Miley Cyrus Ushers in New Era With Emotional Hollywood Bowl Tribute to Dolly Parton

Miley Cyrus ushered in a new chapter at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on Friday, opening her set with the live debut of four songs from her newly released Bass Persuades. The concert marked the first of two sold-out shows at the iconic venue over the weekend and her first proper headlining performance in roughly four years.

“I’m an extremist,” Cyrus said before launching into her fifth new song of the evening, the riveting title track from her 2025 album Something Beautiful. “Now, you guys have given me such a purpose … Performance can’t be everything, because the curtain closes and the lights go down and I have to go back home and be happy with who I am,” she said before thanking fans for supporting her “finding this balance in my life where I completely have everything that I ever wanted.”

Having grown up in the spotlight on Disney’s Hannah Montana before breaking out on her own, Cyrus has explored multiple genres and personas over two decades while scoring megahits and breathing the rare air few achieve in the pop stratosphere. At the Hollywood Bowl, she hit a series of firsts—her first time performing at the Bowl, her first time performing much of her set list, her first time taking the stage in many years, and her first time billing herself by her first name only at a show. Most of those firsts worked in her favor.

She acknowledged that returning to the stage “doesn’t feel as natural as it did” when touring was a given in her life, noting that her next Bowl show on Sunday marked the 19th-year anniversary of her first headlining tour. “For somebody that likes to keep life fun and likes to jump out of airplanes and be spontaneous, doing the same thing for your entire life can lose its shine if you don’t continue to give yourself that pressure and that polish to create something beautiful, which is the life that I’m living.” Cyrus has not embarked on a full-fledged tour since the Bangerz Tour in 2014.

When the show hit its stride, it was a joyride, particularly during unexpected moments. Opening with the ballad “Orbit” seemed an odd choice, but she followed it with a blistering “Different Religion” featuring openers Model/Actriz, which set the tone for the up-down-up energy of the ensuing set.

One of the biggest highlights came by way of her dedication to “Aunt Dolly” Parton, which she made before performing a resonant “Jolene.” Sitting at the edge of the stage, through tears Cyrus shared that the only time she had ever seen her godmother perform was at the Hollywood Bowl, where Parton beckoned Cyrus to perform with her.

“Like so many things Dolly did that I didn’t understand at the time, sitting here with you all right now, feeling her all around me, knowing that she’s right here beside me every day, all the time, more than she could be when she was here, I feel her more now than ever,” Cyrus said through tears. “And knowing that I get to share this story with you all, it makes that night very worth it. This memory is gold to me. Me and Dolly, we are eternal. Nothing in this life could ever tear us apart. And I’m gonna see her again. And I can’t fucking wait ’cause I miss her.”

She also surprised fans by bringing out her Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz collaborator Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips to the B stage in the middle of the audience. Calling that album her “favorite album that I’ve ever made,” they performed “Karen Don’t Be Sad” after they sang the Flaming Lips classic “Do You Realize??”

As she walked from the B stage back to the main stage, she discussed how “overwhelming” the energy from the audience was—it was a confessional, vulnerable side Cyrus exhibited often throughout her set during onstage banter and video interludes. She didn’t take that privilege for granted, however, thanking her fans for their support.

Surprisingly, where things seemed a bit disconnected was during some of her most standout songs. While she gave a little familiar twerk during “We Can’t Stop,” during “Wrecking Ball” and “Party in the U.S.A.” she left the audience to sing through the choruses.

For the encore, she performed the romantic “Let’s Get Married” with her partner Maxx Morando by her side on drums, back-to-back with “Flowers,” a declaration of independence and self-love. It was a fitting end to Cyrus’s first major show in her new era, a juxtaposition where she’s doing and being who and what she wants, on her own terms.

Miley Cyrus Hollywood Bowl Set List

“Orbit”
“Different Religion”
“Bass Persuades”
“Handstand”
“Something Beautiful”
“Jolene”
“Walk of Fame”
“Redlights”
“Do You Realize??”
“Karen Don’t Be Sad”
“We Can’t Stop”
“Wrecking Ball”
“Snow”
“Used to Be Young”
“The Climb”
“Party in the U.S.A.”
“Let’s Get Married”
“Flowers”

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