Miley Cyrus reveals why she changed her name

If you weren’t aware, Miley Cyrus made the decision as a young child to legally change her name.

While she goes by Miley now, when she was born her parents gave her the name Destiny Hope Cyrus. Now she’s revealing the meaning behind her given name and why she changed it to Miley.

“It’s a big shoe to fill,” Miley admitted, revealing her parents, Billy Ray and Tish Cyrus, “thought it was my destiny to bring hope to the world.”

“That’s lovely,” David Letterman responded, “but a lot to load on a kid.”

While Miley agreed, she did admit that “it set an intention” for her life at the very beginning, “which we don’t always have.”

“It is lovely. It is a lot,” she said.

Nonetheless, regardless of her name, Miley was destined to be a star.

With her father being Billy Ray Cyrus and her godmother being Dolly Parton, Miley couldn’t lose.

During her conversation with Letterman, Miley also opened up about her relationship with Dolly, revealing that she’s been in her life since before she could remember.

Miley said that although she wants to keep much of their relationship “sacred,” Parton “isn’t afraid to have the tough conversations.”

Prior to her still-talked about Grammys performance, Miley admitted she almost didn’t attend. But after talking through it with Dolly, Miley changed her mind.

“A tough conversation I had with her: I told her, ‘I’m wondering if I’m going to do the Grammys or not.’ And she said, ‘Well of course you’re going to do the Grammys, and you’re not just going to show up but you’re going to show off. And you’re going to be everything that you are sitting right here in front of me.’”

“And she said, ‘And don’t forget about the beauty. The hair, the makeup, the whole show. It’s armor for us,'” Miley continued. “She’s always said this to me: ‘You do you, and I’ll do me, and together we’ll be us.’ So she wasn’t telling me to be Dolly, she wasn’t telling me to be fabulous and hide behind the sparkles and the hair. She was telling me to be me.”

And that’s exactly what she did.

Not only did her performance conclude with a standing ovation but she also won her first two Grammys.

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