The ongoing global pandemic has put a mental and emotional strain on millions and has threatened the sobriety of people around the world. One person who found themselves dealing with a lapse in their sobriety is Miley Cyrus, who this week opened up to Apple Music’s Zane Lowe about her seventh studio album
Plastic Hearts and how the pandemic has affected her, as well as dealing with a string of recent losses. In the pair’s new interview, Cyrus reveals that she had a lapse in her sobriety earlier this year.“Well, I, like a lot of people, being completely honest, during the pandemic fell off and felt really a lot of ... and I would never sit here and go, ‘I've been f-king sober,’ and I didn't, and I fell off and I realized that I now am back on sobriety, two weeks sober, and I feel like I really accepted that time,” said Cyrus. “One of the things I've used is don't get furious, get curious. So don't be mad at yourself, but ask yourself, ‘What happened?’”For Cyrus, what happened was several things. In addition to the devastation of human loss and suffering that has come with the pandemic, the singer has also been dealing with the loss of her home, which burned down in a fire in 2018, as well as the
end of her marriage to Liam Hemsworth. Earlier this year, Cyrus also lost her beloved grandmother.Cyrus’ sobriety became headline news in June when the singer told
Variety that having
vocal surgery forced her to temporarily give up drugs and alcohol. Cyrus said that she found clarity in her sobriety and was able to use the time to examine her life through a new lens. “My mom was adopted, and I inherited some of the feelings she had, the abandonment feelings and wanting to prove that you’re wanted and valuable,” Cyrus told Variety. “My dad’s parents divorced when he was 3, so my dad raised himself. I did a lot of family history, which has a lot of addiction and mental health challenges. So just going through that and asking, ‘Why am I the way that I am?’ By understanding the past, we understand the present and the future much more clearly. I think therapy is great.”
During their interview in Cyrus’ new home recording studio, Lowe asked her why she decided to make a statement about being sober. Cyrus said that it wasn’t an intentional move and came out of a conversational interview. “Sometimes I forget because like - it might've been, like a real conversation. Like how I said right now, ‘Listen, I f-ked up. I wasn't sober over the last couple months.’ To me, it was a f-k up because I'm not a moderation person, and I don't think that everyone has to be f-king sober. I think everyone has to do what is best for them. I don't have a problem with drinking. I have a problem with the decisions I make once I go past that level of… Even into, I've just been wanting to wake up 100%, 100% of the time.”Cyrus just celebrated her 28
th birthday, a milestone that also impacted her decision to stay sober. "Twenty-seven to me was a year that I really had to protect myself. That actually really made me want to get sober, because we've lost so many icons at 27," said Cyrus, acknowledging artists like Amy Winehouse, Jimi Hendrick, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain and Janis Joplin. "It's a very pivotal time. You go into that next chapter or this is it for you. I just feel that some of the artists that almost couldn't handle their own power and their own energy and their own force. It's an energy. I, no matter what, was born with that."The conversation also pivoted towards the current state of the world, specifically the ongoing pandemic. “People originally, I think it was said that Coronavirus was going to be an equalizer.
I disagree fully. It showed the divide,” said Cyrus. “It showed health is wealth. It showed the inequality. It showed the injustice. And I think it was just an eye-opener. And I think all the issues that came to the surface, they've been bubbling. This volcano was bound to erupt.”Calling wearing a mask a sign of respect, Cyrus also touched on the outgoing administration and expertly explained why a popstar doing something shocking is not the same as a president exhibiting outrageous behavior. Referencing her new song “Golden G String,” Cyrus described the lyrics as an explanation of “the cross I've had to bear, in a way, of saying, ‘I feel like everything that I've done has just been up for all the opinions and I guess people being offended and all this sh-t.’ But it's like our president grabs women by the p----, and you're mad at me. I'm a pop star. I'm supposed to do these things. I'm supposed to do things that sometimes make you uncomfortable or you take offense. That's kind of my job, that's entertainment. I don't want that in a leader.”[video_embed id='2027801']Before you go: Miley Cyrus opens up about her 'very public divorce' from Liam Hemsworth[/video_embed]
