The artist has dropped “Cyrus” from her professional identity and is ushering in a new era with “Bass Persuades,” a song and music video that preview her tenth album. The album will be released on September 18 and blends dance-pop, post-punk, ’80s synths, and collaborations as unexpected as Model/Actriz.
For twenty years, we’ve come to know her as Miley Cyrus.
From Hannah Montana to Flowers.
From Disney to Bangerz.
From the country music of his family’s roots to glam rock, pop, psychedelic rock, and electronic music.
Now he wants us to forget part of the name.
Cyrus disappears.
That leaves us with simply:
Miley.
And it doesn’t seem like just a cosmetic change.
The artist has just released “Bass Persuades, ” the first single and title track from her tenth studio album, accompanied by a music video directed by photographer and filmmaker Mert Alas.
The album, also titled *Bass Persuades*, will be released on September 18 via Atlantic.
Two weeks before the event, it’s already clear that this isn’t just another launch.
We are facing a new identity.
Miley Cyrus no longer wants to be called Miley Cyrus
The first reaction came even before I heard a song.
Miley removed “Cyrus” from her public profiles and began introducing herself professionally as simply Miley, joining that small pop elite who can afford to go by just one name.
Cher.
Madonna.
Prince.
Beyoncé.
And now, Miley.
The Los Angeles Times confirmed that the artist had removed her last name from her social media accounts to coincide with the announcement of *Bass Persuades*, making the name change her first statement marking this new chapter.
It’s hard not to see some symbolism in that.
For much of his career, “Cyrus” meant family.
Billy Ray Cyrus.
Nashville.
Country.
Disney.
Hannah Montana.
A story that predates Miley as an adult.
Having it professionally removed almost seems like a way of saying:
From here on out, it’s just me.
His father has already responded
As was to be expected, the change sparked speculation about the relationship between Miley and Billy Ray Cyrus.
But his father has responded publicly in support of the decision.
Billy Ray explained that he sees the use of a single name as a natural evolution for an artist of her stature and cited figures such as Cher, Dolly Parton, and Prince.
That turns the supposed family drama into something that’s probably more interesting:
an artistic identity project.
Miley Cyrus was a brand that had been built over two decades.
Miley wants to be something else.
And the first song of that new life is called, in fact, “Bass Persuades.”
“Bass Persuades”—and if nobody’s dancing, why are we even here?
The new single doesn’t take long to make its point clear.
It starts with an invitation:
to move.
Dance.
Stop staring at the screen.
Remember that music can also be felt physically.
The song blends dance-pop, ’80s-style synthesizers, and a certain post-punk edge, underpinned by a bassline that serves as the song’s central theme. Pitchfork has described it precisely as a blend of pop and post-punk, while NME highlights its pulsating synth line and dance-floor orientation.
The concept can be summed up in a rather powerful idea:
“The bass is persuasive.”
There’s no need to convince you.
The bassist will do it.
Miley has a problem with our phones
But beneath the hedonism lies a subtle cultural critique.
Miley sings about a generation that seems to have lost some of its drive to dance.
To go out.
To put your cell phone down for a moment.
To let the body do something that can’t be measured in likes.
The release itself has been interpreted as a response to that growing disconnect from the dance floor: a song that invites listeners to stop doomscrolling and return to collective movement.
It’s a curiously contemporary idea.
We are surrounded by music more than ever before.
But perhaps we’re listening to it in a way that’s becoming less and less physical.
Headphones.
TikTok.
Stories.
Fifteen-second clips.
Algorithms.
“Bass Persuades” seems to ask:
What if we just start dancing again?
The video turns a New York club into a small nighttime revolution
And that’s where the music video comes in.
Directed by Mert Alas, a regular contributor to the fashion world who is also responsible for Miley’s new visual image, the video transports the song to a New York poker club that has been transformed into an impromptu dance floor.
The aesthetic plays with leather, bodies, shadows, eroticism, and club culture.
Pitchfork explicitly highlights the influence of leather culture, while Variety describes the video as a dance-floor revolution built around Miley’s new chapter
Visually, it makes sense.
The concept behind the album is about letting yourself be swept away by the music.
The video does exactly that.
A room.
People standing still.
Miley walks in.
The bass begins.
And the space is transformed.
The Big Change After *Something Beautiful*
What’s surprising is the speed.
Something Beautiful was released as recently as 2025.
That album showcased a Miley who was interested in conceptual performances, cinematic imagery, and a vision of pop music that was increasingly free of genre constraints.
Then there were more changes.
A deluxe edition featuring collaborations with David Byrne and Lindsey Buckingham.
An original song for Avatar: Fire and Ash by James Cameron.
And the Hannah Montana 20th-anniversary special.
Many artists would have considered that enough to last several years.
Miley has decided to start over.
And now, a model/actress appears
Perhaps the most interesting detail about the new tracklist is actually one of its collaborators.
The second song on the album, “Different Religion, ” features a model/actress.
For anyone who follows American alternative music, the name immediately catches the eye.
Model/Actress is part of New York’s most edgy art-punk scene.
The fact that they appear on a Miley album suggests that Bass Persuades might be quite a bit less conventional than their initial pop sound would lead one to believe. Pitchfork has already confirmed their participation.
The collaboration also fits in with the post-punk element that’s already present in the title track.
Miley has been saying one thing quite clearly for years:
He cares less about the musical genre than he does about the song.
Andrew Wyatt is also back on the scene
Another notable collaboration appears on “Neon Signs, ” featuring Andrew Wyatt of Miike Snow.
Wyatt isn’t exactly a stranger in Miley’s world.
Producer.
Composer.
Musician.
One of those figures who appears time and again behind some of the most ambitious pop productions of recent decades.
Her presence links Bass Persuades to a tradition of sophisticated pop that Miley knows inside and out.
The official Spotify tracklist confirms both collaborations.
The 10 Songs by Bass Persuades
Miley’s tenth album will feature ten tracks:
- Bass Persuades
- Different Religion feat. Model/Actress
- Let’s Get Married
- Orbit
- Aftermath
- REDLIGHTS
- Neon Signs featuring Andrew Wyatt of Miike Snow
- Innocent Ways
- Snow
- Bass Persuades Remixx
It’s a compact album.
And perhaps the titles of some of the songs already give us a glimpse into part of his emotional landscape.
Marriage.
Religion.
Consequences.
Innocence.
Snow.
Red lights.
Orbit.
Miley herself has described the album as revolving around the emotional contradictions in music: strength and vulnerability, sweetness and pain, falling in love and heartbreak.
“Bass Persuades” also seems to be about love
That’s important.
Because Miley isn’t presenting this album solely as a collection intended for the club.
People describes the album as a multi-layered love story that reflects how Miley now views relationships and her own identity.
That would explain why a song that seems to be written for dancing might also be about giving up.
Not necessarily in front of someone else.
When faced with an emotion.
Facing a song.
Faced with something the body understands before the mind does.
There’s also one huge absence, and that’s Dolly Parton
The release comes following the recent death of Dolly Parton, Miley’s godmother and one of the most influential figures in her personal and musical life.
Miley posted a particularly heartfelt tribute remembering her and talking about the influence she had on her. The news also came out very close to the announcement of Bass Persuades.
That inevitably adds another layer of meaning to the album.
Because Miley has described *Bass Persuades* as an album about everything that music is capable of encompassing.
Joy.
Pain.
Love.
Loss.
Continue.
And few weeks could better illustrate that contradiction.
After “Flowers,” Miley no longer has anything to prove
There is another fundamental difference compared to previous stages.
Miley arrives at Bass Persuades after achieving what is likely the greatest commercial and critical success of her adult career with “Flowers.”
The song earned her her first Grammys as a lead artist in 2024 and finally cemented something that had taken years to happen:
that the conversation about Miley Cyrus would finally stop being dominated by Hannah Montana.
She would also go on to win a Grammy alongside Beyoncé for “II Most Wanted” in the Country Duo/Group Performance category.
That’s why he can now afford to do something interesting.
Change it again.
Two Nights at the Hollywood Bowl
The new season will also feature a special live presentation.
Miley will perform at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on October 16 and 18, 2026. Ticketmaster has confirmed both dates and has also listed the model/actress on the lineup.
It’s not a tour yet.
There are two concerts.
But they do seem designed to serve as a formal introduction to this new Miley.
And there’s something quite perfect about the fact that it’s happening just a month after the album’s release.
Hannah Montana turned 20. Miley decided to start over.
Perhaps the coincidence is even too perfect.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of Hannah Montana.
It’s been twenty years since that blonde girl with a double identity.
Miley even put her wig back on to celebrate the anniversary.
And right after looking back…
Remove the last name.
Change the image.
He announces an album.
She’s releasing a song about dancing again.
It’s almost like coming full circle.
Hannah Montana needed two names because she had two lives.
Miley seems to want to stick with just one now.
Goodbye, Miley Cyrus
Name changes in pop music are rarely purely administrative.
Prince turned his into a symbol.
Madonna made her last name unnecessary.
Beyoncé made it so that just her name was enough.
Now Miley seems to understand that twenty years of popular culture have had the same effect on hers.
No one needs to ask which Miley.
We know exactly who he is.
On September 18, we’ll find out if Bass Persuades lives up to that claim.
For now, we have a name.
A bass.
A club.
A video.
And a singer who looks out at a dance floor full of motionless people and asks an extraordinarily simple question:
If we’re not going to do anything, why did we come here?
Miley Cyrus has disappeared.
Miley has just started all over again.
