- Trace Cyrus has expressed concern over Billy Ray Cyrus after disastrous inauguration performance
- Miley Cyrus has faced rumours that she and her father are estranged
- The state of the country star’s relationship with his children has often been unclear
Billy Ray Cyrus’s disastrous inauguration ball performance this week has thrown a new light on his relationships with his family.
The country star’s performance was heavily impacted by technical issues. Some fans watching at home wondered at points if he was miming or drunk.
It prompted his son Trace to reach out over Instagram and publicly express concern for his wellbeing.
“Sadly, the man that I wanted so desperately to be just like I barely recognise now,” Trace wrote in an open letter. “It seems this world has beaten you down and it’s become obvious to everyone but you.”
“You may be upset with me for posting this, but I really could care less at this point. Me and the girls have been genuinely worried about you for years but you’ve pushed all of us away.”
“I don’t know what you’re struggling with exactly, but I think I have a pretty good idea, and I’d love to help you if you would open up and receive the help. You know how to reach me. Till that day comes I will continue to pray for you.”
“Everyone close to you is terrified to tell you how they really feel”
However, Trace’s intervention seemed to not have gone as planned. He later claimed in a subsequent Instagram post that Billy Ray had threatened him with legal action.
“I could have been extremely honest about a lot more but I don’t want to put your business out there like that,” he said. “But for you to threaten me with legal action for wanting you to get help is a disgrace. Pappy is looking down at you with such disappointment I can assure you. You should be ashamed of yourself. I will always love you but I no longer respect you as a man. Everyone close to you is terrified to tell you how they really feel. I’m not. Get help.”
Who is in the Cyrus family?
Trace – best known as the frontman of Metro Station – and his older sister Brandi aren’t Billy Ray’s biological children, but he adopted them when he married their mother Tish in 1993.
Miley Cyrus is his most famous sibling and their younger sister Noah is in the public eye too. They have another brother named Braison. Billy Ray also shares a son, Christopher, with his ex-girlfriend Kristin Luckey.
Billy Rae and Tish divorced in 2022 and both have since re-married. However, Billy Ray’s subsequent marriage to Firerose lasted less than a year. Both have accused the other of abuse and both have denied it.
Is Miley estranged from Billy Ray?
Miley has often been asked if she and her father are estranged.
Last year, she told David Letterman (via Billboard): “Yeah. I think what is so beautiful is that my parents, they served their children. My parents served us and sacrificed so much for us. Anything we dreamed of, they made possible.
“I’m grateful for being able to watch him ahead of me. He’s almost given me this map. And there’s a map of what to do and what not to do, and he’s guided me on both […] I also inherited the narcissism from my father.”
Later, she said: “My dad, as a creative and as an artist in the way that his brain works, has always made me feel safer in my own mind because we’re very similar in our ideas.”
“So I think a lot of his perspective on reality and on life, I’ve inherited from him, more so than the way that I was raised – which really, my mom raised me. Honestly, my mom is my hero.”
More recently, however, Page Six reported that Miley hasn’t had a relationship with Billy Ray “for a long time” and has “no interest” in a reconciliation. Nonetheless, she reportedly found his disastrous performance “concerning”.
She notably failed to mention him in her speech accepting her Grammy award last year.
