Born on August 25, 1961 in Flatwoods, Kentucky, Billy Ray Cyrus started singing at the age of four in church, where his grandfather was a Pentecostal preacher. He attended college on a baseball scholarship, and soon ventured into music. He began his musical career when he moved to Los Angeles and signed with Mercury Nashville Records, the company responsible for his first album titled Some Gave All. The album carried his first successful single, "Achy Breaky Heart," which helped renew the popularity of line dancing. This single also catapulted Cyrus to worldwide fame as Garth Brooks' competitor. Despite not living up to his first albums' fame, he was still able to release four more albums within six years, including Storm in the Heartland, Trail of Tears, Shot Full of Love and Southern Rain. In 2006, he made a musical comeback with Wanna Be Your Joe and followed it with Home at Last in 2007.
Aside from singing, Cyrus also enjoys acting, and has appeared in a number of television shows. These include The Nanny, Diagnosis Murder, Love Boat: The Next Wave and ABC do!$#!#entaries Dreams Come True and A Year On The Road. In 2001, he played the lead role on the comedy/drama program, Doc. Today, he is most known for his work on the Disney Channel's Hannah Montana, where he plays the father of his real-life daughter, Miley, who plays the titular character. In the highly watched celebrity dance competition, Dancing with the Stars, Cyrus participated with partner Karina Smirnoff. The pair was eliminated in the season's eighth week. He has also been credited as the host of the reality series Nashville Star. Other works of Cyrus’ include Bait Shop, Elvis Has Left the Building, Death and Texas, Wish You Were Dead, and voicework in the animated series Phineas and Ferb.
Despite having a son from a previous relationship, Cyrus married Leticia Finley in December 1992. The mother of two from a previous relationship, she became the mother of Destiny Hope or better known as Miley, Braison Chance and Noah Lindsey.