Vanity Fair Photoshoot
Miley Cyrus courted controversy in 2008 when she was photographed topless for Vanity Fair by iconic shutterbug Annie Leibovitz.
Miley Cyrus courted controversy in 2008 when she was photographed topless for Vanity Fair by iconic shutterbug Annie Leibovitz.
Cyrus was accused of mocking Asians by making slant-eye poses in a photo with friends that circulated online in 2009. Cyrus later wrote in a posting on her fan site that she wasn't making fun of any ethnicity but was simply making a goofy face.
Then-16-year-old Cyrus ignited controversy again when she performed her hit "Party in the U.S.A." at the 2009 Teen Choice Awards while writhing up and down against a stripper pole on top of an ice-cream cart.
In 2010, Cyrus celebrated her 18th birthday by experimenting with a bong. While it looked like she was smoking marijuana, sources said the "We Can't Stop" singer was actually trying a natural herb called salvia.
The singer released the single "Can't Be Tamed" in 2010, expressing her need to break out and be free through the song. The music video, directed by Robert Hales, shows Cyrus as an exotic bird escaping from a giant cage.
In 2011, the singer, who celebrated her 19th birthday with a Bob Marley cake, said in comments caught on video, "You know you're a stoner when your friends make you a Bob Marley cake."
In 2012, the then-19-year-old Cyrus announced her engagement to Hunger Games actor Liam Hemsworth with a tweet that also said, "life is beautiful." The couple have experienced an on-again, off-again relationship since first meeting on the set of 2009 film The Last Song.
Cyrus tweeted this photo of herself mid-twerk earlier this year. Her dance moves would later show up in the video for "We Can't Stop" and her VMA performance.
This summer Cyrus showed she was no longer the squeaky-clean Disney star from Hannah Montana as she stripped down to crop tops and bodysuits and danced with giant teddy bears.
Cyrus ignited a Twitter frenzy when she performed a racy version of her hit "We Can't Stop" and accompanied Robin Thicke on a duet of "Blurred Lines" at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards. Wearing a furry bustier, Cyrus twerked, grinded, grabbed the rear end of one of her dancers, and touched herself and Thicke suggestively with a foam finger.
Cyrus sported an edgy punk-rock look on the cover of V Magazine earlier this year. The Mario Testino-shot cover features her wearing a pair of black-and-white underwear and a suit jacket without a bra.
Cyrus scored her first Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 with this single on the heels of the buzzy video, in which she appears naked while swinging a wrecking ball and licking a metal hammer, among other R-rated acts. The video also set a 24-hour record on Vevo, racking up 19.3 million views and smashing previous champs One Direction.
Cyrus went topless on the cover of the October 2013 issue of Rolling Stone. Responding to critics of her new image, she told the magazine: "People are like, 'Miley thinks she's a black girl, but she's got the flattest ass ever.' I'm like, I'm 108 pounds! I know!"
At the MTV EMAs in Amsterdam in November, Cyrus lit up a joint while accepting the award for "Wrecking Ball" in the best video category. After being greeted with a standing ovation from some parts of the arena, she said: "I couldn't fit this award in my bag, but I did find this."