Miley Cyrus says part of why she hasn’t toured in nearly a decade is because the demands of performing on the road do not always offer “an equal amount of recovery and rest,” and that the relationship a musician has with crowds as “subject and observer isn’t healthy for me.”
The “Flowers” singer opened up about her decision to stick to music festivals, TV appearances and single performances since her 2014 Bangerz tour in the latest installment of her Used to Be Young TikTok series.
“Traveling as a cheerleader really set me up for touring,” Cyrus said. “The show or the competition may only be a day, and that’s what people don’t really understand about touring. The show is only 90 minutes, but that’s your life.”
Part of that life, Cyrus noted, sees musicians “performing at a certain level of intensity and excellence,” but to do that consistently in a way touring demands, “there should be an equal amount of recovery and rest.”
The “Jaded” singer adds that her relationship to her ego while performing is also “the hardest switch for me to turn off,” and can interfere with her songwriting process.
“There’s a level of ego that has to play a part that I feel gets overused when I’m on tour. And once that switch is on, it’s hard to turn it off. I think when you’re training your ego every single night to be active, that’s the hardest switch for me to turn off,” she said. “Having every day the relationship between you and other humans being subject and observer isn’t healthy for me, because it erases my humanity and my connection and without my humanity, my connection, I can’t be a songwriter, which is my priority.”
Cyrus’ latest comments follow statements she made to British Vogue as part of its May cover story, in which she reflected on the demands of touring. “After the last [headline arena] show I did [in 2014], I kind of looked at it as more of a question. And I can’t. Not only ‘can’t’, because can’t is your capability, but my desire,” she told the magazine. “Do I want to live my life for anyone else’s pleasure or fulfillment other than my own?”
The singer went on to clarify those statements in an Instagram post, assuring fans that her decision to step back from touring was not based on how connected she felt to fans.
“For clarity I feel connected to my fans NOW more than ever,” she wrote. “When I win, WE win. Even if I don’t see them face to face every night at a concert, my fans are felt deeply in my heart. I’m constantly creating and innovating new ways that I can stay connected to the audience I love — without sacrificing my own essentials.”=
“This has nothing to do with a lack of appreciation for the fans & everything to do with I simply don’t want to get ready in a locker room,” she added. “Which is the reality of life on the road.”
