Lainey Wilson Has a Surprising Connection to Miley Cyrus

Lainey Wilson has forged her own path in country music, but one of his first-ever gigs created a surprising connection to pop icon Miley Cyrus. As she revealed to Taste of Country, Wilson once worked as a Hannah Montana impersonator. “It’s gonna be crazy when I meet Miley and be like, ‘Hey, by the way, I just want to thank you, because girl, I was making some bank in high school!” Wilson said of the experience at the time.

Although she’s certainly come a long way since her impersonator days, Wilson has occasionally shared footage of her Hannah Montana performances for fans. For example, she once posted a throwback TikTok video of herself singing as a teen. As she explained to Taste of Country, she performed several times per weekend, making this high school job surprisingly lucrative. “I need to thank Hannah Montana,” Wilson joked.

Wilson Said She Can’t Listen to a Particular Hannah Montana Song Anymore

Getty

Unsurprisingly, Wilson has listened to a ton of Hannah Montana tunes in her day, and there’s one she admits is now impossible to listen to: “The Best of Both Worlds.” “It’s not because I don’t love the song any more, she explained to The Guardian. “it’s just that I sang it so many times, I’m never going to crank it back up.”

Although she has had her fill of “The Best of Both Worlds,” Wilson shared that she tried to give audiences exactly that as an impersonator. She’d primarily perform as the beloved Disney channel character, but also sneak some of her true identity into the set. “I’d be like, ‘Can Lainey Wilson open the show?'” the singer told Rolling Stone. When a confused event organizer would ask who that was, she’d say: “The person you hired to be Hannah Montana!”

The Singer Once Performed With Cyrus in The Audience

Getty

In a truly full-circle moment, Wilson treated audiences to a performance of “The Best of Both Worlds” at the 2024 Disney Legends ceremony. The stage was much larger than the venues she’d performed the song in as a teen, and there was a very special person in the crowd: Cyrus herself.

Before she started singing, Wilson addressed the “Wrecking Ball” singer in the audience. “Miley you might not know this but I am truly one of your biggest fans,” she said before explaining her early role as an impersonator. “You inspired me to believe in myself that I, too, could be an ordinary girl living in an extraordinary world,” Wilson said.

After sharing that heartfelt message, the “Somewhere Over Laredo” dedicated her version of the infectious Hannah Montana track to Cyrus. The moment was clearly touching for Cyrus, who was moved to tears before Wilson began singing.