Miley Cyrus Was Unrecognizable 10 Years Ago

The "Hannah Montana: The Movie" soundtrack includes the song "You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home." In the track, Hannah actress Miley Cyrus sings, "You can change your hair and you can change your clothes" in the chorus, later singing, "But you'll always find your way back home." Changing hair and clothes is something Cyrus definitely did, since she has had dramatic transformations throughout her career. She is one of the celebrities who was unrecognizable a decade ago.

As of writing, Cyrus' brown hair has blond highlights and is long and wavy, as seen in the above-left paparazzi photo from September 2024. A decade ago, in 2014, Cyrus was deep in her "Bangerz" era and her hair was cut into a short, platinum blond pixie cut. That year, Cyrus was on tour for that album, and a recorded version of the show was also released as a concert movie titled "Miley Cyrus: Bangerz Tour." The hairstyle from that time can be seen in the above-right photo from the MTV VMAs in August 2014. That night, "Wrecking Ball" won Video of the Year and Cyrus had a guest named Jesse accept the award for her, giving him the opportunity to speak about youth homelessness. 

Cyrus' "Bangerz" look and the controversial outfits Cyrus wore during that time were a complete 180 from what her fans had seen before. For instance, one of her tour looks was a leotard covered in sequins and printed with marijuana leaves.

In 2023, Miley Cyrus reflected on the 2014 "Bangerz" tour on her TikTok docuseries "Used To Be Young." Per Pollstar Pro, Cyrus grossed a little less than $63 million with that tour, but since she paid for it all herself, she didn't make a profit. The reason Cyrus covered the costs was because she had wild ideas for the show that others didn't want to help pay for. One example was the hot dog she rode away on at the end of the show in a "The Truman Show"-style exit.

"I didn't make a dime on this tour because I wanted the tour to be excellent," Cyrus continued. "And when everyone kept saying, 'Why are you doing this? You're gonna do 100 shows and you're not gonna make any money.' I said, 'There's no one I would rather invest in than myself.' So I paid for it all to make it exactly what I thought I and the fans deserved."

She likely stands behind her decision to self-fund her tour, but that doesn't mean there's not a career move she regrets from that era. However, it's clear she's grown in the years since.