Miley Cyrus returned to large-scale live performance Friday, Oct. 16, for a rare full solo concert at the Hollywood Bowl, opening a two-night engagement built around her latest album, Bass Persuades.
The 33-year-old pop star, who now goes by Miley, has spoken openly about the effect live performance can have on her mental health and wellness. She has not mounted a large-scale world tour in nearly a decade, while Friday’s show was her first major concert in four years.
Demand for the event reflected the length of that absence. Approximately 1.5 million people entered the ticket queue for roughly 36,000 seats across the two Hollywood Bowl performances. Friday’s audience was sold out, with Cyrus telling the crowd she was performing for almost 18,000 people that night.
Even amid the excitement, Cyrus did not frame the show as a guaranteed return to regular touring. She acknowledged that she did not know whether she would stage another performance of this size and credited her late godmother, country music icon Dolly Parton, who died earlier this year, as part of her motivation for doing the concerts.
“For me, performance can’t be everything because the curtain closes and the lights go down, and I have to go back home and be happy with who I am,” Cyrus told the audience. She thanked fans for respecting her effort to find a balance that allows her to have “everything that I’ve ever wanted.”
A Career-Spanning Set With Two Surprise Guests
Titled Bass Persuades Live at the Hollywood Bowl, the show began with music from Cyrus’ new album. Her entrance followed one of several black-and-white prerecorded videos in which she addressed the audience directly.
“You will stand on that same stage held by the people, the sound and the desire that’s carried you all the way to your destiny,” Cyrus said in one recorded segment. “And sitting behind you is the rest of your life, but nothing waits forever.”
The 18-song set mixed new material with earlier hits and featured two unexpected guests: Flaming Lips frontman and Cyrus collaborator Wayne Coyne, and her fiancé and fellow collaborator Maxx Morando.
Cyrus delivered the Bass Persuades songs with particular intensity. During some older numbers, including “Party in the USA” and “We Can’t Stop,” the backing track and the audience carried more of the vocals. “The Climb,” her song from the Hannah Montana movie, inspired one of the evening’s loudest responses as the venue sang along.
“Wrecking Ball” was also reworked for the concert, with its familiar transition into the chorus omitted in the new arrangement.
Miley Pays Emotional Tribute to Dolly Parton
The night’s most emotional sequence came when Cyrus honored Parton, whom she often called Aunt Dolly. With the introduction to “Jolene” playing, Cyrus cried while speaking about her godmother and recalled seeing Parton perform at the Hollywood Bowl before singing the song herself.
The tribute continued later during “Wrecking Ball,” which Cyrus identified as Parton’s favorite song. As she performed, Cyrus held a small photograph of Parton in a heart-shaped frame against her chest.
Throughout the show, Cyrus repeatedly thanked the fans who had stayed with her while she reconsidered the place live performance would have in her life.
“I didn’t know that if live performance was going to be a part of my future, if this was something that I wanted to dedicate and devote myself to, because that’s what it really is,” she said. Cyrus also recognized the preparation by the behind-the-scenes team that made the production possible.
Her comments emphasized the contrast between performing at a major venue and finding fulfillment in her everyday life. Cyrus said she had been excited about the Hollywood Bowl appearance throughout the day, but was equally happy about acquiring a new fish.
“Being able to create a life that I get to wake up every day and have those joys that give me meaning and purpose — I’m proud to be a person that those kinds of things bring me just as much joy as performing for almost 18,000 people here tonight,” she told the crowd.
Calling Oct. 16 “a new holiday in my life,” Cyrus described the night as the realization of dreams she had imagined and made real. She also marked two decades alongside her audience, thanking fans for their steadfast support through her “journey,” “evolution” and “metamorphosis.”
ShowBiz Take
The significance of the Hollywood Bowl show went beyond its 18-song set list. After years without a major solo concert, Cyrus used the evening to define live performance on her own terms: meaningful, carefully chosen and balanced against the private life she has worked to build.
That made the concert both a showcase for Bass Persuades and an unusually candid statement about what performing now requires from her. The enormous ticket demand showed that fans remained ready for her return, even as Cyrus made clear that the night should not automatically be read as the beginning of a new touring era.
What Happens Next?
Cyrus will return to the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday, Oct. 18, for the second and final performance of Bass Persuades Live at the Hollywood Bowl. Beyond that show, she has not confirmed whether another concert of this scale will follow.