Tragic Details About The Cyrus Family

This article mentions suicidal ideation, addiction, and abuse accusations. 

Pop music mega star Miley Cyrus has never been one to shy away from sharing how she's feeling. She comes from a family of musicians who pour their lives into their songs, including her father, country star Billy Ray Cyrus. It's no secret that Miley and Billy Ray have a fraught relationship; as of this writing, they are estranged. 

On a 2024 episode of David Letterman's Netflix show "My Next Guest Needs No Introduction" (via People), Miley spoke about how she's learned to navigate fame's twists and turns by watching how her father handles the spotlight. "I'm grateful for being able to watch him ahead of me," she said. "He's almost given me this map. And there's a map of what to do and what not to do, and he's guided me on both."

Even with that map, life in the public eye hasn't always been so easy for Miley. In fact, the whole Cyrus family has gone through some tragic events while famous, from several divorces to numerous struggles with addiction.

Around the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Tish Cyrus realized her marriage to Billy Ray Cyrus was falling apart, likely permanently this time. She struggled to maintain her mental health, and in the years since that time, she has described what she went through as "a complete psychological breakdown."

Speaking with People, Tish revealed that the stress of the impending divorce was too much to handle. "I thought I was going to be alone forever," she said. "And that was one of the times that I had the crippling breakdown of anxiety ... There were 30 days where I was not eating, sleeping, just felt like I was just coming out of my skin. And it was really scary."

She went into more detail in another interview with People, explaining that she's had anxiety since she was young. Furthermore, her anxiety can become something of a self-fulfilling prophecy. "When the anxiety starts seeping in, I really just isolate," she said, "which makes you go darker." Thankfully, Tish has developed an exercise regimen and has begun attending therapy, which she says have both helped tremendously. "I think maybe it's because it was the first time I'd actually taken care of me and taken time for myself like that," she hypothesized. "It's really changed my life in a huge way."

Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth had an on-again, off-again relationship throughout much of their courtship. They first split all the way back in 2010, according to People, when a representative confirmed to the tabloid that they'd broken up despite Cyrus denying the rumors. Over the next several years, they would reconcile several times over, finally getting engaged in 2012... only to call it off in 2013. 

They got back together and got engaged once again in 2016, but it wouldn't be until 2018 that they finally married, shortly after their shared Malibu home was destroyed by a wildfire. Cyrus shared wedding photos on Instagram (via People), writing, "This is probably our one–millionth kiss."

Unfortunately, the marriage didn't last, and they divorced the following year. In an interview with Howard Stern (via Elle), Cyrus described the marriage as a mistake in response to having lost so much. "In trying to put that back together, instead of going, 'Oh, nature kind of did something I couldn't do for myself; it forced me to let go,' I ran toward the fire. ... I just clung to what I had left of that house, which was me and him. And I really do and did love him very, very, very much."

Miley Cyrus isn't the only member of the Cyrus family to give up drinking. Her father, "Old Town Road" singer Billy Ray Cyrus, has also re-evaluated his relationship to alcohol over the years. He told The Washington Post that he'd been sober since early in his career, even before "Achy Breaky Heart" propelled him up the charts. "My inner voice said, 'You're gonna have to really be on top of your game, and alcohol could be a problem,'" he recalled. "I just quit. If I hadn't, it'd be a different deal for me. I don't think I'd even be alive."

It turns out there was a tragic reason why Billy Ray worried about being able to survive his drinking. He was coming up in the industry when fellow country star Keith Whitley died of alcohol poisoning. "Keith is from where I'm from up there in eastern Kentucky. In some ways, Keith Whitley, I feel like he saved my life," Billy Ray told Nash Country Daily. "It was his influence and the fact that I loved Keith Whitley so much."

While many of Miley Cyrus' siblings have become famous in their own right, her younger brother Braison Cyrus maintains a relatively low profile. Sure, he's a model who has walked for Dolce & Gabbana, and like his siblings, he makes music, but as of yet, his songs haven't charted in the same way music by his family members has. 

Braison did make headlines back in 2012, however, after a scary near-death experience. His mother, Tish Cyrus, explained the harrowing story to E! News, revealing that he'd had his tonsils taken out and had suffered some frightening complications. Nine days after the surgery, things took a turn for the worse. "He woke himself up because he felt something running down his throat," Tish said. "He sat up and started spewing blood out of his mouth."

Tish rushed Braison to the hospital, where she could tell that emergency personnel didn't like what they were seeing. "They started doing everything they could to get the bleeding stopped. The blood was just pouring out of his mouth. He was choking on his own blood! It was so traumatizing," Tish said. Ultimately, Braison needed to have an artery stitched up, and he tweeted a bloody photo of himself in a hospital bed. "In the picture, he has a smile on his face," Tish said, "because he was so happy to be alive."

In 2010, Miley Cyrus found herself embroiled in a scandal when TMZ posted a video of the teen star smoking salvia from a bong. She issued an apology in Marie Claire (via Billboard), confessing, "I made a mistake ... I'm disappointed in myself for disappointing my fans." Over the following decade, she would make headlines many times over for drug references, including in her hit single "We Can't Stop," which made a coy joke out of the similarity between her own name and the drug molly.

As she's grown up, Cyrus' relationship with substance use has changed. In 2020, she told Rolling Stone that she was committed again to her sobriety. "I have been focusing on sobriety as I wanted to wake up 100 percent, 100 percent of the time," she said. "If I've ever learned to balance myself and to not take it too far, I would." She'd given up both alcohol and drugs when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, but she returned to drinking. "Like a lot of people during the pandemic, I fell off," she said. "It was really a struggle. Mental health and anxiety and all that. I lost myself there."

Though Cyrus said that she doesn't want to make definitive statements about the future, she'd promised herself that she would not return to drugs. "From sitting here with you right now, I would say it would have to be a cold day in hell for me to relapse on drugs."

Like several members of her famous family, musician Noah Cyrus has been open about her relationship to addiction. While speaking with Rolling Stone, Cyrus detailed an addiction to prescription pills, including Xanax, which got out of control almost before she realized what was happening. "My boyfriend at the time, when I was 18, was the first person that gave me a Xanax, and it became a way for us to bond," she said. Soon, though, she was hooked, doing the drug more than just recreationally. "Once I felt that it was possible to silence things out for a second and numb your pain," she said, "it was over."

"Really, I think it takes hitting complete rock bottom before anything can get better," she mused on "The Zach Sang Show." Cyrus' rock bottom, it turned out, meant suicidal ideation. "There was a specific moment that I kind of just thought to myself, if I don't get help now, you're going to kill yourself ... If you want to be alive, you need to call and get help."

Thankfully, Cyrus is now in recovery. She spoke with Kelly Clarkson for the release of her album "The Hardest Part," explaining that making music was cathartic. She mused, "This album, without a doubt, saved my life." In 2022, she shared that she'd been in recovery for two years. 

If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, needs helps with addiction issues, or is dealing with domestic abuse, contact the following relevant resources:

• Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline​ by dialing 988 or by calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255)​.
• Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
• Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.