Miley Cyrus hit the stage Friday night for MTV Unplugged’s “Miley Cyrus Backyard Sessions and had the world watching! Her backyard was transformed into a disco party and she delivered a powerful performance with her mask-wearing band “The Social Distancers.” The stripped-back and acoustic performance included amazing covers, special guests, and was everything the world needed right now.
Cyrus’s performance was highly anticipated and Billboard shared a clip Thursday of Cyrus singing the perfect rendition of Britney Spears’ “Gimme More.” Cyrus added her personal flair to throwback with her raspy voice and beat that exuded darkness with hints of pain. She was rocking a zebra-print dress with matching gloves, shoes, and sunglasses.
Spears was one of Cyrus’ inspirations as a young artist. In an interview with Variety this year, she explained, “I had the most weird hodgepodge of Britney Spears, ’NSYNC, Metallica and Hilary [Duff.] I had Joan Jett and Pat Benatar.” Cyrus continued, ”You should’ve seen my face when Britney covered ’I Love Rock ’n’ Roll’ in Crossroads. I melted down.” ”That scene was the father, the son and the Holy Spirit all in one room,” she added. “I actually lost my mind. That was worlds colliding beyond what I could have ever dreamed of.”
Cyrus also covered songs by The Velvet Underground, Pearl Jam, and The Cardigans. She covered Nico’s 1967 track “These Days” with the sunlight shining behind her and red paper hearts hanging from the trees. She covered Pearl Jam’s 2009 track “Just Breathe” at Golden hour in a low cut sexy outfit and hoops. A phrase Cyrus holds so dear to heart she had it tattooed on her rib cage.
Cyrus then hit the stage with her little sister Noah Cyrus and they sang Noah’s song “I Got So High That I Saw Jesus.” It was a performance fans were anticipating, and so were the sisters. Noah uploaded a photo singing with Miley on Thursday and captioned the photo, “I told miley next years gonna be our bitch and she said ‘why wait till next year’... I love you so much.”
Cyrus closed out her performance with a powerful rendition of her newest single “Midnight Sky.” Cyrus swayed her hips in a sequined dress under a sparkling disco ball and had fans screaming GIMME MORE.
.