Miley Cyrus explained why her voice changed, and apparently Hannah Montana is to blame

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You may have noticed that Miley Cyrus’ current rock star vocals sound quite different from her pop princess vocals in songs like “Wrecking Ball.”

In particular, her performance at the 2024 Grammys prompted fans to comment on the singer’s current scratchier, deeper tones. One commentator said “Some may disagree, but I think this is one of, if not the BEST, Grammy performance in a very long time.”

In a 2023 podcast episode of Joe Rogan, the star herself said her voice had “definitely changed.”

Why?

In the episode, Miley said she “learned a lot about the voice and how our experiences affect our voice” before revealing that she underwent vocal cord surgery in November 2022.

“I had something called Reinke’s edema,” she revealed in the podcast.

The University of Pittsburgh’s page on the condition shows that women suffer from it more often than men. And although smoking is the most common cause, it can also be caused by “voice overuse.”

“When my doctor told me about it, he said, ‘Nobody who’s shy has this. It’s a form of voice abuse,'” Miley said. “It’s for people who talk way too damn much.”

The University of Pittsburgh writes about the condition: “When the vocal cords are affected by the swelling (which occurs in Reinke’s), they can no longer vibrate normally. This means that the voice sounds different.”

She says her Hannah Montana experience may have contributed to the illness

After sharing that Reinke’s edema usually only appears in the 60s and 70s, the singer said she believes her hectic Hannah Montana schedule may have led to the early development.

“I probably started touring when I was 12 or 13, and the adrenaline you get after a show – it’s not really the singing that affects your voice that much. It’s only after that that you’re fully into it,” Miley commented.

“You stay up all night talking, then talking turned into all night, and now we’re pretty much at that point.”

Miley has previously spoken about the busy schedule she had as a teenager while filming Hannah Montana, referring to the show’s tour on the podcast.

Yet her illness is partly due to her beautiful voice – could we call this the best of both worlds?

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