Miley Cyrus Says Her Father Billy Ray Was Moved to Tears When She Gave Him the Song “Secrets” Following Their Estrangement: “It’s Rare to See Your Dad Cry”
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The singer revealed that she wrote the track for her father and gave it to him as a “peace offering” on his birthday.
Miley Cyrus Says Her Dad Billy Ray Cried When She Gave Him the Song “Secrets” as a Birthday Peace Offering
Miley Cyrus says she doesn’t often see her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, cry — but that changed on his birthday this year.
In September, the 32-year-old released her new single, “Secrets,” dedicating the heartfelt track to her dad. Miley has described the song as a “peace offering,” following years of rumored estrangement between the two. The gesture clearly touched the Achy Breaky Heart singer, who broke down in tears upon receiving it.
During an interview that aired October 5 on CBS News Sunday Morning, correspondent Tracy Smith asked Miley how her dad reacted when she gave him the song as a birthday gift for his 64th in August.
“My dad cried,” Miley said, noting how unusual it was to see that side of him. “Everyone I tell that to says, ‘I remember when my dad cried.’ You don’t see your dad cry a lot — and when you do, you remember it, whether it’s happy tears or painful ones. I don’t think I’ve seen my dad cry since his dad passed away.”
The emotional ballad features Fleetwood Mac legends Lindsey Buckingham and Mick Fleetwood, and Miley admitted that creating and sharing it stirred up “mixed emotions.”
“There are things that, for us — me and my dad — we just kind of moved forward from,” she explained. “We didn’t feel like we needed a big conversation, because we’ve always communicated better through music. Once he got the song, it said something in a few minutes that would’ve taken another family multiple therapy sessions to work through.”
Instead of traditional therapy, Miley said, they’ve always relied on “studio sessions.” “We just send a song and say, ‘I love you,’” she shared. “That’s peaceful for us. I don’t think there should be judgment in how people make peace. For us, music has always been our way.”
She went on to describe how their father-daughter relationship has long been grounded in musical communication. “Half the time, we don’t even say things like ‘good morning’ or ‘how are you,’” Miley said with a laugh. “We just send each other songs. My dad’s figured out YouTube now, so he’s constantly sending me music links — and that’s how we connect.”
Billy Ray later confirmed those sentiments in an Instagram post, where he paired an old photo of him and Miley with their emotional 2009 duet, “Butterfly Fly Away.”
“One great song can do more for the soul than a million therapy sessions,” he wrote in the caption. “I agree! Music changes everything!! 🎶”
On his birthday, August 25, the proud father publicly thanked Miley for her touching gift, posting a video of himself listening to “Secrets.” “For my birthday, Miley gave me the gift of music,” he wrote. “She wrote me a song called Secrets and got my favorite musicians, Fleetwood Mac, to play on it! I love you, Mile ❤️.”