Miley Cyrus is thankful to have Beyoncé as one of her closest pals in the music industry.
“Sometimes I forget to talk about things that are a normal part of my day-to-day, like texting with Beyoncé,” Cyrus, 31, said in an interview with W magazine published on Monday, June 3. “I think it’s a really cute part of our relationship, because over the past couple of years I’ve really locked down on my privacy and on what I share with the public. She’s the same way.”
Cyrus explained that one of the biggest parts of her friendship with Beyoncé, 42, is the “safety” they feel when they connect over matters outside of the industry. The former Disney star shared that she loves that both her and Beyoncé’s “personas” have a relationship but behind closed doors they share something more personal.
“One of the things that we text about is our relationships with our mothers,” she reflected. “Like her mom, Ms. Tina, my mom is also an M.T.: Mama Tish. A lot of people call her Mom, in the way that Ms. Tina is almost not just a mother to Beyoncé, but to Beyoncé’s fans as well.”
The “Flowers” singer shared that she and Beyoncé bonded over having their moms in their corners at the start of their respective careers.
“Both of us grew up, in our own way, with moms who were everything,” she said. “My mom was my makeup, hair, seamstress, styling, tour manager — like, the actual manager. The word ‘mother’ is the most all-encompassing word. The mother can be RuPaul; the mother can be Beyoncé. Our fans call us ‘mother.’”
Cyrus first met Beyoncé when she was a teenager as they both performed at the star-studded Stand Up to Cancer benefit in 2008. In addition to Beyoncé and Cyrus, Rihanna, Carrie Underwood, Nicole Scherzinger and more also took the stage to sing “Just Stand Up!” during the charity event.
“I was sandwiched between Beyoncé and Rihanna, who were, you know, five-feet-ten inches and in heels. Their hips were, like, up to my shoulders,” Cyrus recalled. “They were these powerful, fully realized, grown women, and I’m pretty sure I had braces on the back of my teeth. They were protective of me.”
After meeting at the show, Beyoncé and Cyrus kept in touch. Cyrus shared that as she grew up, the “Texas Hold Em” singer gifted her some touching presents over the years, including a personalized House of Deréon jacket.
Nearly two decades later, Cyrus linked up again with Beyoncé to collaborate on her country music album Cowboy Carter. The pair dueted on the track “II Most Wanted,” which they cowrote together. Cyrus revealed that she had written the song about “two and a half years ago” but never did anything with it, despite it being one of her mom’s favorites.
“So when Beyoncé reached out to me about music, I thought of it right away because it really encompasses our relationship,” she said. “I told her, ‘We don’t have to get country; we are country. We’ve been country.’ I said, ‘You know, between you being from Texas and me being from Tennessee, so much of us is going to be in this song.’ Getting to write a song, not just sing, for Beyoncé was a dream come true.”
