Billy Ray Cyrus

William "Billy" Ray Cyrus (born August 25, 1961) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor and philanthropist, who has achieved great success worldwide. Having released twelve studio albums and forty-four singles since 1992, he is best known for his number one single "Achy Breaky Heart", which became the first single ever to achieve triple Platinum status in Australia. It was also the best-selling single in the same country in 1992 and was translated into more than 100 languages. Thanks to the video of this hit, the line dance catapulted into the mainstream, becoming a worldwide craze. Cyrus, a multi-platinum selling recording artist, has scored a total of eight top-ten singles on the Billboard Country Songs chart. His most successful album to date is his debut Some Gave All, which has been certified 9× Multi-Platinum in the United States and is the longest time spent by a debut artist at number one on the Billboard 200 (17 consecutive weeks) and most consecutive chart-topping weeks in the SoundScan era. It is the only album (from any genre) in the SoundScan era to log 17 consecutive weeks at number one and is also the top-ranking debut album by a male country artist. It ranked 43 weeks in the top 10, a total topped by only one country album in history, Ropin' the Wind by Garth Brooks. Some Gave All was also the first debut album to enter at number one on the Billboard Country Albums chart. The album has also sold more than 20 million copies worldwide and is the best-selling debut album of all time for a solo male artist.Some Gave All was also the best-selling album of 1992 in the US with 4,832,000 copies. In his career, he has released 35 charted singles, of which 15 charted in the Top 40. From 2001 to 2004, Cyrus starred in the television show Doc. The show was about a country doctor who moved from Montana to New York City. In late 2005, he began to co-star in the Disney Channel series Hannah Montana with his daughter Miley Cyrus. --- William Ray Cyrus was born in Flatwoods, Kentucky, to Ron Cyrus, a politician and former steelworker, and his wife, the former Ruth Ann Casto. Cyrus started singing at the age of four and his parents divorced the following year. His grandfather was a Pentecostal preacher. Growing up, he was surrounded by bluegrass and gospel music from his family. His right-handed father played guitar. Left-handed Cyrus tried to play his father's guitar, but could not. He attended Georgetown College on a baseball scholarship before changing to music. He dropped out of Georgetown during his junior year, realized he wanted to become a musician after attending a Neil Diamond concert and set a 10-month goal to start a career. In the 1980s, he played at a bar known as Changes Bar owned by Jimmy Gettys as a band called Sly Dog, before signing a record contract with Mercury Nashville Records. Sly Dog was named after a one-eyed dog that Cyrus owned. While trying to get a recording contract in Los Angeles, Cyrus suffered many hardships including living in his car. However, in 1990, he was signed to PolyGram/Mercury. That same year, he opened for Reba McEntire. Cyrus began to record and write music for his debut album, released in 1992. "Some Gave All" was released in 1992. The album became an instant chart and sales success. It debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums, Billboard 200, Canadian Country Albums chart, Canadian Albums Chart, and on the charts of several other foreign countries. The album featured four consecutive Top 40 singles on the Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart from 1992 to 1993, including an album cut, the title track. The most successful single released was "Achy Breaky Heart". It reached No. 1 on the Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart and was also a hit on the pop charts, where it reached No. 4. Although the song was the only number one single, "Could've Been Me" reached No. 2, "Wher'm I Gonna Live?" reached No. 23, and "She's Not Cryin' Anymore" reached No. 6. Some Gave All was certified 9× Multi-Platinum in the United States in 1996, and has sold over 20 million copies worldwide. --- From 1986 to 1991, Cyrus was married to Cindy Smith, with whom he co-wrote the songs "Wher'm I Gonna Live?" and "Some Gave All", both of which were featured on his 1992 debut album Some Gave All. On December 28, 1993, he married Leticia "Tish" Cyrus, née Finley. Together they have three children: Miley Ray (born Destiny Hope in 1992), Braison Chance (born 1994), and Noah Lindsey (born 2000). He also has two adopted stepchildren from Finley's previous marriage: Brandi (born 1987); and Trace (born 1989), former singer/guitarist for Metro Station. He also has a son, Christopher Cody (born 1992), from a previous relationship with Kristin Luckey, who raised him in South Carolina. Cyrus adopted Brandi and Trace when they were young children. In a 2004 interview on ABC News: Primetime, Cyrus stated that daughter Miley (conceived with Finley) and son Christopher (conceived with Luckey) were both born in 1992, at which time Cyrus was unmarried, and that his marriage to Finley the following year when she was pregnant with their son was secret and against his record company's advice. The family lived on a 500-acre (2.0 km2) farm in Thompson's Station, outside of Nashville, Tennessee before moving to Los Angeles for the filming of Hannah Montana. Cyrus' other daughter Brandi had a role in a Hannah Montana episode "Yet Another Side of Me" as Customer No. 1 and in the season 4 episode "Been Here All Along" as the Guitarist during the military tribute. On October 26, 2010, Cyrus filed for divorce from his wife in Tennessee, citing irreconcilable differences. In a statement made to People the next day announcing the split, the couple said, "As you can imagine, this is a very difficult time for our family... We are trying to work through some personal matters. We appreciate your thoughts and prayers." However, on March 18, 2011, Cyrus announced on The View that he had dropped the divorce. On June 13, 2013, Tish filed for divorce from Billy Ray after 19 years of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences.