Noah Cyrus on ‘cancel culture’
Singer Noah Cyrus opens up about growing up with a famous sister, the rise of cancel culture and why she’s still deathly afraid of spiders – despite her new spider tattoo.
Stellar
Don't miss out on the headlines from Stellar. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Deborra-lee Furness: ‘I don’t want to be judged as Mrs Jackman’
- Why Elizabeth Gilbert knows what her obituary will say
Singer Noah Cyrus opens up about growing up with a famous sister, the rise of cancel culture and why she’s still deathly afraid of spiders – despite her new spider tattoo.
You’ve been working since you were two years old, performing alongside your father Billy Ray Cyrus and sister Miley Cyrus. Showbiz is obviously your family’s legacy, but has there ever been a point when you considered turning to a different vocation?
So many times! I started doing films and some television work, and then I honestly wanted nothing to do with the entertainment business until I became a singer.
Social media – and in particular Twitter – has what’s known as “cancel culture”, wherein there is active and very vocal encouragement to drop support for or aggressively try to derail an artist’s career, for any number of reasons. Is this something you’ve experienced?
Oh yeah, absolutely. I don’t understand why fans don’t want people to support other artists. Apparently in this world you can only support one artist, or that artist’s fans hate you. I love all genres of music; it’s crazy that this goes on, and it’s crazy that I get so much heat from that.
How much have you been affected by growing up in the spotlight?
You know what? No matter what you say or do, there’s going to be somebody saying some sh*t. People just like to go after me. They’ve done that since I was so young. Why me? One of the biggest questions I’ve ever wondered is why do people hate me so much?
As a kid I felt like the part of society that knew about me, before I even put out any music, had hatred for me. It was just really, really sad to grow up with those feelings.
Would you say it’s a blessing or a curse to have such a famous family?
There are definitely elements of both, but I’m lucky for the family I have. What I just talked about would be the cons of it all.
MORE STELLAR
EXCLUSIVE Ben Fordham: ‘I’m asking for trouble’
Why Carrie Bickmore is already missing iso
What are the overriding themes of your new EP The End of Everything?
Everything that happened in my life came together on this EP so well; it’s personal to me. When I was mentally unhealthy, a major contributing factor was because I wasn’t putting out the music I wanted. I felt like I needed to make the bosses happy; I was this young girl that was new in the music industry.
But now people actually hear me when I’m talking and understand my ideas. My lyrics are the most important thing to me and I really feel connected to all of these songs. Like ‘July’ – it’s such a personal one for me because it’s a glimpse into a relationship I was in for a very long time.
Towards the end of last year, you acquired a couple of new tattoos, including a spider on your neck and your surname on your arm. Why did you pick those?
‘Cyrus’ is my matching tattoo with Miley. She has that tattooed as well, so it’s a cute little thing we share. And I’m terrified of spiders, but I was with my best friend and was like, “I’m going to face my fears.” So I got it.
And has that worked?
No, absolutely not. It’s just a picture. The picture doesn’t freak me out in the slightest, but if there was a spider on my neck, I’d lose it.
You’ve been to Australia before so you’re probably aware that we have some pretty nasty spiders down here...
Oh my god, huge spiders! I was in Sydney back in 2017 and stayed in a hotel that was really high up, but then I saw a spider on the wall and it totally freaked me out.
It’s going to be a while before concerts are able to start up again. When they do, can we expect to see you here?
One thousand per cent, because I haven’t done a headline show out there. It’s time for me to get over there and perform.
The End of Everything by Noah Cyrus is out now to stream, buy or download.