Billy Ray Cyrus reacts to daughter Miley’s major name change after rekindling relationship

Billy Ray Cyrus has now shared his reaction to his daughter Miley’s major name change after rekindling their relationship, appearing together publicly for the Hannah Montana 20th anniversary special back in March following a period of family tension.

Earlier this week, the 33-year-old 'Flowers' star sparked speculation that she could be entering a 'new era' after appearing to drop her surname professionally.

On Monday (31 August), she rebranded her website, redirecting visitors from mileycyrus.com to mileyofficial.com, where 'MILEY' appears in bold alongside another dark, close-up image.

Reacting to the name change, one Instagram user wrote: "Just Miley … because she’s that iconic," while another added: "MILEY IS COMING."

A third asked: "New era???"

Meanwhile, one X user wrote: "Miley dropping her last name professionally would make so much sense bc she’s literally the only Miley so it’s not like she needs the distinction."

Taking to Instagram on Wednesday (2 September), Billy Ray posted a throwback photo of him standing with Miley and her brother, Braison, both of whom he shares with ex-wife Tish Cyrus, along with the lengthy caption: "Family means more than ever now."

The 'Achy Breaky Heart' singer continued: "I always called my little girl Miley. Just … Miley. Just like I always called my little boy Braison.

"Bet you didn’t know … I was just CYRUS before 'Achy Breaky Heart' came out in 92.

"All of my swag and T-shirts only read. CYRUS SOME GAVE ALL with a picture of a POW MIA flag on it that and the words .. 'You are not forgotten'."

Billy Ray carried on: "I told @miley yesterday I felt good about her going with her first name. I mentioned Dolly and Cher.

"Thinkin about it more and more … Elvis .. Prince …and so on.

"It’s a natural progression for an iconic superstar legend. And the legend continues!

"Looking forward to the new album. Now … if only Mercury / Polygram would have just not insisted on the 'Billy Ray' part and just let me be CYRUS…… I could have done something!!! Ha ha !!! All good."

Miley announced this week that her tenth studio album, BASS PERSUADES, will be released later this month (18 September).

The Hannah Montana actress wrote on Instagram: “Music takes hold of us. We feel it, sing it, sometimes dance to it, let it out and carry on. It is powerful, vulnerable, sweet and strong.

“Heart full, heartache, every part of life in between. That’s what the title means to me.”

Miley gushed: “Thank you for being a part of making my wildest dreams come true. I sincerely hope you love this album.”