The news that Billy Ray Cyrus is divorcing his much-younger wife Firerose after seven months of marriage didn’t come as much of a shock to observers of the messy dynamics of Billy Ray’s famous family and his new wife’s possible contribution to the mess.
But the May 22 divorce filing by the 62-year-old “Achy Breaky Heart” singer still contains some shocking language regarding his failed married to Firerose — whose real name is Johanna Rose Hodges, according to People. In addition to citing the usual “irreconcilable differences” as reasons for the divorce, Cyrus also alleges “inappropriate marital conduct,” People reported. Moreover, Cyrus is seeking an annulment from his recent music collaborator “on the grounds of fraud.”
It remains to be seen what kind of fraud or inappropriate marital conduct Cyrus is alleging, but perhaps his superstar daughter, Miley Cyrus, saw this disaster coming and had reasons to keep her distance.
Miley and Billy Ray Cyrus have been “on the outs,” at least since his 2022 divorce from her mother, Tish Cyrus, after 28 years of marriage, Us Weekly reported in February.
MADRID, SPAIN – APRIL 22: Miley Cyrus and Billy Ray Cyrus attend ‘Hannah Montana:The Movie’ photocall at the Villamagna Hotel on April 22, 2009 in Madrid, Spain (Photo by Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images)
Miley Cyrus was reportedly not pleased with how quickly he moved on with Firerose, whom he reportedly met in 2012, when the Australian-born singer visited the set of Miley’s Disney Channel show, “Hannah Montana,” according to The Sun and the Daily Mail.
Moreover, Cyrus’ relationship origin story with Firerose is a bit murky, first because her age had been “known,” the Daily Nail said. A Nashville publication mentioned that she moved from Sidney to Los Angeles when she was 19 and began performing in clubs like the Viper Room, where she gained an “underground following” for her “addictive, original music.” On Tuesday, People magazine managed to confirm that she’s 37, which would more or less make her 31-year-old Miley’s contemporary.
But the timeline of Firerose’s romance with Billy Ray also is unclear, according to The Sun and the Daily Mail. News broke in September 2022 that the duo were engaged and she was seen sporting “a huge diamond ring,” The Sun said.
This would be just five months after Billy Ray and Tish Cyrus announced their divorce, and a year after he and Firerose first collaborated on writing and recording the single, “New Day.”
Sources close to Cyrus didn’t appear to deny that he and Firerose began seeing each other romantically before he and Tish filed for divorce, according to The Sun. But the sources may have been quick to point out that Tish herself said in her divorce filings that she and her estranged husband had not lived under the same roof for more than two years.
MADRID, SPAIN – APRIL 22: Miley Cyrus and Billy Ray Cyrus attend ‘Hannah Montana:The Movie’ photocall at the Villamagna Hotel on April 22, 2009 in Madrid, Spain (Photo by Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images)
“There had been problems in his marriage for a while,” a source told The Sun. “He and Tish have been on and off for the best part of a decade, but things had been over for some time before the announcement in April (2022).”
With Firerose, on the other hand, “Billy is happier than he has been in a long time,” the source said.
According to People, Cyrus and Firerose had been “friends for years.” That is, after they met on the set of “Hannah Montana,” the sitcom in which a teenaged Miley Cyrus co-starred with her father. Fast forward about eight years: Cyrus and Firehose began writing songs together during the COVID-19 pandemic, and romance soon followed. People said they began dating sometime in 2022 and got engaged “later that year.”
When Cyrus and Firerose married in October 2023, they shared a joint Instagram message proclaiming “10/10/23 will always be the beautiful, joyous day that our two souls united as one in holy matrimony.” They also declared, “It was the most perfect, ethereal celebration of love we could have ever imagined.”
Together they released four collaborative songs: “New Day,” “Time,” “Plans” and “After the Storm.” In an interview with People in March, Cyrus called “After the Storm” “powerful and timely,” while Firerose referred cryptically to having survived her “darkest nights.”
Firerose said, “There is so much truth in these lyrics and it’s my purpose to help others find strength in their toughest hours.”
Before their marriage, Cyrus and Firerose performed “Plans” on “Good Morning America,” with Firerose describing their love story as “a beautiful whirlwind,” and Cyrus less poetically saying their collaboration is like “peanut butter and jelly,” People reported.
But Firerose also alluded to the whirlwind being accompanied by challenges in life in an Instagram post in April, to mark their six months of marriage. She said, “Life isn’t always easy … but it sure helps when your husband’s also your best friend. Thank you Lord!”
For Firerose, life’s challenges could also include staying sober. On May 31, about a week after Cyrus reportedly filed for divorce, the singer shared on Instagram that she was eight years sober, “by the grace of God.” She wrote, “No matter how broken you feel … by faith you can & will be restored.”
For her estranged husband, life’s challenges could also involve the mess left in the wake of his divorce from Tish, the mother of his five children. But the claim that Miley has sided with her mother in the family feud isn’t even the biggest revelation. There’s also the news that Tish Cyrus and her daughter, Noah, were embroiled in a lurid love triangle.
Two months before Billy Ray Cyrus and Firerose married, Tish Cyrus married “Prison Break” actor Dominic Purcell. While Miley served as her mother’s maid of honor, Noah and her older brother, Braison Cyrus, made a show of skipping out on the ceremony to go shopping at Walmart.
At the time of the wedding, Noah and Braison Cyrus’ actions raised concerns about a breakdown in family relations, with people online saying, “this family is a mess.” People assumed that the feud might have something to do with Noah Cyrus’ loyalty to her father.
But in March, People delivered the shocking news that Noah Cyrus and Purcell had been seeing each other before he started a romantic relationship with her mother.
A source told People: “Noah and Dominic were seeing each other in a friends with benefits way, off and on. They stopped seeing each other and then Tish started something up,” the source said adding, “Tish knew he had been seeing Noah.”