Miley Cyrus at the Disney Legends Awards Ceremony at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event on Aug. 11. The Walt Disney Company
On Sunday night, Miley Cyrus was celebrated as a Disney Legend during a special ceremony at Disney’s D23 fan event in Anaheim. The honor was a nod to her significant impact on the company’s legacy, particularly for her role in the popular Disney Channel series Hannah Montana.
Cyrus, who starred in the show from 2006 to 2011, was among 14 distinguished honorees recognized for their contributions. The event included a performance of Cyrus’s breakout song, “The Best of Both Worlds,” led by Lainey Wilson.
In her acceptance speech, Cyrus admitted she was emotional and had prepared two versions of her speech: one lengthy and bold, the other brief and cautious. “I’m definitely going to cry,” she said, adding with a touch of humor, “In 2005, Disney was on a mission to reinvent itself — that’s why they brought Bob Iger and me on board.” She reminisced about her audition for Hannah Montana, joking about the excitement in Disney’s Burbank office and playfully acknowledging that if she were a creation of Disney, there must have been a glitch in her development around 2013 to 2016.
Reflecting on her early days, Cyrus recounted how she was introduced as a pop star before the public knew who she was. “They handed out tickets at the Glendale mall for my first free concert,” she remembered. “I started with a song called ‘This is the Life,’ which no one knew because I was just a young girl with a big dream in a blonde wig.”
Despite the changes in her life since then, Cyrus expressed that her pride in her role as Hannah Montana remains unchanged. “A lot has changed since that day, but in many ways, nothing has changed at all,” she said. “I’m still proud to have been Hannah Montana because she helped shape who I am today. This award is for Hannah and her dedicated fans, and everyone who has supported my dreams. To quote Hannah Montana, ‘This is the life.’”
Other notable figures honored at the ceremony included Colleen Atwood, Angela Bassett, Martha Blanding, James L. Brooks, James Cameron, Jamie Lee Curtis, Steve Ditko, Harrison Ford, Mark Henn, Frank Oz, Kelly Ripa, Joe Rohde, and John Williams.
