Miley Cyrus' Life Stages, in GIFS

With the release of Bangerz just around the corner, we look at Miley's movement over the years.

October 4, 2013

Image via Complex Original

Miley Cyrus is on top of the world. Everyone and their mother (and apparently Sinead O'Connor) has an opinion about Miley. We can't seem to stop talking about her. Which works out perfect for her since her forthcoming album, Bangerz, drops next week and includes features from Britney Spears, Big Sean, Nelly, Future and French Montana.

Miley's already hit the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart with her hit, "Wrecking Ball." Her other sigle, "We Can't Stop," reached No. 2 earlier this year. But regardless of her commercial success, she's had a strange year—breaking off her engagement with fiancé Liam Hemsworth, completely reinventing her look and persona, twerking at the VMAs, etc. And everyone likes to compare her to her 12-year-old self on Hannah Montana, but, you know, people grow up.

To clear up any confusion, and in anticipation of Bangerz, here are Miley Cyrus' Life Stages, in GIFs.

Written by Lauren Nostro (@LAURENcynthia)

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Destiny Hope Cyrus was born on November 23, 1992. She is the daughter of country singer Billy Ray Cyrus—known for his massive '90s hit, "Achy Breaky Heart."

She was really the cutest kid ever. She got used to the paparazzi at an early age.

She grew up in the spotlight. And she looked adorable doing it, even when she was missing a few teeth.

Then came her starring role on Disney's Hannah Montana.

Of course, she got really famous, really fast. Plus she was in the Disney clique.

She was also super quirky...

...but she was really sweet too.

Even though it was popular and made her a star, Hannah Montana got a bit old. But she still had some fun with it.

In 2008, Miley released her hit single "7 Things." We knew she was destined for pop greatness in the future.

Then in 2009, she dropped "Party In The U.S.A." which shot to No. 2 on the Billboard charts and went six times platinum. But then we learned that even though she refers to Jay Z in the song, Miley had never actually heard a Jay Z song. But it didn't matter because the song was hot fire.

But by then Hannah Montana was kinda over. Miley wanted to grow up so she started looking at the big screen...

And then she starred in The Last Song with...

...her future fiancé, Liam Hemsworth.

She starred in more movies, released some more music, and finished up Hannah Montana in January 2011. She got a ton of cute dogs along the way, too.

And then she thought, what's next?

So she cut off all of her hair...

...and released a video of herself twerking in a onesie...

...and then she dropped the clusterfuck that is the "We Can't Stop" video. The song, produced by Mike WiLL Made It, is the lead single from her album, Bangerz.

It didn't stop there: Miley starred in Big Sean's "Fire" video, hung out with a ton of rappers, and kept working on her upcoming album.

Then all hell broke loose at the MTV VMAs this year when Miley got a little too turnt on stage...

...and everyone threw shade at her.

But Miley didn't care, at all. She had an album to focus on.

She dropped a video for next single, "Wrecking Ball," shot by Terry Richardson.

And because she was completely naked in the video, people got angry and confused. Meanwhile, Miley and Liam also broke off their engagement.

People started to make memes about Miley, Nicolas Cage reinterpretations, and whatnot.

But Miley didn't care because she was on to the next one; Mike WiLL Made It's "23" single and video.

And now, at 20-years-old, Miley just doesn't give a fuck. She's about to release her album, Bangerz, which features production from Pharrell and Mike WiLL, and guest spots from Britney Spears (her idol), Future, French Montana, Big Sean, and more.

It's all part of the "Miley Movement." She's easily the most talked about pop star in the country right now. We hope she's happy.

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