus' returning a correction which reads: "Did you mean... just: miley."

Why has Miley dropped her Cyrus surname?

Miley's lack of explanation for the move – it's most likely promotion for her upcoming tenth album – hasn't stopped fans from speculating about what could have inspired the move.

One Miley fan recently shared a rather poignant reason for the name change, suggesting the move may have been inspired by various hardships the former Hannah Montana star has weathered in recent years.

Death of her godmother, Dolly Parton

The recent death of country music star Dolly Parton hit Miley hard, as the '9 to 5' singer had been her godmother.

Miley had enjoyed an extremely close bond with Parton over the years, with the 80-year-old appearing in an episode of Hannah Montana back in 2006.

Both women regularly covered each other's music, most recently working together on an updated version of Miley's smash hit 'Wrecking Ball' in 2023.

"The feeling of losing my Aunt Dolly is beyond what feels right to share. Our most sacred moments were private and they’ll stay there behind the stage, beneath the glamour & between our hearts," Miley wrote in an Instagram tribute to Parton.

"What I KNOW is Dolly would want me to feel it, write a song about it, and then continue on and be strong. I have an angel by my side. I always have. One of our last conversations was about music and metamorphosis," she continued.

"I will always love her and want to make her proud. My heart breaks for the world, her family and friends who will miss her deeply. We’re in this loss together and we will see her in all of the most beautiful things."

Divorce from Liam Hemsworth

Miley's decade-long on-and-off relationship with actor Liam Hemsworth has also been a major part of her life.

After meeting on the set of 2009 film The Last Song, the pair began dating and got engaged in 2012, only to call things off a year later.

However, this wasn't the end of the former couple's relationship, as they would later reunite in 2016, going on to tie the knot in December 2018.

The pair's 'happily-ever-after' was not to last, as Hemsworth would later file for divorce in August 2019, a move which Miley later expressed disappointment in.

"She didn’t expect it and is a bit disappointed, but she is still doing well and has obviously moved on as well," an insider told PEOPLE at the time.

The singer would later pen 'Flowers' about the separation, which would become her most successful song to date.

Loss of her house during California wildfires

In November 2018, Miley and then-partner Liam would lose their Malibu home to one of the many wildfires which devastated California.

Confirming the loss of her home, Miley wrote on X at the time: "I am one of the lucky ones. My animals and LOVE OF MY LIFE made it out safely & that’s all that matters right now.

"My house no longer stands but the memories shared with family & friends stand strong. I am grateful for all I have left."

Miley later opened up about the trauma of losing her home during an interview with Howard Stern in 2020, revealing that the loss had been a major factor in her tying the knot with Hemsworth.

"I had so much and it was all gone, every song I had ever written was in that house," she explained.

"Every photograph of me that my parents had given to me, all my scripts, I lost everything."

Tumultuous relationship with father Billy Ray Cyrus

Miley's relationship with her father, country music star Billy Ray Cyrus, has been complicated in recent years.

Despite starring as father and daughter in Hannah Montana, the pair were estranged for a number of years.

The alleged feud can be traced back to Billy Ray's 2022 divorce from Miley's mother Tish Cyrus. Miley addressed the situation during an appearance on Monica Lewinsky's podcast Recalaiming, revealing that she felt 'a lot of loyalty' towards her mother during the separation.

The pair have since reconciled, with Miley penning the track 'Secrets', featuring rock legends Lindsey Buckingham and Mick Fleetwood, as a gift for the 65-year-old.

"This song was written as a peace offering for someone I had lost for a time but always loved. In my experience, forgiveness and freedom are one and the same," Miley explained on Instagram last year, adding: "This song is for my dad."

'Losing' her voice

Last year Miley revealed that she'd been diagnosed with Reinke’s edema, a noncancerous vocal chord disorder that is often caused by swelling of tissue in the vocal cords. Symptoms include a hoarse and noticeably deeper voice.

Likening the condition to 'abuse of the vocal cords', Miley told Zane Lowe that despite 'drinking and smoking and partying' during her early 20s, she'd always had the condition.

"My voice always sounded like this — it's a part of my unique anatomy," she explained, adding that she also has a large polyp on her vocal chord.

Explaining why she ultimately decided against having the condition corrected with surgery, Miley added: "I’m not willing to sever it ever, because the chance of waking up from a surgery and not sounding like myself is a possibility."