Moms & Babies - People.com » Billy Ray Cyrus

Billy Ray Cyrus on fatherhood and being outnumbered by girls

cbbauthor — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 06:38:22 +0000

Billy Ray Cyrus, 46, recently opened up to OK! about working with hisdaughter Miley, 14, on her hit show Hannah Montana and being dad to hislarge family that includes his and wife Leticia "Tish" Finley‘s otherchildren, son Braison, 13, and daughter Noah, 7; Billy’s sonChristopher Cody, 15, from a previous relationship; and Tish’s twochildren, Brandi, 20, and Trace, 18, from a previous relationship.

Click below for the highlights.

On being a good dad: "My definition of being a father is being a bestfriend; that’s what my dad was to me and that’s what I’ve tried to befor my kids. I’m really good at teaching them to ride motorcycles, sitby a campfire and roast marshmallows. I’m really good at opencommunication, whether they’ve got problems or just want to celebratethings they’re proud of. I’m a really good listener. I’m a little bitdifferent than the ‘normal dad.’ I try to use a little more psychology."

On working with Miley: "What Miley and I do on HannahMontana is almost exactly what we do with me being her daddy in reallife. I think one of the hooks of the show is the realism between Mileyand myself. We love it."

On his other children entering show business: "My little girl Noah hasdone several episodes of Hannah Montana. If she wants to be an actress,I think she’s got the chops to do it. She’s reptty much a littlenatural."

On music running in the family: "We all love music. It’s been in my family for years.Fortunately I inherited that ability to sit down and play music and sohave the kids."

On giving Miley advice: "My advice to Miley is to have fun, enjoy the ride,be happy and don’t let the business crap overshadow the fact of why youdo what you do. If you ain’t having fun, it’s not working. My dadalways said, ‘If you do what you love for a living, then you neverhave to work a day in your life.’"

On being there for Miley: "I’ll be there through thick and through thin; Iwant to be her best friend. I want to be the person she comes to forhelp when she makes that mistake. And trust me, it’s very possible thatI’m going to make a mistake and have to go tell her about it. You needfriends and people who love you."

On feeling outnumbered by girls: "No, no. Well, heck, I’m lying. Yeah, all the time!"

Source: OK! Magazine, October 15 issue, pg 32-33

Miley Cyrus' home life

cbbauthor — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 18:45:12 +0000

Hannah Montana star Miley Cyrus, 14, is the newest teen phenom,but her parents, Billy Ray and Leticia ("Tish"), are making sure thefame and success won’t go to her head. More than aware of the harshside effects of stardom, Billy Ray and Tish are trying to keep theirdaughter as grounded as possible, they tell People magazine in itslatest cover story, often using the troubles of Lindsay Lohan, BritneySpears and Paris Hilton as cautionary tales. Says Tish:

I’m like, ‘Paris is in jail, Miley! It’s so scary as a mom tosee all these kids who are so whacked now. I don’t want to be too muchand have her rebel. Not that we think she’s going to do that, but Mileydoes have a very explosive personality, which scares me a little.

So far, though, Miley’s still the same little girl they know and love, Billy Ray says.

The biggest phenomenon in all this is that the kid’s been able tokeep her head on her shoulders. She hasn’t flipped out. I’m going toknock on wood. I pray every day she can stay on that path.

Click below for the rest of the interview (including Miley’s monthly allowance and why she can’t use credit cards) and more photos!

At home, Miley maintains as much of a normal life as she can. Shestill has her share of chores to do around the house, which includesloading the dishwasher every night, and she’s not exempt frompunishment either – computer privileges are revoked when she’sgrounded. She still gets allowance ($300 per month) and doesn’t haveany credit cards, especially after purchasing a Prada bag withoutasking her parents.

On Sundays, she attends church with the rest of her family, whichincludes, brother Braison, 13, and sister Noah, 7, Tish’s children froma previous relationship, Brandi, 20, Trace, 18 – whom Billy Ray adopted- and Christopher Cody, 15, Billy Ray’s son from a previousrelationship. But knowing how stressful her life can be, her parentshave given Miley a private section of their new L.A. home where she can"chill out" if Miley promises to live at home until she’s 20.

While many teenagers can’t wait to move out, Miley doesn’tanticipate that to be true for herself any time soon as she thesinger/actress is just too close to her family, especially dad, who is"best friends" with all of his kids.

We’re really close. I feel like I can tell my dad anything. Whenwe come home, we forget that we even work together and just hang out.

Speaking of work, Billy Ray normally wakes Miley up at 7:15 with acup of Ovaltine before driving to the Hannah Montanaset for their 8:30call time, but one day, Billy Ray was nowhere to be found in the house.Miley called him, who was surprised to learn she wasn’t with Tish. Heinsists he didn’t forget her, but just thought she hitched a ride withmom. When Miley threatened to make him "look like an idiot" in front ofthe cast and crew, Billy Ray responded with,

Well, I don’t need your help!

Source: People, July 2 issue, pg 72-76

Billy Ray and Miley Cyrus are "best friends"

cbbauthor — Wed, 02 May 2007 18:05:28 +0000

Hannah Montana star Miley Cyrus admits she first had reservations ofher father Billy Ray playing her dad on the show, but now shewouldn’t have it any other way. The 14-year-old says it feels natural to play father and daughter and loves working with him.

[At first] I was like, ‘Oh, great.This is going to be really, really weird.’ Now when we get in fights,I’m just stuck with him at work. But after like two weeks, it felt likehow it was supposed to be. I don’t think anything could have beeneasier on us because it makes our jobs really natural. I love beingwith my dad. He’s my best friend. I hate when I hear cheesy answersfrom people, but seriously, it’s not, like, a fake thing.

Miley loves working with Billy Ray so much that all she does is talk about him, which grates her friends at times.

All my friends are always about to smack me because all I do is talk about my dad.

She has every reason to be a proud daughter as Billy Ray competes on Dancing with the Stars, which Miley attends every week.

I love bringing my friends to the show so I can show off my daddy a little bit.

Source: Boston Herald

Teen daughter of country star Billy Ray Cyrus tops pop charts

cbbauthor — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 07:00:00 +0000

Your kids may know her as Disney’s Hannah Montana, but to her parents, she is just plain ole Miley Cyrus, daughter of Billy Ray Cyrus, the crooner behind the mega country hit, "Achy Breaky Heart." This past week, 13-year-old Miley declared herself a star by topping the U.S. Billboard pop charts with the soundtrack to her hit show.

Her album sold more than 280 thousand copies, making it the highest selling first week for a soundtrack since last November. It also holds the spot as the fourth top ten for Disney this year.

Source: AOL News

Thanks to CBB Reader Mary Beth!