On June 16, Billy Ray Cyrus released a new album, titled “The Hill,” and it comes as the artist is in a season of reflection and celebration in life and in love. (Photo credit: Dave Benett / Getty Images)
It’s been 34 years since Billy Ray Cyrus released his 1992 debut album, Some Gave All, but, at 64, he still has something musically to say.
Today, June 16, his new album, titled The Hill, is officially out.
The Hill marks his 17th studio album, and his first to release in seven years.
Speaking with USA Today, Billy Ray opened up about making his new album with some of his children; reuniting with his daughter, Miley Cyrus; and life with his girlfriend, Elizabeth Hurley.
RELATED: Billy Ray Cyrus Reveals Shocking Sepsis Diagnosis That Nearly Took His Life
About Billy Ray Cyrus’ New Album, ‘The Hill,’ And The Advice He Has Taken From Johnny Cash And Dolly Parton
Speaking on what titular “hill” of The Hill means to him, Billy Ray told USA Today, “We’re all up against the hill. The hill has peaks and valleys, so it’s a metaphor for life.”
Looking back to his roots in Louisa, Kentucky, he recalled that there was a place called Smokey Valley which was where the Cyrus family cemetery was, adding, “My papa was a Pentecostal preacher and had a church up there and it was on top of the hill.”
Billy Ray’s grandfather, Rev. Eldon Lindsey Cyrus, has recently been a source of inspiration for Billy Ray’s youngest daughter, Noah Cyrus, who used the line from a hymn he wrote to serve as the title of her 2025 album, I WANT MY LOVED ONES TO GO WITH ME.
Continuing, Billy Ray said, “Throughout my life I’ve had two or three particular hills that have meant a lot to me, musically and personally. When Elizabeth and I became friends, she had a hill, too. We’d sit and watch birds and the countryside. So as I lived this moment of making the album, it was obvious it should be the title.”
Producing the album, and writing much of it, was Braison Cyrus, the eldest son of Billy Ray.
“Braison’s only request was that I hand him the reins and that took all the pressure off for me,” Billy Ray told USA TODAY. “He put together a great band and we recorded at the Castle in Nashville, which is one of the best studios in the area.”
Notably, Billy Ray’s voice is in a much lower register, with the artist recovering from sepsis in 2024 which he says led to a bout of vocal paralysis.
Speaking on his collaboration on The Hill with Noah, who sings with him on the album’s closing track, “On Our Way Along,” he said that Noah “brings a lot of muscle to the record with that big voice of hers,” adding that his own voice “is now kind of like an old rock” or even a “foundation” for Noah’s voice to stand upon.
Watch the music video for his duet with his youngest daughter, Noah, titled “On Our Way Along,” here:
On the subject of his voice, as well as this time in his career as a 64-year-old, he reflected a bit about his connection to Johnny Cash, who once wrote him when he was just starting his career.
“Johnny Cash has always been a hero of mine,” Billy Ray said. “Johnny wrote me a letter that he’d seen me on TV and said was good to be reminded that all good things come from Almighty God, that the good outweighs the bad.”
He added, “That letter was a North Star to me at that time of my life. I often ask myself, ‘What would Johnny do?’”
Looking to his age, Billy Ray said, “You just keep on doing what you do because you love it. Persistence is not a glamorous word but it’s an important word. It’s not the force of a jackhammer that breaks the concrete, it’s the repetition.”
In addition to Johnny Cash, he’s also taken lessons from Dolly Parton and Carl Perkins, saying, “There are moments in your career when you have to reinvent yourself. I learned that from Dolly — she’s the queen of reinvention — and Carl Perkins once told me, ‘Don’t be chasing the cat’s tail. Be the cat.’ Look for something new and create a new sound.”
Listen to Billy Ray Cyrus’ new album, The Hill, on your preferred streaming platform, here.
Billy Ray Opens Up About His Personal Life
With age, and the passage of time, Billy Ray recently reconnected with his daughter Miley Cyrus, who he co-starred on the Disney Channel series Hannah Montana with and became estranged from in more recent years.
With that show celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, he made an appearance on the “Hannahversary,” as Miley has called it, which is available to stream on Disney+ as the Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special.
Last year, Miley released a song, titled “Secrets,” on her album Something Beautiful, and that song helped mend their father-daughter relationship, and he told USA Today, “Since she was a baby, she’s been on this ride and seen the peaks and valleys and knows when you’re in this business it’s all a circus and at some point, hopefully you get to play in the big top … Our relationship has never been better.”
Asked by USA Today about the affect of his relationship with Elizabeth Hurley on his own life, Billy Ray said he’s gone through a “complete evolution of life,” noting that he’s “just keeping it real and honest and the truth in the music, but also feeling a passion for life that I never felt before.”
Expounding on his relationship with her, which started in early 2025, he said:
“Having someone as great as Elizabeth to be my friend … we laugh, we love nature. I’ve never known such peace of mind. Life is good, I’m happy. It’s kind of fun seeing her world. It’s just a good time to celebrate life and the joy it can be again. She and I kind of came together at the moment when we started recording so [the album and relationship] all became one.”
As an aside, Billy Ray said the following of the English countryside that Elizabeth calls home, “I do love the traveling and the churches and cathedrals and castles here. It looks a lot like Tennessee as far as the topography. This has all been a beautiful thing.”
RELATED: Billy Ray Cyrus And His Youngest Daughter, Noah Cyrus, Share Emotional Duet In London
