Billy Ray Cyrus on Friday announced a new album in the wake of his lackluster performance at the post-inauguration Liberty Ball and amid family drama heightened by new input from his most recent ex-wife.
Two days after Cyrus faltered through his two-song inaugural set in Washington, D.C., his son Trace Cyrus sounded an alarm about the musician. Then on Thursday, the “Achy Break Heart” singer’s ex-wife Firerose backed up Trace’s remarks in public comments of her own.
Just as he did with his Liberty Ball appearance, Billy Ray Cyrus appeared to minimize those concerns Friday when he announced that his next album would be produced by son Braison. Earlier this week, representatives for Billy Ray declined to comment on the family concerns.
“This is art imitating life, imitating art,” the two-time Grammy Award winner said Friday in a statement. “It starts and ends with art. Braison is very talented and [2025] is his year. I’m glad to be a part of it. This record is gonna be special. I’m gearing up for what will be the journey of a lifetime.”
Firerose’s recent thoughts came in response to Trace Cyrus’ open letter, posted Wednesday on social media, in which he said that his family — which also includes Trace’s younger sisters, pop stars Miley Cyrus and Noah Cyrus, and older sister Brandi Cyrus — was “genuinely worried” about the “Achy Breaky Heart” singer. Trace said he could “barely recognize” his father as the man he once idolized, and that he and his sisters have been concerned for years. He claimed that the patriarch had “pushed all of us away.”
“You’re not healthy Dad & everyone is noticing it,” he wrote, adding, “I hope you realize this message only comes from a place of love and also fear that the world may lose you far too soon.”
On Thursday, Billy Ray Cyrus’ ex-wife Firerose echoed some of those sentiments, telling Page Six that “what’s being seen in public now reflects much” of what she experienced in private during their relationship, which ended abruptly amid allegations of abuse and fraud.
“It’s very sad to see those same struggles continue for him, but I’m glad the truth is coming to light — for his potential good because healing is only possible when you confront the truth and accept there’s a problem,” she told the outlet.
Cyrus and Firerose, who met in the early 2000s while working on Disney Channel’s “Hannah Montana” and kindled a relationship years later, announced their engagement in November 2022 and wed in October 2023. They revealed they were divorcing less than a year later, and the messy dissolution was settled last August after more than a month of tension. Cyrus has since characterized the marriage as a “crazy insane scam.”
But Braison Cyrus said in the Friday statement about the upcoming record that he had spent the last year getting to know his father better, hearing stories, jokes and songs that others have not.
“It’s an opportunity to tell my dad’s story through music, and I’m fortunate to be able to take it,” he said. “Music, stories and family are the most important things to my dad, so to bring the two together is a full-circle endeavor.”
Then in an Instagram story, Braison revealed that his father spent a week in the hospital in the fall: “I’m grateful that my dad is happy, healthy and ready to make this record,” he wrote. “It’s a rare opportunity to make something this special and tell my dad’s story through music. Can’t wait to finally share it.”
The as-yet-untitled record is set for release this summer via Roam Man Productions and will be distributed by indie label Empire. It will feature songs co-written by father and son. Although Billy Ray Cyrus has released several standalone singles in recent years — including an “Old Town Road” remix with Lil Nas X and a few songs with Firerose — the upcoming album will be his first since the 2019 release of “The SnakeDoctor Circus.”
Cyrus shares five children with ex-wife Tish Cyrus-Purcell, whom he was married to from 1993 to 2022: Trace and Brandi, whom he adopted after Tish had them with her first husband, Baxter Neal Helson; plus Miley, Braison and Noah, the kids they had together. He is also the father of Christopher Cody, whom he welcomed with ex-girlfriend Kristin Luckey in 1992.
Times staff writer Alexandra Del Rosario contributed to this report.
