Miley Cyrus is relishing in a renaissance of her own design as the Disney Channel series that launched her career celebrates its twentieth anniversary, and it’s all thanks to the influence of her beloved godmother, Dolly Parton.
Ahead of the premiere of the Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special next week, the “Flowers” songstress offered a little bit of insight into how it all came together, which involved a whole lot of flying by the seat of her pants, seeing as when she first started teasing “special” plans for the big day, there was absolutely nothing in the works.
It’s a neat trick she learned from the “Jolene” songstress (remember when she manifested Beyonce’s cover of the hit country track?), though Cyrus joked it was a “terrible habit” in a new interview with Variety.
“I actually think it was good advice…from Dolly,” she clarified. “She told me that if you want something to happen, promote it before it exists. Then no one can say no.” She took it to heart and began pushing the project “that literally did not exist,” drawing in her loyal fanbase and building an impressive amount of hype that she was then able to harness in her favor.
She told executives at Disney that the project “would be huge,” sending them fan reactions as proof and “will[ing] it into existence,” as Disney exec Charlie Andrews described it. His job involves building new fandoms for old shows, and his team started working on the anniversary special just a few months ago, launching into a “mad dash” to bring her vision to life.
Now, in addition to the anniversary special airing on Disney+ on March 24—which was filmed in front of a live studio audience and includes an interview with Cyrus and revisits some of the iconic sets from the series—Cyrus has reportedly pulled a bit of a Taylor Swift, with various reports suggesting she’s rerecorded a select few classic Hannah Montana tracks to accompany the special. However, there’s not yet any official word on what songs, nor whether they may become available on streaming—it’s possible they were just performed live during the special.
This story was originally published by Parade on Mar 20, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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