Miley Cyrus never forgets her roots, particularly those that have been firmly grounded in the public eye. So it was with a tongue-in-cheek attitude that she honored her Disney Channel years and the show that made her a superstar, Hannah Montana , on the 13th anniversary of the show’s debut on social media.
Cyrus took to both her Instagram Story and Twitter to honor the series, which chronicled the life of a teenaged girl who lived a dual life as a rock star, complete with a blonde wig, sparkly stage clothes, and makeup.
In the Twitter pic, Cyrus shared a black-and-white photo of herself with no makeup, her natural brown hair, an oversized pullover, striped track pants, and a backpack. She was just 13-years-old at the time and leaving Nashville to head to Los Angeles to begin to film the series. Little did she know the global phenomenon she would eventually become when that photo was taken. Cyrus’ likeness would eventually be shared on millions of dollars of merchandise, she would be the star of several successful concert tours, and complete 98 episodes of the Disney Channel series.
Entertainment Tonight reported that Cyrus also shared several screen grabs on her Instagram Story, all from different episodes of the Disney series. She captioned them with several jokes that referenced her reinvention from the sweet persona she was once known for as she morphed into adulthood.
It’s the 13th anniversary of the first HM episode to air pic.twitter.com/81hAQOiEvX
— Miley Cyrus (@MileyCyrus) March 24, 2019
During the period from 2013 through 2017 when she attempted to reinvent her image toward a more adult persona, Cyrus was seen smoking marijuana, becoming involved in a romantic relationship with and subsequently calling off her engagement to Liam Hemsworth, and getting numerous tattoos as a way to publicly share she was now a woman and no longer the child that made her squeaky clean debut in the public eye.
Her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, also shared a photo from the series which starred both Miley and Billy Ray Cyrus, Emily Osment, Mitchel Musso, Jason Earles, and Moises Arias.
The series would also spawn two successful films for Disney: Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus The Best of Both Worlds Concert and Hannah Montana: The Movie .
Premonition pic.twitter.com/wDCwjZAyh9
— Miley Cyrus (@MileyCyrus) March 13, 2019
Guest stars on the series included The Jonas Brothers (who kick-started their career and affiliation with Disney via their one-time guest-starring roles on the series), Dolly Parton (Cyrus’ godmother), Corbin Bleu ( High School Musical series of films), Selena Gomez ( The Wizards of Waverly Place ), Ashley Tisdale ( High School Musical/The Suite Life of Zack and Cody ), Brooke Shields, Heather Locklear, Jesse McCartney, The Rock, Joey Fatone, Sterling Knight, Donny Osmond, Ray Romano, Jay Leno, and Ray Liotta.
Cyrus’ first feature film outside of her Disney contract was an adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ The Last Song , where she would meet her now-husband, Liam Hemsworth. The two tied the knot in December 2018.
