Billy Ray Cyrus: Then and Now

Right now, Billy Ray Cyrus is making headlines for his love life. On October 16, sources told Page Six that the 65-year-old country star is engaged to English actress Elizabeth Hurley. 💍

The rumors started when Hurley showed off a massive diamond ring on Instagram — and Cyrus himself added fuel days later with a post captioned “kinda has a ring to it.”

But neither of them has confirmed it directly. If the reports are right, it would be his fourth marriage — and the latest chapter in a career that has already spanned more than three decades.

Then: The Boy with the Mullet and the Line Dance

William Ray Cyrus was born on August 25, 1961, in Flatwoods, Kentucky. Music ran in the family — his father played guitar, his mother played piano, and his grandfather was a Pentecostal preacher who played the fiddle.

He signed with Mercury Records in 1991. A year later, his debut album Some Gave All exploded. It spent 17 straight weeks at number one on the Billboard 200 — the longest run ever for a debut artist — and was certified 9× multi-platinum in the United States.

The engine behind it was “Achy Breaky Heart.” The song hit number one on the country charts, and its video launched a line-dancing craze that swept the world. For a while in 1992, you could not walk into a wedding or a bar without hearing that unmistakable twang. 🎶

The Middle: From Stage to Screen

After the ’90s peak, Cyrus reinvented himself as an actor. From 2001 to 2004, he starred in the TV drama Doc, playing a country doctor who moves to New York City.

Then came Hannah Montana. From 2006 to 2011, he co-starred on the Disney Channel hit as Robby Ray Stewart — the father of Miley Stewart, played by his real-life daughter Miley Cyrus. The show made the Cyrus family a household name all over again.

Like Taylor Swift, who also grew up on country music before conquering the world stage, Billy Ray proved he could cross over without losing his roots.

Now: A Grammy, a Comeback, and a Ring

In 2019, Cyrus joined Lil Nas X on the “Old Town Road” remix. The song spent 19 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and the collaboration earned him a Grammy Award — a stunning late-career triumph.

Now 65, he is as busy as ever. This month he released a “Party’s in the Back” remix with the Deltona boys, revived his famous mullet on Instagram, and is performing a special pre-race show at the NASCAR event in Phoenix today. 🏁

And then there is the personal news. Cyrus and Hurley met in 2022 while filming Christmas in Paradise and went public as a couple in April 2025. It is the kind of multi-decade staying power Rihanna has also shown — evolving with the culture instead of fading with it.

From the mullet-wearing line-dance king of 1992 to a 65-year-old still releasing music and stealing headlines — Billy Ray Cyrus’s then and now is the story of a man who never really left the stage. The only question is whether wedding bells are next. 🔔