Taylor Swift, whose recent album announcement, record-breaking world tour, and appearance at the Super Bowl to support partner Travis Kelce got everyone talking, is having a bit of a moment right now ― as is Miley Cyrus, the former Hannah Montana star who recently stole the show with her performance at the Grammys.
But you might not realise is that the two are linked in a suitably musical manner.
Taylor, who signed her first record deal aged just 14, is only three years older than Miley, whose first season of Hannah Montana aired when she was only 13.
And it turns out that Taylor was involved in the show behind the scenes, too.
How?
Taylor, who has written songs for other artists in the past (like Calvin Harris and Rihanna’s This Is What You Came For), also wrote a song for Hannah Montana.
In the 2009 Hannah Montana film, the song You’ll Always Find Your Way Back Home shines as a country bop ― and was written by none other than Taylor (who would have been 19 or 20 when the movie came out).
Taylor collaborated with songwriter Martin Johnson to write the song ― with whom she also worked on the Speak Now cut If This Was A Movie.
The You Belong With Me star also made a cameo appearance in Hannah Montana: The Movie, and Miley came on stage with Taylor during the latter’s first-ever Grammys performance.
So wait ― are Miley and Taylor friends?
Well, they seemed happy to perform together back in the late 2000s. “Our personalities are different so it works,” Taylor said of their Grammys collab at the time, to which Miley added: “And our voices.”
The two also shared a hug in a video of the performance.
Later, when Miley was catching heat for her infamous 2013 VMA performance, Taylor jumped to her defence.
“Honestly, I think that I cheer on anybody who is living their life on their own terms and wearing what they want to wear and representing what they want to represent,” she told Tout Le Monde En Parle.
“I think that no other female artist should be able to tell me to wear less clothes and I’m not gonna tell any other female artist to wear more clothes.”
However, in a 2015 New York Times article, Miley seemed to claim she didn’t want to be a part of Taylor’s A-list friend group.
“I’m not trying to be in the squad,” she said at the time. “None of my friends are famous and not because of any other reason than I just like real people who are living real lives, because I’m inspired by them.”
And, speaking about Taylor’s Bad Blood music video the following year, Miley told Marie Claire: “I don’t get the violence revenge thing. That’s supposed to be a good example? And I’m a bad role model because I’m running around with my titties out? I’m not sure how titties are worse than guns.“
However, there have been no real comments from either star about the other since ― Taylor and Miley were both at the 2024 Grammys, and Taylor clapped enthusiastically when Miley won Best Pop Solo Performance for Flowers over her also-nominated Anti-Hero.
So basically, we don’t know. But we DO know that You’ll Always Find Your Way Back Home is an eternal bop.