Miley Cyrus “Wrecking Ball” hit #1

Wrecking Ball Miley Cyrus

Writer(s): Miley Cyrus, Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald, Maureen McDonald, S. Skarbek, Stephan Moccio, Henry Walter (see lyrics here) Released: August 25, 2013 First Charted: September 7, 2013 Peak: 13 US, 11 DG, 113 ST, 13 RR, 7 A40, 11 UK, 11 CN, 2 AU, 21 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 7.0 US, 1.2 UK, 10.39 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 1527.36 video, 777.03 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: “Wrecking Ball” was the first #1 song for Miley Cyrus, but she was no newbie on the charts. At 22 years old, she’d already landed on the Billboard Hot 100 more than two dozen times, including #2 hits “Party in the U.S.A.” and “We Can’t Stop.” The latter was the lead single from Bangerz, her fourth studio album, but she’d also released five albums as Hannah Montana, her titular character on the Disney show that made her a star in her early teens. “Wrecking Ball” was the second single from Bangerz. The pop ballad spent three weeks on top. After two weeks, it fell behind Lorde’s “Royals” for nine weeks before regaining the top slot, setting a record for the largest gap between stints at the top within a single chart run. WK Billboard declared it their favorite top 5 single from the past year. WK Singer/songwriter MoZella (Maureen Anne McDonald) initially wrote the song with Goonrock for Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby movie. SF At another point, it was intended for Beyoncé. WK Lyrically, the song’s theme of “the deterioration of a relationship” WK fit with Cyrus’ own experiences, as she split up with actor Liam Hemsworth soon after the song’s release. SF It was accompanied by a controversial music video with footage of Cyrus nude, swinging on a wrecking ball. The Guardian’s Michael Hann criticized Cyrus for trying to distance herself from her Hannah Montana image by “exploring the iconography of porn.” WK There were also close-up shots of her tearfully singing, reminiscent of Sinéad O'Connor’s iconic video for “Nothing Compares 2 U.” O’Connor wrote an open letter to Cyrus, warning her not to let the music business “make a prostitute of you.” SF In 2017, Cyrus said, “I’m never living that down. I will always be the naked girl on a wrecking ball.” SF “Wrecking Ball” won the MTV Video of the Year award. It also won the World Music Award for World’s Best Video. Resources: SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 7/27/2023.