On Sunday night (Aug. 11), the 2024 Disney Legends Ceremony took place in Anaheim, Calif. and welcomed 14 new members into the prestigious group — including the youngest yet, Miley Cyrus.
Host Ryan Seacrest noted that Cyrus entered the Disney family when she was just 13 years old (she is currently 31) and quickly took the network — and the world — by storm. A highlight reel of Cyrus’ history-making career then played, which included clips from her 2023 Disney+ special Miley Cyrus – Endless Summer Vacation (Backyard Sessions), memorable scenes from Hannah Montana, early interviews and more.
As the reel wrapped, a band glided onto the stage fronted by country superstar Lainey Wilson. “Miley, you might not know this but I am truly one of your biggest fans. My very first job was taking my portable sound system and a wig…and impersonating Hannah Montana,” she recalled. (Wilson talked about the experience in her Billboard cover story). “You inspired me to believe in myself. That I, too, could be an ordinary girl living in an extraordinary world. So on behalf of Hannah Montana fans everywhere, I’d like to dedicate this song to you.”
Wilson then ripped into a passionate cover of the Hannah Montana theme song “The Best of Both Worlds.” She even added a bit of her own present-day observations on lines like, “You go to movie premiers,” swapping out “is that Orlando Bloom?” for “is that Glen Powell?”
After the performance (which Wilson called “a dream come true”), she thanked Cyrus for “never being afraid to step outside the box, always staying true to yourself and most of all for kicking butt, no matter what, girl.”
Cyrus — who was seated alongside her mom Tish in the front row, next to other honorees such as Jamie Lee Curtis, Angela Bassett, Harrison Ford and more — then walked on stage and pulled Wilson into a warm hug. As Cyrus stepped up to the mic, she told the crowd of nearly 20,000 fans, “I am definitely going to cry,” which only warranted an even longer and louder and standing ovation.
“Before we get started,” she continued, “I’m going to let everybody in on a little Disney Legends’ secret — I’m the one that tells you what you’re not supposed to know. And what I want to say is that legends get scared too. I’m scared right now…It’s legendary to be afraid and do it anyway. There’s no such thing as failure when you try.”
Cyrus then unveiled two different speeches she prepared: “One long, if I’m the badass I’m supposed to be. And one short, if I get scared.” (Her speech spanned just over five minutes; needless to say, she chose the badass route.)
“In 2005, Disney was on a mission to rebuild and reimagine the company — that’s why they hired [Disney CEO] Bob Iger and me,” she said with a chuckle, earning a big laugh from the audience. She then recalled the “buzz” in the Burbank office where she auditioned for the role of Hannah Montana many years ago — the same office where, as she joked, “it’s rumored they create all of us Disney kids…I definitely wasn’t created in a lab, but if I was, there must’ve been a bug in the system which caused me to malfunction somewhere between the years of 2013-16.”
Joking aside, Cyrus then detailed a much earlier era in her storied life when she moved from Nashville to Los Angeles to start her career. After sharing how she got the part of Hannah Montana, she recalled her first performance as the fictional star, which took place for free at the Glendale Galleria. “The first song I opened with was titled ‘This Is The Life,’” she said. “Which of course, no one knew. Because in reality I was a little girl in a blonde wig at the mall with a big dream. But in my heart, I was Hannah Montana. And I was so proud to be her.”
“A little bit of everything has changed since that day, but at the same time, nothing has changed at all. I stand here still proud to have been Hannah Montana. Because she made Miley in so many ways. This award is dedicated to Hannah and all of her amazing, loyal fans and to everyone who has made my dream a reality. To quote the legend herself: ‘This is the life.’”