Billy Ray Cyrus photo courtesy of Walt Disney Records.
Billy Ray Cyrus' 2007 CD, Home At Last. Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Records.
August 1, 2007 — It was an announcement that would have had his legion of fans in dire need of smelling salts and something soft to land on. Billy Ray Cyrus was ready to give up music.
Now hold on. With the incredible success of his Disney Channel series "Hannah Montana," starring his teenage daughter Miley Cyrus, you can understand why Billy Ray's music might spend time in the backseat while acting takes a turn. After all, it's happened before, when the multi-talented Billy Ray starred for five seasons as a countrified-M.D. in the popular PAX series "Doc."
But give up music completely? It seems the release of his last album, 2006's Wanna Be Your Joe, was a turning point for the singer.
"I felt like with Joe, I had done everything I wanted to do," he says. "It was such a fun record, I thought, 'I'll just stop here.'"
To understand what an important decision this was for Billy Ray, one must realize how long music has been a part of the man's life. There was the cultural quake he set off in 1992 with "Achy Breaky Heart" and his record-smashing, nine-times-platinum debut album, Some Gave All. There was the 20-year-old dreamer who spent a decade bruising his knuckles on doors in Nashville before the right one finally opened. Looking even further back, there was the four-year-old boy in Flatwoods, Ky., singing in his father's gospel choir.
Even in the years after the stratospheric success of Some Gave All, when an "Achy Breaky" backlash took effect, Billy Ray was able to ignore the negativity, finding solace in creating songs. However, that was all in his past, and Billy Ray seemed ready to embrace a future without music in his life — until he had to rent a trailer.
"The pilot for 'Hannah Montana' had been picked up by Disney, and the family began a move to California," remembers Billy Ray. "I had to stay back in Nashville and take care of some loose ends. Watching the family drive down the driveway, pulling that U-Haul...I thought I was ready for it until I actually saw them driving away."
At that point, Billy Ray's songwriting instincts kicked in and before he knew it, he was inside the house strumming his guitar and writing "Ready, Set, Don't Go," a song that would be the catalyst for his 10th CD and Walt Disney Records debut, Home At Last, released July 24.
"What the whole album encompasses for me, is a man satisfied and completely content with being the father figure," explains Billy Ray. "I try to be there for the kids — talk to them, relate to them — both on the show and in real life."
Billy Ray's role as a mentor is apparent in the material he has chosen for the new CD. In addition to the Dad not ready to say good-bye in "Ready, Set, Don't Go," he ponders the speed of life in the poignant "Flying By," and a love of family in the bluegrass-tinged "My Everything."
Home At Last also has the singer's take on several pop standards, including "Brown-Eyed Girl," "You've Got A Friend," and an eyebrow raising (in a good way) version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." Billy Ray is fully aware this could be the first time these classic songs will be heard by a generation that was not even born when "Achy Breaky Heart" was blowing up the charts, and he seems rejuvenated by the notion.
"I went out on tour last summer and saw all the enthusiasm from these young fans," remembers Cyrus. "It was contagious. I thought, 'There are people out there that want to listen to what you have to say.'"
Don't think for a second, though, he's forgetting his diehard followers. "I know the fans that have been with me through the years are interested in seeing me go outside the norm," says Cyrus. "But they'll find a lot of the songs are straight down the pike of what I've always done."
When asked if this might be last album, Billy Ray chuckles. "As long as there is somebody to listen," he says, "I'll keep making music."
And with a new generation of fans discovering "Hannah's Dad" can sing, too, Billy Ray just might be a busy man for years to come.
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