Touch the Clouds (Lakota: Maȟpíya Ičáȟtagya or Maȟpíya Íyapat’o) (c. 1838 – September 5, 1905) was a chief of the Minneconjou Teton Lakota (also known as Sioux) known for his bravery and skill in battle, physical strength and for his diplomacy in counsel. The youngest son of Lone Horn, he was brother to Spotted Elk, Frog, and Roman Nose. There is evidence suggesting that he was a cousin to Crazy Horse.^[1]

When Touch the Clouds's Wakpokinyan band split in the mid 1870s, the band traveled to the Cheyenne River Agency. He assumed the leadership of the band in 1875 after the death of his father, and retained leadership during the initial period of the Great Sioux War of 1876-77. After the Battle of the Little Bighorn, he took the band north, eventually surrendering at the Spotted Tail Agency, where he enlisted in the Indian Scouts. However, not long after being present at the death of Crazy Horse, Touch the Clouds transferred with his band back to the Cheyenne River Agency.

Touch the Clouds became one of the new leaders of the Minneconjou at the Cheyenne River Agency in 1881, keeping his position until his death on September 5, 1905. Upon his death his son, Amos Charging First, took over as the new chief.

Rise to leadership[link]

Born between 1837 and 1839, Touch the Clouds was the youngest son of the influential headman Lone Horn, leader of a Minneconjou band called the Wakpokinyan (Flies Along the Stream). Touch the Clouds was known for his height and great strength, to which his name relates. Lieutenant Henry R. Lemly, who met Touch the Clouds in 1877, described him as a Minneconjou "of magnificent physique, standing six feet five inches in his moccasins, and without an ounce of surplus flesh, weighing 280 pounds".^[2]

By the time that Touch the Clouds had reached his thirties, he had earned the respect of his peers and had been selected as the head of one of the tribe's warrior societies.^[3] In this role, he often led war parties against enemy tribes. White Bull later recalled an occasion in 1872 when Touch the Clouds led a horse-raiding party but decided to turn back upon discovering that they were greatly outnumbered by the Crow.^[4]

The crisis over the increasing European-American presence on the northern Great Plains caused growing dissension among the various Lakota bands as they debated what to do. The Wakpokinyan appear to have split, with part of the band (including Touch the Clouds) going in to the Cheyenne River Agency on the Missouri River. A portion led by Lame Deer^{[disambiguation needed ]} chose to remain out. Lone Horn struggled to maintain dialogue between the various factions of Minneconjou and their relatives, part of his long record as a Lakota diplomat.^[5] After Lone Horn died in 1875, the mantle of leadership fell to his son,^[1] just as the US Army was beginning its campaign against the non-treaty Cheyenne and Lakota bands.

Great Sioux War of 1876–77[link]

At the beginning of the Great Sioux War of 1876-77, Touch the Clouds stayed with his band at the Cheyenne River Agency through that summer. Shortly after word of Custer’s defeat at the Little Bighorn reached the reservation, Touch the Clouds pleaded with army officers at the nearby post: “Have compassion on us. Don’t punish us all because some of us fought when we had to.” ^[6] Believing that agency bands were supporting the "hostiles", the army prepared to disarm the friendly Lakota and confiscate their ponies. In late September 1876, suspicious of the Army’s intentions, Touch the Clouds led a breakout of Minneconjou and Sans Arc who fled the agency, abandoning their lodgepoles and other possessions in their hurried flight north.

The arrival of these refugees, including Touch the Clouds, Roman Nose, Bull Eagle, Spotted Elk and other headmen, introduced a more moderate element into the leadership of the northern villages. In October 1876, the combined force fought troops in several skirmishes along the new road to the Tongue River Cantonment. After Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull departed with their bands, representatives of the Minneconjou met with Colonel Nelson Miles to discuss the possibility of surrender. By February 1877, Touch the Clouds was camped near Short Pine Hills on the Little Missouri River with about 60 or 70 lodges. Here, he met the famed Brulé leader, Spotted Tail, in a five-day council. He agreed to take his band in to surrender at the Spotted Tail Agency in northwestern Nebraska. They arrived on April 14, 1877 and Touch the Clouds was the first to ride forward. "I lay down this gun," he announced to all who could hear, "as a token of submission to Gen. Crook, to whom I wish to surrender."^[7]

Touch the Clouds (seated at left with headdress), photo taken fall 1877, during his visit to Washington, D.C. as a delegate to meet with President Hayes.

In the months that followed, Touch the Clouds and the Minneconjou lived peacefully at the Spotted Tail agency. The interpreter at Spotted Tail, Louis Bordeaux, described the Minneconjou leader as "an honorable and peaceable Indian, a man of good character, a very fine man, deprecated hostilities and was a peacemaker."^[8] The army persuaded him to enlist in the Indian Scouts. Touch the Clouds served as the first sergeant for Company E.

Touch the Clouds' relationship with Army officials soured in late August 1877 when he and Crazy Horse were asked to lead scouts north to fight Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce.^[9] Four days later, the army attempted to arrest Crazy Horse, but he slipped away to the Spotted Tail Agency. Touch the Clouds accompanied his friend back to Camp Robinson, where Crazy Horse was fatally bayonetted when army soldiers attempted to force him into the guardhouse. Touch the Clouds was allowed to remain with Crazy Horse that night until the Oglala died. Placing his hand on Crazy Horse's chest, Touch the Clouds said, "It is good: he has looked for death, and it has come."^[10] Touch the Clouds went to Washington, D.C. as a delegate the following month.

In October 1877, the Red Cloud and Spotted Tail Agencies were removed to the Missouri River, during which time Touch the Clouds and his band joined the Oglala. Many of the northern bands that had surrendered the previous spring broke away. They headed north to join Sitting Bull in Canada, where he had gone after the Battle of the Little Bighorn.^[11] Touch the Clouds was able to keep most of his band quiet and prevent them from leaving. He asked that they be transferred back home to the Cheyenne River Agency. Dr. James Irwin, agent at Red Cloud, supported the transfer. He noted that Touch the Clouds had been "very obedient and orderly during his stay with me and with his band remained behind when all the others left here."^[12]

The Cheyenne River Reservation[link]

Touch the Clouds and his band finally returned in February 1878 to the Cheyenne River Reservation in central South Dakota. He lived there the remainder of his life.^[13] By the spring of 1882, the last remaining Minneconjou bands had returned to Cheyenne River, bringing together the tribe for the first time in several decades. By this time, only three of the traditional six headmen of the tribe were still alive. In 1882, the Minneconjou either affirmed or appointed new leaders to fill vacancies. Touch the Clouds was confirmed as a "shirt wearer" to fill the position of his late father. The other new leaders selected included White Bull, Big Crow, White Swan and Touch the Bear. At the ceremony, the new leaders sang the following song: "It is hard to be chief; But I do my best to be a chief."^[14]

In 1898, Touch the Clouds traveled to Omaha, Nebraska as part of the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition, where he was photographed by Frank A. Rinehart.^[15]

Touch the Clouds continued to be a vocal advocate for his people for the remainder of his life. In 1884, Rev. Addison Foster visited the Cheyenne River Reservation. Following a church service, Touch the Clouds remained behind "to say that he felt the importance of this new way and that he wished for himself and his people schools and churches."^[16] He died on September 5, 1905, on Cherry Creek, South Dakota.

Touch the Clouds was married at least twice. He had several daughters and at least one son. His oldest son, Amos Charging First, succeeded his father as a community leader,^[17] the next in the dynasty of Minneconjou headmen starting with the great Lone Horn.

Notes[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Touch the Clouds, American Tribes
• Indian genealogy
• Discussion board about Touch the Clouds.

The Clouds
Strepsiades, his son and Socrates (from a 16th-century engraving). The Dramatis Personae in ancient comedy depends on interpretation of textual evidence.[1] This list is based on Alan Sommerstein's translation.[2]
Written by	Aristophanes
Chorus	Clouds (goddesses)
Characters	Strepsiades an elderly farmer Pheidippides his son Slave Two Students at The Thinkery Socrates the philosopher Superior Argument Inferior Argument' First Creditor Second Creditor Chaerephon the philosopher Silent Roles Witness brought by First Creditor Students at the Thinkery Slaves to Strepsiades
Setting	1.House of Strepsiades 2.The Thinkery (Socrates' school)

The Clouds (Νεφέλαι / Nephelai) is a comedy written by the celebrated playwright Aristophanes lampooning intellectual fashions in classical Athens. It was originally produced at the City Dionysia in 423 BC and it was not well received, coming last of the three plays competing at the festival that year. It was revised between 420-417 BC and thereafter it was circulated in manuscript form.^[3] No copy of the original production survives, and scholarly analysis indicates that the revised version is an incomplete form of Old Comedy. This incompleteness, however, is not obvious in translations and modern performances.^[4] The Clouds can be considered not only the world's first extant 'comedy of ideas'^[5] but also a brilliant and successful example of that genre.^[6] The play gained notoriety for its caricature of the philosopher Socrates ever since its mention in Plato's Apology as a factor contributing to the old man's trial and execution.^[7][8]

Plot[link]

Short summary: Faced with legal action for non-payment of debts, Strepsiades, an elderly Athenian, enrolls his son in the "thinkeria" (the "Phrontisterion") so that he might learn the rhetorical skills necessary to defeat their creditors in court. The son thereby learns cynical disrespect for social mores and contempt for authority and he subsequently beats his father up during a domestic argument, in return for which Strepsiades sets The Thinkery on fire.

Detailed summary: The play begins with Strepsiades suddenly sitting up in bed while his son, Pheidippides, remains blissfully asleep in the bed next to him. Strepsiades complains to the audience that he is too worried about household debts to get any sleep – his wife (the pampered product of an aristocratic clan) has encouraged their son's expensive interest in horses. Strepsiades, having thought up a plan to get out of debt, wakes the youth gently and pleads with him to do something for him. Pheidippides at first agrees to do as he's asked then changes his mind when he learns that his father wants to enroll him in The Thinkery, a school for nerds and intellectual bums that no self-respecting, athletic young man dares to be seen with. Strepsiades explains that students of The Thinkery learn how to turn inferior arguments into winning arguments and this is the only way he can beat their aggrieved creditors in court. Pheidippides however will not be persuaded and Strepsiades decides to enroll himself in The Thinkery in spite of his advanced age. There he meets a student who tells him about some of the recent discoveries made by Socrates, the head of The Thinkery, including a new unit of measurement for ascertaining the distance jumped by a flea (a flea's foot, created from a minuscule imprint in wax), the exact cause of the buzzing noise made by a gnat (its arse resembles a trumpet) and a new use for a large pair of compasses (as a kind of fishing-hook for stealing cloaks from pegs over the gymnasium wall). Impressed, Strepsiades begs to be introduced to the man behind these discoveries. The wish is soon granted: Socrates appears overhead, wafted in a basket at the end of a rope, the better to observe the Sun and other meteorological phenomena. The philosopher descends and quickly begins the induction ceremony for the new elderly student, the highlight of which is a parade of the Clouds, the patron goddesses of thinkers and other layabouts. The Clouds arrive singing majestically of the regions whence they arose and of the land they have now come to visit, loveliest in all Greece. Introduced to them as a new devotee, Strepsiades begs them to make him the best orator in Greece by a hundred miles. They reply with the promise of a brilliant future. Socrates leads him into the dingy Thinkery for his first lesson and The Clouds step forward to address the audience.

Putting aside their cloud-like costumes, The Chorus declares that this is the author's cleverest play and that it cost him the greatest effort. It reproaches the audience for the play's failure at the festival, where it was beaten by the works of inferior authors, and it praises the author for originality and for his courage in lampooning influential politicians such as Cleon. The Chorus then resumes its appearance as clouds, promising divine favours if the audience punishes Cleon for corruption and rebuking Athenians for messing about with the calendar, since this has put Athens out of step with the moon.

Socrates returns to the stage in a huff, protesting against the ineptitude of his new elderly student. He summons Strepsiades outside and attempts further lessons, including a form of meditative incubation in which the old man lies under a blanket while thoughts are supposed to arise in his mind naturally. The incubation results in Strepsiades masturbating under the blanket and finally Socrates refuses to have anything more to do with him. The Clouds advise him to find someone younger to do the learning for him. His son, Pheidippides, subsequently yields to threats by Strepsiades and reluctantly returns with him to the Thinkery, where they encounter the personified arguments Superior and Inferior, associates of Socrates. Superior Argument and Inferior Argument debate with each other over which of them can offer the best education. Superior Argument sides with Justice and the gods, offering to prepare Pheidippides for an earnest life of discipline, typical of men who respect the old ways; Inferior Argument, denying the existence of Justice, offers to prepare him for a life of ease and pleasure, typical of men who know how to talk their way out of trouble. At the end of the debate, a quick survey of the audience reveals that buggers - people schooled by Inferior Arguments - have got into the most powerful positions in Athens. Superior Argument accepts his inevitable defeat, Inferior Argument leads Pheidippides into the Thinkery for a life-changing education and Strepsiades goes home happy. The Clouds step forward to address the audience a second time, demanding to be awarded first place in the festival competition, in return for which they promise good rains - otherwise they'll destroy crops, smash roofs and spoil weddings.

The story resumes with Strepsiades returning to The Thinkery to fetch his son. A new Pheidippides emerges, startlingly transformed into the pale nerd and intellectual bum that he had once feared to become. Rejoicing in the prospect of talking their way out of financial trouble, Strepsiades leads the youth home for celebrations, just moments before the first of their aggrieved creditors arrives with a witness to summon him to court. Strepsiades comes back on stage, confronts the creditor and dismisses him contemptuously. A second creditor arrives and receives the same treatment before Strepsiades returns indoors to continue the celebrations. The Clouds sing ominously of a looming debacle and Strepsiades again comes back on stage, now in distress, complaining of a beating that his new son has just given him in a dispute over the celebrations. Pheidippides emerges coolly and insolently debates with his father a father's right to beat his son and a son's right to beat his father. He ends by threatening to beat his mother also, whereupon Strepsiades flies into a rage against The Thinkery, blaming Socrates for his latest troubles. He leads his slaves, armed with torches and mattocks, in a frenzied attack on the disreputable school. The alarmed students are pursued offstage and the Chorus, with nothing to celebrate, quietly departs.

Historical background[link]

The Clouds represents a departure from the main themes of Aristophanes' early plays - Athenian politics, the Peloponnesian War and the need for peace with Sparta. The Spartans had recently stopped their annual invasions of Attica after the Athenians had taken Spartan hostages in the Battle of Sphacteria in 425 and this, coupled with a defeat suffered by the Athenians at the Battle of Delium in 424, had provided the right conditions for a truce. Thus the original production of The Clouds in 423 BC came at a time when Athens was looking forward to a period of peace. Cleon, the populist leader of the pro-war faction in Athens, was a target in all Aristophanes' early plays and his attempts to prosecute Aristophanes for slander in 426 had merely added fuel to the fire. Aristophanes however had singled Cleon out for special treatment in his previous play The Knights in 424 and there are relatively few references to him in The Clouds.

Freed from political and war-time issues, Aristophanes focuses in The Clouds on a broader issue that underlies many conflicts depicted in his plays - the issue of Old versus New, or the battle of ideas.^[9] The scientific speculations of Ionian thinkers such as Thales in the sixth century were becoming commonplace knowledge in Aristophanes' time and this had led, for instance, to a growing belief that civilized society was not a gift from the gods but rather had developed gradually from primitive man's animal-like existence.^[10] Around the time that The Clouds was produced, Democritus at Abdera was developing an atomistic theory of the cosmos and Hippocrates at Cos was establishing an empirical and science-like approach to medicine. Anaxagoras, whose works were studied by Socrates, was living in Athens when Aristophanes was a youth. Anaxagoras enjoyed the patronage of influential figures such as Pericles, but oligarchic elements also had political advocates and Anaxagoras was charged with impiety and expelled from Athens around 437 BC.

The battle of ideas had led to some unlikely friendships that cut across personal and class differences, such as between the socially alert Pericles and the unworldly Anaxagoras, and between the handsome aristocrat, Alcibiades, and the ugly plebeian, Socrates. Socrates moreover had distinguished himself from the crowd by his heroism in the retreat from the battle of Delium and this might have further singled him out for ridicule among his comrades.^[11] He was forty-five years old and in good physical shape when The Clouds was produced^[12] yet he had a face that lent itself easily to caricature by mask-makers and possibly that was a contributing reason for the frequent characterization of him by comic poets.^[13] In fact one of the plays that defeated The Clouds in 423 was called Connus, written by Ameipsias, and it too lampooned Socrates.^[14] There is a famous story, as reported for example by Aelian, according to which Socrates cheerfully rose from his seat during the performance of The Clouds and stood in silent answer to the whispers among foreigners in the festival audience: "Who is Socrates?"^[15]

[edit] Places and people in The Clouds

At one point in The Clouds, the Chorus declares that the author chose Athens for the first performance of the play, implying that he could have produced it somewhere else (line 523). In fact, the Chorus is joking. Tragic poets sometimes produced their plays in other cities (Euripides' play Andromache for example was possibly performed in Argos just before The Clouds appeared at the City Dionysia)^[16] yet comic poets in Aristophanes' time wrote specifically for local audiences and their plays were studded with topical jokes that only a local audience could understand. The following places and personalities are mentioned in The Clouds and they are explained and listed in various editions of the play.^[17][18][19]

Places

• Cicynna (or Kikynna): A deme belonging to the tribe Acamantis. It is Strepsiades' deme (line 134) and he looks for it incredulously on a map in The Thinkery (210).
• Sphettus: Another deme belonging to the Acamantis tribe. It is said to be the deme of Chaerephon (line 156) and it is mentioned also in Wealth II^[20]
• Pylos: A locale associated with the Battle of Sphacteria, in which Athenians captured many Spartan hoplites. The students of The Thinkery resemble the Spartan captives (line 186). Pylos is frequently mentioned in other plays.^[21]
• Attica: The country around Athens. It appears on a map in The Thinkery (line 209) and it is home to the Attic look - the arch look of a trouble-maker who pretends to be the victim (1176). Attica is rarely mentioned by name in the surviving plays.^[22]
• Euboia: A long island adjacent to Attica. It had revolted from Athenian control in 446 BC and it had been 'laid out' (flattened as in a map) by an Athenian army that included Strepsiades (line 211). The island is mentioned also in The Wasps.^[23]
• Byzantium: A Greek colony that used iron coinage. It is mentioned only because of a pun on 'nomisma'/'nomos' - currency/custom (line 249). It is mentioned again in The Wasps.^[24]
• Nile, Maiotis, Mimas: A river, marsh and mountain respectively. They are mentioned by Socrates as the kind of places from which the Clouds might set out for Athens (lines 272-3). The Nile is mentioned again in Thesmophoriazusae.^[25]
• Parnes: A mountain north of Athens. Socrates instructs Strepsiades to look towards the mountain for the arriving clouds (line 323) but in fact the mountain cannot be seen from the Theatre of Dionysus.
• Thurioi: A colony founded by Athens between 446-443 BC. Its foundation had inspired numerous oracle-mongers and these are included among the clients of the Clouds (line 332).
• Sounion: A promontory associated with the cult of Poseidon. It is sometimes struck by thunderbolts and this is proof that the cosmos are governed by material causes (line 401). Sounion is mentioned in two other plays.^[26]
• The cave of Trophonius: The site of a terrifying Boeotian cult to the hero Trophonius. Strepsiades dreads entering The Thinkery just as if it were this cave (line 508)
• Cynthia or Mount Cynthus: A rocky height on Delos associated with the cult of Apollo. It is mentioned by the Clouds in an invocation to Apollo (line 596).
• Ephesus: The site of a cult of Artemis (Diana of the Ephesians) whose devotees included Lydians. Ephesus and the Lydians are mentioned by the Clouds in an invocation to Artemis (line 598).
• Parnassus: A mountain associated with the cult of Dionysus (as practised by the Maenads) overlooking Delphi, one of the most sacred sites in ancient Greece. It is mentioned by the Clouds in an invocation to Dionysus (line 603). The mountain is mentioned also in The Frogs^[27] and there are references to the town and people of Delphi in The Wasps and The Birds.^[28]
• Thessaly: A region whose women were popularly associated with witchcraft. Strepsiades thinks of buying a Thessalian slave who could postpone the monthly settlement of accounts by bewitching the moon for him (line 749). Thessaly is mentioned in two other plays.^[29]
• Marathon: The site of Athens' historic victory against the Persians. The generation of Athenians responsible for that victory were men educated in the Superior way (line 986). There are patriotic mentions of Marathon in several plays.^[30]
• Academy: The site of a public park and gymnasium just outside Athens (later famous as the site of Plato's school). A student trained in the Superior way would exercise there among the sacred olives (line 1005).
• Baths of Heracles: Natural springs of warm water were named after Heracles, who had received them as a gift from Hephaestus. They are mentioned by Inferior as proof that men who indulge in such luxuries are manly (line 1051).
• Egypt: A land notoriously subject to unseasonable annual flooding by the Nile. According to the Clouds, any judge who fails to award victory to this play might wish to have been born in Egypt after they've finished with him (line 1130). Egypt is a curiosity referred to in several plays.^[31]

Foreigners and foreign influences

• Persians: A dominant force in Asia, they were popularly associated with despotism and with luxurious indolence. Thus women's shoes in Athens were known as 'Persian', contrary to men's shoes, which were known as Laconian. Socrates makes some Persian shoes for a flea in an effort to measure the length of a flea's foot (line 151). There are references to Persians and their influence in other plays.^[32]
• Thales: A 6th-century Ionian philosopher from Miletus. He is a mere nobody compared to Socrates (line 180). His name appears also in The Birds.^[33]
• Prodicus: A contemporary sophist and natural philosopher from Ceos but resident in Athens. The Clouds respect him for his wisdom (line 361). He is mentioned also in The Birds.^[34]
• Herodotus: A contemporary historian from Halicarnassus famous for his exotic accounts of various nations and their customs, which many Athenians found hilarious. A word used to denote a very old-fashioned individual (bekkeselene!, line 398) might have been an allusion by Aristophanes to Herodotus' account of an experiment by the Egyptian Pharaoh to determine humanity's original language, which Pharaoh concluded to be Phrygian on the grounds that the Phrygian word for bread (bekkos) was the first word spoken by some infants who had never been taught to speak.^[35] There are also comic allusions to Herodotus in The Acharnians.
• Corinthians: Allies of the Spartans and ancient rivals of the Athenians in trade. A half pun identifies them with bugs (coreis) when Strepsiades complains that he has been bitten by Corinthians (line 710). There are many references in the other plays to Corinth and its citizens.^[36]
• Diagoras: An free-thinker from Melos and a resident of Athens, popularly believed to be an atheist. The Melian is used as an epithet for Socrates (line 830) apparently on the grounds that he is an atheist like Diagoras. Diagoras is mentioned in two other plays.^[37]

Religious, historic and mythical identities

• Coisura: A mostly legendary figure and a byword for luxury. Strepsiades regards her as a symbol of his own wife (lines 48, 800). Coisura is mentioned earlier in The Acharnians.^[38]
• Colias: An epithet of Aphrodite, who had a sanctuary of that name at Anaphlystus, on the coast near Sounion. Strepsiades compares his wife to Colias and to the Genetullidae, women's goddesses who shared the Anaphlystus sanctuary (line 52). Colias and the Genetullidae are mentioned also in Lysistrata^[39] and the latter once more in Thesmophoriazusae.^[40]
• Athamas: A legendary king of Boeotia and the subject of two plays by Sophocles, in one of which he is depicted as a sacrificial victim at the altar of Zeus. Strepsiades fears that his induction into The Thinkery will turn him into another Athamas (line 257).
• Cecrops: A legendary king of Athens. He is mentioned by the Clouds as they arrive in Athens (line 301) and there are references to him in the other plays.^[41]
• Typhoeus: A hundred-headed giant. Strepsiades mentions him when describing clouds in exaggerated terms loosely borrowed from dithyrambic poets (line 336). There is another mention in The Knights.^[42]
• Eleusinian Mysteries: An Athenian cult of Demeter with secret rites promising eternal life to initiates. The Clouds refer to the mysteries without naming them (lines 302-4).
• Panathenaia: A yearly festival celebrating Athena's birth. Strepsiades compares the noise of thunder to the sound made in his stomach by festival soup (line 386) and Superior objects to feeble performances of the Pyrrhic dance that he has witnessed at the festival lately (988). The Panathenaia is mentioned by name in two other plays.^[43]
• Kronia: A humble festival leading up to the Panathenaia. Socrates accuses Strepsiades of smelling of this festival i.e. being old-fashioned (line 398).
• Diasia: A winter festival. Strepsiades was barbecuing meat for relatives at this festival when a bladder exploded like lightning (line 408) and he once bought a toy cart for Pheidippides during the festivities (864).
• Electra: A mythical figure spurned by her own mother. This play resembles her i.e. it was spurned by the original audience (line 534).
• Memnon and Sarpedon: Mythical heroes. Their deaths are mourned by the gods on days that are marked for festivals by the revised Athenian calendar (line 622). Memnon is mentioned again in The Frogs.^[44]
• Telephus: A legendary Mysian king and the subject of a controversial play by Euripides in which he appeared as a beggar. Superior compares Inferior to a beggar-like Telephus (line 922). Aristophanes lampoons the Euripidean play in The Acharnians and Thesmophoriazusae. Telephus is mentioned also in The Frogs.^[45]
• Dipolieia: A sober festival in honour of Zeus Polieus featuring a sacrificial rite called Bouphonia. Inferior accuses Superior of resembling this festival and of being full of Bouphonia i.e. he is old fashioned (lines 984-5). The Dipolieia is mentioned also in Peace.^[46]
• Tritogeneia: An epithet for Athena. Superior considers a poor performance of the pyrrhic dance to be an insult to Tritogeneia (line 989). The epithet is used also in Knights and Lysistrata.^[47]
• Iapetus: A Titan and brother of Cronos. Young men sometimes use his name as an epithet for their fathers i.e. their fathers are old-fashioned (line 998).
• Peleus: A mythical hero who was banished to the wilderness after being falsely accused of adultery and who was given a knife by Hephaestus as protection from wild beasts. Superior cites the gift of the knife as an example of the rewards that come with virtue (lines 1063). Superior also mentions his subsequent marriage to Thetis as another reward for virtue (1067). Peleus is mentioned again in The Frogs.^[48]
• Solon: A lawgiver often credited with establishing Athenian democracy. The educated Pheidippides demonstrates how Solon's intentions can be interpreted so as to subvert his laws (line 1187). Solon is also named in The Birds.^[49]
• Protenthai: Officials responsible for preparing food for the Apaturia festivals. They are suspected of sampling the food (line 1198).

Athenians

• Megacles: An illustrious name denoting various aristocrats in Athenian history. Strepsiades' aristocratic wife can number more than one Megacles in her family tree (lines 46, 70, 124, 815).
• Chaerephon: A loyal friend and disciple of Socrates, well known for his pallor. He is mentioned by name several times within the play (lines 144, 156, 503, 831, 1465) and some editors include him as a character at the end of the play - a speaking role otherwise denoted in the dramatis personae as 'student'. He is referred to also in The Wasps and The Birds.^[50]
• Leogoras: A wealthy aristocrat, father of the orator Andocides and related by marriage to Pericles. He bred pheasants (or horses) that Pheidippides wouldn't trade his self-respect for (line 109). He is named also in The Wasps.^[51]
• Pericles: The dominant politician in pre-war Athens who once famously bribed a Spartan general to avoid battle and subsequently accounted for the bribe as "lost according to need". Strepsiades recalls how Pericles flattened Boeotia (line 213) and he accounts for the theft of his shoes at The Thinkery in Periclean terms as "lost according to need" (859). Pericles is mentioned in three other plays.^[52]
• Hieronymus, son of Xenophantus: A notoriously hairy guy. The Clouds imitate him when they seem to resemble centaurs (line 349). His long hair made him appear invisible in an earlier play The Acharnians.^[53]
• Simon: He was well known to his contemporaries as a thief of public money and a perjuror (lines 351, 399), otherwise obscure.
• Cleonymus: A conspicuous figure in Athens, he had recently lost his shield in the retreat from Delium. The Clouds imitate him when they seem to resemble timid deer (line 353), he is a perjuror (400) and his name should be declined like a feminine noun (673-80). He is frequently the target of jokes.^[54]
• Cleisthenes: A notoriously effete man. The Clouds imitate him when they seem to resemble women (line 355). He appears as a character in The Acharnians and Thesmophoriazusae and he is also mentioned in other plays.^[55]
• Theorus: An associate of Cleon. He is another man who should be struck by thunderbolts for perjury (line 400). He is named in another three plays.^[56]
• Cleon: The populist leader of the pro-war faction. He was at the height of his power when Aristophanes attacked him in his plays (line 549), meteorological omens had warned Athens not to trust him and the gods will favour Athens once more after he is punished for corruption (581-91). He was the antagonist in The Knights, where he was represented as a Paphlagonian slave, and he is often mentioned in other early plays.^[57]
• Hyperbolus: A colleague of Cleon and eventually his successor as populist leader of Athens. He and his mother are an easy target for inferior dramatists (lines 551-58), the wind blew off his chaplet when he represented Athens at the Amphictyonic League, he paid a fortune to learn how to speak properly (876) and he made much more than that through wickedness (1065). He is ridiculed in other plays also.^[58]
• Sostrate: A common female name used here only to demonstrate the comic potential of a rational approach to grammar (line 678). The name occurs in other plays.^[59]
• Philoxenus, Amynias, Melesias: Athenians whose manhood was open to question. Traditional grammar does not always identify the gender of such names and this might be appropriate in their case (line 686). Philoxenus was notoriously effete and he is mentioned again in Wasps.^[60] Amynias became a general in the year that The Clouds was performed and comic poets at about this time lampooned him for his effeminacy, pretensions and financial problems.^[61] He too is mentioned again in The Wasps.^[62]
• Pandeletus: Unknown individual, possibly a politician and a sycophant. According to Superior, Inferior feeds on scraps belonging to Pandeletus.
• Hippocrates: Probably the general reported by Thucydides to have died in the Battle of Delium,^[63] his sons are mocked in comedy as simpletons. According to Inferior, any student of Superior ends up resembling the sons of Hippocrates (line 1001).
• Antimachus: A man of this name had been Aristophanes' choregus in 427-6 BC and he was mocked in The Acharnians for a lack of generosity.^[64] According to Superior, students of Inferior turn out to be buggers like Antimachus (line 1022).

Poets

• Eupolis: A major comic poet and a rival of Aristophanes. The Chorus accuses him of stealing material for his play Maricas from Aristophanes' The Knights and from Phrynichus' Andromeda (lines 553-6). Phrynichus, the comic poet, is mentioned again in The Frogs.^[65] Eupolis in fact produced Maricas in 421 BC, two years after The Clouds was produced (see The Clouds and Old Comedy).
• Hermippus: Another comic poet, victorious at the City Dionysia in 436. His play The Breadsellers is typical of the works of inferior poets who attack easy targets (line 557).
• Stesichorus: A renowned poet from Sicily. He is not mentioned in this play but he is possibly the author of a quoted description of Athena as a sacker of cities (line 967). He is later quoted in Peace.^[66]
• Phrynis: A Mytilenean citharode who won a prize at the Panathenaea in 456 BC. He is condemned by Superior as a corruptor of music (line 971).
• Ceceides: A dithyrambic poet. According to Inferior, he is typical of Superior's old-fashioned tastes (line 985).
• Homer: The great bard. He denoted the wise counsellor, Nestor, as agoretes (Iliad i.248 and iv.293). According to Inferior, this is proof that it is alright to loiter in the agora (line 1056) though in fact it merely demonstrates a change in the word's significance. Homer is named in three other plays.^[67]
• Euripides: A renowned tragic poet and a controversial figure in his own time. Laments from one of his plays ^[68] are parodied by Strepsiades (lines 718-9 and 1165-6). Pheidippides considers him the cleverest of poets (1377), he particularly enjoys his depiction of incest in Aiolus and he quotes from Alcestis^[69] in defense of his right to beat his father (1415). Euripides is frequently the butt of jokes in Aristophanes' plays and he appears as a ludicrous character in The Acharnians, Thesmophoriazusae and The Frogs.
• Carcinus: A naval commander in 431 BC and a tragic poet. One of his sons, Xenocles, was also a tragic poet, good enough to defeat Euripides at the City Dionysia in 415.^[70] Strepsiades imagines he can hear a lament from one of Carcinus' daemons (line 1261) though it is unclear if this refers to a character from one of Carcinus' plays or if it refers to Xenocles in tragic mode. Lines from one of their plays are subsequently parodied in the lament of the second creditor (lines 1264-5). Carcinus' sons appeared as dancers in The Wasps and their dancing skills were subsequently mocked in Peace.
• Simonides: A renowned poet. Strepsiades asked Pheidippides to recite verses from his poem The Ram (line 1356) but Pheidipiides dislikes his poetry (1362). Simonides is mentioned also in Peace and The Birds.^[71]
• Aeschylus: A renowned tragic poet. Strepsiades likes his poetry but Pheidippides thinks it is full of smoke (line 1366). Aeschylus is a character in The Frogs and he is mentioned in other plays.^[72]

Discussion[link]

Plato appears to have considered The Clouds a contributing factor in Socrates' trial and execution in 399 BCE. There is some support for his opinion even in the modern age.^[73] Aristophanes' plays however were generally unsuccessful in shaping public attitudes on important questions, as evidenced by their ineffectual opposition to the Peloponnesian War and to populists such as Cleon. Moreover the trial of Socrates followed Athens' traumatic defeat by Sparta, many years after the performance of the play, when suspicions about the philosopher were fuelled by public animosity towards his disgraced associates (such as Alcibiades).^[74]

Socrates is presented in The Clouds as a petty thief, a fraud and a sophist with a specious interest in physical speculations. However, it is still possible to recognize in him the distinctive individual defined in Plato's dialogues.^[75] The practice of ascetism (as for example idealized by the Chorus in lines 412-19), disciplined, introverted thinking (as described by the Chorus in lines 700-6) and conversational dialectic (as described by Socrates in lines 489-90) appear to be caricatures of Socratic behaviours later described more sympathetically by Plato. The Aristophanic Socrates is much more interested in physical speculations than is Plato's Socrates yet it is possible that the real Socrates did take a strong interest in such speculations during his development as a philosopher^[76] and there is some support for this in Plato's dialogue Phaedo 96A.

It has been argued that Aristophanes caricatured a 'pre-Socratic' Socrates and that the philosopher depicted by Plato was a more mature thinker who had been influenced by such criticism.^[75] Conversely, it is possible that Aristophanes' caricature of the philosopher merely reflects his own ignorance of philosophy.^[77] According to yet another view, The Clouds can best be understood in relation to Plato's works, as evidence of an historic rivalry between poetic and philosophical modes of thought.^[78]

The Clouds and Old Comedy[link]

During the parabasis proper (518-62), the Chorus reveals that the original play was badly received when it was produced. References in the same parabasis to a play by Eupolis called Maricas (produced in 421) and criticism of the populist politician Hyperbolus (ostracized in 416) indicate that the second version of The Clouds was probably composed somewhere between 421-16 BC. The parabasis also includes an appeal to the audience to prosecute Cleon for corruption. Since Cleon died in 422 it can be assumed that this appeal was retained from the original production in 423 and thus the extant play must be a partial revision of the original play.^[79]

The revised play is an incomplete form of Old Comedy. Old Comedy conventionally limits the number of actors to three or four yet there are already three actors on stage when Superior and Inferior enter the action and there is no song at that point that would allow for a change of costume. The play is unusually serious for an Old Comedy and possibly this was the reason why the original play failed at the City Dionysia.^[73] As a result of this seriousness, there is no celebratory song in the exodus, and this also is an uncharacteristic omission. A typical Aristophanic Chorus, even if it starts out as hostile to the protagonist, is hardly more than the protagonist's cheer squad by the end of the play. In The Clouds however, the Chorus appears sympathetic at first but emerges as a virtual antagonist by the end of the play.

The play adapts the following elements Old Comedy in a variety of novel ways.

• Parodos: The arrival of the Chorus in this play is unusual in that the singing begins offstage some time before the Chorus appears. It is possible that the concealed Chorus was not fully audible to the audience and this might have been a factor in the original play's failure.^[80] Moreover the majestic opening song is more typical of tragedy than comedy.^[81]
• Parabasis: The parabasis proper (lines 518-62) is composed in eupolidean tetrameter rather than the conventional anapestic tetrameter. Aristophanes does not use eupolideans in any other of his extant plays.^[82] The first parabasis (510-626) is otherwise conventional. However the second parabasis (1113–30) is in a shortened form, comprising an epirrhema in trochaic tetrameter but without the songs and the antepirrhema needed for a conventional, symmetrical scene.
• Agon: The play has two agons. The first is between Superior and Inferior (949-1104). Superior's arguments are in conventional anapestic tetrameter but Inferior presents his case in iambic tetrameters, a variation that Aristophanes reserves for arguments that are not to be taken seriously.^[83] A similar distinction between anapestic and iambic arguments is made in the agons in The Knights^[84] and The Frogs.^[85] The second agon in The Clouds is between Strepsiades and his son (1345–1451) and it is in iambic tetrameter for both speakers.
• Episodes: Informal dialogue between characters is conventionally in iambic trimeter. However the scene introducing Superior and Inferior is conducted in short lines of anapestic rhythm (889-948). Later, in the agon between Strepsiades and his son, a line of dialogue in iambic trimeter (1415) - adapted from Euripides play Alcestis - is inserted into a speech in iambic tetrameter, a transition that seems uncharacteristically clumsy.^[86]

Translations[link]

• William James Hickie, 1853 - prose, full text
• Benjamin B. Rogers, 1924 - verse
• Arthur S. Way, 1934 - verse
• Robert Henning Webb, 1960 - verse
• William Arrowsmith, 1962 - prose and verse
• Thomas G. West & Grace Starry West, 1984 - prose
• Peter Meineck, 1998 - prose
• 2000, Charles Connaghan (prose), John Curtis Franklin (metrical translation of choral lyrics) [1] [2]
• Ian Johnston, 2003 - verse
• Edward Tomlinson, Simon R B Andrews & Alexandra Outhwaite 2007 - prose and verse (for Kaloi k'Agathoi)
• Theodoridis, George,2007 -prose, full text [3]
• Michael A. Tueller, 2011 - prose

Performances[link]

• The Oxford University Dramatic Society staged it in the original Greek in 1905, with C.W.Mercer as Strepsiades and Compton Mackenzie as Pheidippides.^[87]

• Nottingham New Theatre staged an adaptation of the play from 17–20 March 2009. It was directed by Michael Moore; with Alexander MacGillivray as Strepsiades, Lucy Preston as Pheidippides and Topher Collins as Socrates.

Citations[link]

References[link]

• Dover, K.J. (1970). Aristophanes:Clouds. Oxford University Press. 

External links[link]

• The Clouds translated by William James Hickie at Project Gutenberg
• The Clouds translated by Ian Johnston
• The Clouds: A Study Guide
• John Curtis Franklin - Aristophanes Clouds Essay
• On Satire in Aristophanes's The Clouds has a very good analysis of The Clouds and on satire in general.(Includes full version of the text with commentaries)

v t e Surviving plays by Aristophanes The Acharnians The Knights The Clouds The Wasps Peace The Birds Lysistrata Thesmophoriazusae The Frogs Assemblywomen Plutus

Inspectah Deck
Inspectah Deck performing with the Wu-Tang Clan.
Background information
Birth name	Jason Hunter
Born	(1970-07-06) July 6, 1970 (age 41) The Bronx, New York City, New York
Origin	Staten Island, New York
Genres	Hip Hop
Occupations	Rapper, Producer, actor
Years active	1991–present
Labels	Loud, Relativity, Koch, Urban Icon, Traffic
Associated acts	Wu-Tang Clan, The Housegang, Kurupt, Gang Starr, Big Pun, 7l & Esoteric

Jason Hunter, (born July 6, 1970) better known by his stage name Inspectah Deck, is an American rapper, producer, and member of the Wu-Tang Clan. Although he has not gained the same level of mainstream success in his solo career as some of his Wu-Tang counterparts like Method Man,^[1] he has acquired critical praise for his intricate lyricism, and for his verses on many of the group's most revered songs.^[2] He has growingly become a producer in his own right, taking up tracks for fellow clansmen and his own projects.

Background[link]

Early career[link]

Born July 6, 1970, Hunter routinely mentions the Park Hill Projects in Clifton, Staten Island, where he grew up, going to school with the future Method Man, Raekwon, and Ghostface Killah.^[3] Coming from a musical family, his father died when he was six years old, and seeing his mother support the family contributed to his laid-back, quiet mentality; this led to his stage name, as he decided to play a low-key counterbalance to the antics of Method Man, Ol' Dirty Bastard, and RZA.^[4] This is also referenced by Method Man at the end of the track "Can it Be All So Simple?" on Wu-Tang's debut album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) :

Despite this inconspicuous persona, Inspectah Deck maintained a relatively high profile, as he was the second most featured member on the album, and provided highly acclaimed verses for the singles "C.R.E.A.M.," "Protect Ya Neck," "Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing ta Fuck Wit," and "Da Mystery of Chessboxin'." In the years following, Hunter would appear on several Wu members' solo projects, including Method Man's Tical (1994), Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… (1995), GZA's Liquid Swords (1995), and Ghostface Killah's Ironman (1996). On Wu-Tang's second group album, Wu-Tang Forever (1997), Deck produced the track "Visionz" and contributed a solo track, "The City", as well as writing one of the most critically acclaimed verses in hip-hop on the group's hit single "Triumph". He would also provide production for some of his Wu cohorts, including "Elements" and "Spazzola" for Method Man's Tical 2000: Judgement Day (1998), "Kiss of a Black Widow" for RZA's RZA as Bobby Digital in Stereo (1998), and the title track for GZA's Beneath the Surface (1999).

Solo career[link]

Inspectah Deck's debut album Uncontrolled Substance was initially set for a late 1997 release, however, this experienced several delays due to a flood in producer RZA's basement studio, which destroyed over one hundred beats, including those made for the album. Wu-Tang affiliate Cilvaringz stated in a 2010 interview "Recently Deck pulled out some disks from the flood and they worked again and he used one for his upcoming album on Koch."^[5] In September 1999, Uncontrolled Substance was released, and featured more of Deck's own production, and appearances from several lesser known affiliates. The album received generally favorable reviews from music critics, but failed to garner the reception attained by earlier Wu-Tang solo projects. Shortly after this release, Deck returned to the Wu-Tang fold for the group albums The W (2000), and Iron Flag (2001).

In 2003, Inspectah Deck released his second studio album, The Movement (for which he would later state did not live up to his expectations),^[6] and in 2006, he released The Resident Patient, intended as a precursor to The Movement. In 2007, the rapper reconvened with the Wu-Tang Clan to record the group album 8 Diagrams. Along with Raekwon, and Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck partook in the controversy, sparked when several group members disparaged RZA's tight artistic control of the album, championing Ghost's album The Big Doe Rehab. In regards to these disagreements, Deck stated in an interview:

Around this time, the rapper announced his up-coming project The Rebellion, confirming production from RZA and the Wu-Elements; it is now set to come after The Resident Patient II, and will reportedly be his final album as a solo artist.^[7]

On March 23, 2010, Inspectah Deck released his third solo album The Manifesto, which features guest-appearances from Raekwon, Cormega, Termanology, Planet Asia, Cappadonna, Kurupt, and M.O.P.'s Billy Danze. In 2008, a mixtape entitled The Resident Patient II was leaked on to the internet; this features some original material, as well as freestyles over other artists' songs. Inspectah Deck stated in an interview that The Manifesto was meant to be the originally announced full-length sequel, Resident Patient II.

Since early 2010, Inspectah Deck has begun work on the The Rebellion, and has expressed his interest in working with several Wu-Tang members, as well as Snoop Dogg, E-40, Nas & Jadakiss on the album. He had mentioned in an interview with Conspiracy Radio that he will only retire from solo albums if the fans don't show support for The Manifesto and The Rebellion.^[8] He has also mentioned his plans to release an instrumental album of his own production, entitled 'The Bodyrock Volume 1', which is inspired by the instrumental albums released by Alchemist, Ayatollah, and Pete Rock.^[9]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Singles and EPs[link]

• 1995 "Let Me At Em"
• 1996 "Semi-Automatic Rap Full Metal Jacket"
• 1998 "REC Room"
• 1999 "Forget Me Not"
• 1999 "Show N Prove (Power of God)"
• 1999 "Word on the Street" b/w "Movas & Shakers"
• 2000 "Thundercats Freestyle"
• 2003 "The Movement" b/w "City High"
• 2003 "He's a Rebel" b/w "Big City"
• 2003 "Bump & Grind" b/w "Vendetta"
• 2010 "The Champion"

Appears on[link]

^[13]

2012 "how you do that" | Illmaculate | Skrill Talk

Production Credits[link]

1995

Wu-Tang Clan - Tales from the Hood The Soundtrack

• "Let Me at Them"

1997

Wu-Tang Clan - Wu-Tang Forever

• "Visionz"

1998

Inspectah Deck (ft. Streetlife) - Wu-Tang Killa Bees: The Swarm

• "S.O.S."

Method Man - Tical 2000: Judgement Day

• "Spazzola"
• "Elements"

RZA - Bobby Digital In Stereo

• "Kiss Of A Black Widow"

1999

GZA - Beneath The Surface

• "Beneath The Surface"

Inspectah Deck - Uncontrolled Substance

• "Femme Fatale"
• "Word on the Street"
• "Elevation"
• "Hyperdermix"
• "The Cause"

U-God - Golden Arms Redemption

• "Glide"

2000

Ghostface Killah - Supreme Clientele

• "Stay True"

2001

Cappadonna - The Yin and the Yang

• "Revenge"

2005

Streetlife - Street Education

• "A Star Is Born"

2006

Inspectah Deck - The Resident Patient

• "Get Ya Weight Up"
• "My Style"

2009

Fes Taylor - Flight 10304 (T-2 Fly)

• "Show Something"
• "CMG Salutes La Banga"

2010

Inspectah Deck - Manifesto

• "Luv Letter"
• "T.R.U.E."
• "We Get Down"
• "9th Chamber Part II"
• "Really Real"

2011

Masta Killa - Loyalty Is Royalty

• "Are You Listening?"

References[link]

Gilles Bousquet, better known by the stage name Mr. Flash^[1] is a French DJ and musician signed to Ed Banger Records.

Bousquet started producing tracks since 1999 under the name Flash Gordon. His first release, 'Le Voyage Fantastique' was released on his own label, Lust Island in 2001.^[2] After meeting Pedro Winter, then manager of Daft Punk and looking to start a new record label, Bousquet's 'Radar Rider' was to become the first release on Winter's Ed Banger Records.^[3] In addition to releasing his own music, Bousquet also works as a Hip Hop producer, working with artists including Mos Def,^[1] and has contributed remixes to other artists including Mr. Oizo^[4] and Kanye West.^[5]

Discography[link]

Le Voyage Fantastique (Lust Island 2001)

Radar Rider / F.I.S.T (Ed Banger Records 2003)

Monsieur Sexe (Ed Banger Records 2005)

Supa Chick / Chop Suey (Arcade Mode 2005)

Champions / Disco Dynamite (12") (Ed Banger Records 2006)

Paranoid (Mr Flash Remix) (File, MP3) (Ed Banger Records 2009)^[6]

Blood, Sweat & Tears (EP) (Ed Banger Records 2010)

See also[link]

• Ed Banger Records

External links[link]

• Mr Flash on MySpace

References[link]

This Awards and achievements succession box's factual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information. Please help improve the article by updating it. There may be additional information on the talk page. (April 2012)

Miley Cyrus
Cyrus at the 2012 People's Choice Awards
Background information
Birth name	Destiny Hope Cyrus
Born	(1992-11-23) November 23, 1992 (age 19) Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.[1]
Genres	Pop,[2] country pop, dance, electropop, teen pop
Occupations	Actress, musician
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano
Years active	2001–present
Labels	Walt Disney, Hollywood
Associated acts	Hannah Montana, Billy Ray Cyrus, Demi Lovato
Website	MileyCyrus.com Signature of Miley Cyrus.

Miley Ray Cyrus (born Destiny Hope Cyrus; November 23, 1992) is an American actress and pop singer-songwriter. She achieved wide fame for her role as Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel sitcom Hannah Montana.

Cyrus recorded music for the soundtracks, Hannah Montana (2006) and Hannah Montana 2/Meet Miley Cyrus (2007), released by Walt Disney Records. With the success of the Hannah Montana franchise she established herself as a teen idol. In 2007, Cyrus signed to Hollywood Records to pursue a solo career. She embarked upon the Best of Both Worlds Tour the same year, in which she performed as both herself and in character as Hannah Montana. The tour was eventually turned into a high-grossing concert film titled Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert (2008). In July 2008, Cyrus released her first solo album, Breakout (2008), which was commercially successful.

She began her foray into film by providing the voice of "Penny" in the animated film Bolt (2008). Cyrus earned a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song for her performance of Bolt's theme song, "I Thought I Lost You". She also reprised her role as Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana in Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009). The Hannah Montana: The Movie' soundtrack introduced her to new audiences within country and adult contemporary markets.

She began to cultivate an adult image in 2009 with the release of The Time of Our Lives (2009), an extended play which presented a more mainstream pop sound, and by filming The Last Song (2010), a coming-of-age drama film. The former included Cyrus's best-selling single, "Party in the U.S.A." (2009). A studio album titled Can't Be Tamed was released in 2010 and presents a new dance-pop sound. The music video and lyrics of the album's lead single, "Can't Be Tamed", portrays a more sexualized image for the entertainer. Cyrus ranked number thirteen on Forbes' 2010 Celebrity 100.^[3] For the 2011 Guinness World Records, she was named the “Most Charted Teenager” following her 29th US Billboard Hot 100 chart entry on November 7, 2009 with “Party in the USA”.^[4]

Early life[link]

Cyrus at the 2010 Academy Awards.

Cyrus was born on November 23, 1992, in Nashville, Tennessee, to Letitia Jean "Tish"^[5] (née Finley) and country singer Billy Ray Cyrus.^[6][7] Her parents named her Destiny Hope because they believed that she would accomplish great things with her life. They gave her the nickname "Smiley", which was later shortened to "Miley", because she smiled so often as a baby.^[8] Cyrus suffers from a mild heart condition causing tachycardia which, though not dangerous, is often bothersome.^[9]

Against the wishes of her father's record company,^[10] Cyrus's parents secretly married a year after Cyrus's birth on December 28, 1993.^[7][11] Tish had two children from a previous relationship: Trace and Brandi. Billy Ray adopted Trace and Brandi when they were young.^[12] She has a half-brother, Christopher Cody, Billy Ray's son from a brief relationship, born the same year as Miley; he grew up with his mother in South Carolina.^[10] Tish and Billy Ray had two more children, Braison and Noah. Cyrus's godmother is entertainer Dolly Parton.^[13] Cyrus was very close to her paternal grandfather, Democratic politician Ronald Ray Cyrus.^[14] Cyrus has paid her grandfather several tributes since his death in 2006, including eventually changing her middle name to "Ray".^[15] According to Cyrus's father, "A lot of people say Miley changed her name to Miley Ray because of Billy Ray, but that's not true. She did that in honor of my dad, because the two of them just loved each other to pieces."^[9]

Cyrus grew up on a 500-acre (2.0 km²) farm in Franklin, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville,^[16] and attended Heritage Elementary School.^[17] She was raised Christian and was baptized in a Southern Baptist church prior to moving to Hollywood in 2005. She attended church regularly while growing up and wore a purity ring.^[18] Several of Cyrus's siblings also eventually entered the entertainment business: Trace became a vocalist and guitarist for the electronic pop band Metro Station,^[19] Noah became an actress, and Brandi became a guitarist.^[20]

Career[link]

2001–05: Career beginnings[link]

In 2001, when Cyrus was eight, she and her family moved to Toronto, Canada while her father filmed the television series Doc.^[21] Cyrus said watching her father film the show inspired her to pursue acting. After Billy Ray took her to see a 2001 Mirvish production of Mamma Mia! at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, Cyrus grabbed his arm and told him, "This is what I want to do, daddy. I want to be an actress."^[22] She began taking singing and acting classes at the Armstrong Acting Studio in Toronto.^[23] In her first role, Cyrus played a girl named Kylie on Doc.^[8] In 2003, Cyrus was credited under her birth name for her role as "Young Ruthie" in Tim Burton's Big Fish.^[24]

At age 11, Cyrus learned about the casting for what became Hannah Montana, a Disney Channel children's television series about a school girl with a secret double life as a teen pop star. Cyrus sent in a tape auditioning for the show's best friend role, but received a call asking her to audition for the lead, "Chloe Stewart".^[1] After sending in a new tape and flying to Hollywood for further auditions,^[25] Cyrus was told that she was too young and too small for the part.^[25][26] However, her persistence and ability to sing in addition to act led the show's producers to invite her back for further auditions. Cyrus eventually received the lead, renamed "Miley Stewart" after herself, at the age of twelve.^[25] During this time, she also auditioned with Taylor Lautner for the feature film The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D and it came down to her and another actress, but Cyrus started doing Hannah Montana instead.^[27]

As Cyrus's career took off, Tish Cyrus made several critical decisions regarding her daughter's representation. She signed Cyrus with Mitchell Gossett, director of the youth division at Cunningham Escott Slevin Doherty. Gossett, who specializes in creating child stars, had arranged for Cyrus's auditions for Hannah Montana and is credited with "discovering" her.^[28][29] For Cyrus's music career, Tish followed the advice of Dolly Parton, Cyrus's godmother and a singer herself, and signed Cyrus with Jason Morey of Morey Management Group. "Dolly said the Moreys are people you can trust around your daughter," Tish Cyrus recalls, "and she said they have good morals, which is not always the case in this business."^[30] According to trade magazine The Hollywood Reporter, Parton's advice was "the best advice [Tish] could [have gotten] on who should rep her daughter."^[30] Tish also recruited Billy Ray's business manager to manage her daughter's finances. Tish herself continues to co-manage or produce many of Cyrus's career decisions.^[30] For her education, Cyrus enrolled at Options for Youth Charter Schools^[31] and studied with a private tutor on the set of her television show.^[32]

[edit] 2006–07: Hannah Montana and Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus

Cyrus performing on the Best of Both Worlds Tour

Hannah Montana became an instant hit and propelled Cyrus to teen idol status, according to The Daily Telegraph.^[24] The series premiered on March 26, 2006, to the largest audience ever for a Disney Channel show^[33] and soon became one of the highest-rated series on basic cable, elevating Cyrus's wealth and fame along with it.^[34] Time magazine reports that Cyrus's "phenom[enal]" success is due partially to her talent and partially to "Disney learning to use its vast, multimedia holdings" and market Cyrus and Hannah Montana appropriately.^[35] Cyrus eventually became the first artist to have deals in television, film, consumer products, and music within The Walt Disney Company.^[28]

The first single was "The Best of Both Worlds", the theme song to Hannah Montana, which was released on March 28, 2006.^[36] "The Best of Both Worlds" is credited to "Hannah Montana", the pop star Cyrus portrays on the series by the same name. As with other songs credited to Montana, Cyrus typically dressed as the character when performing the song live.^[37] Cyrus's first release under her own name was a cover of James Baskett's "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah", released on April 4, 2006, on the fourth edition of DisneyMania.^[38] Dressed as Hannah Montana, Cyrus opened for The Cheetah Girls on twenty dates of their The Party's Just Begun Tour, beginning on September 15, 2006.^[39] On October 24 of same year, Walt Disney Records released the first Hannah Montana soundtrack. Of the nine tracks on the soundtrack performed by Cyrus, eight were credited to "Hannah Montana" and one, a duet with her father titled "I Learned from You", was credited to Cyrus as herself. The album peaked at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart.^[40]

Cyrus and her father, Billy Ray, performing "Ready, Set, Don't Go" at the Kids' Inaugural: "We Are the Future." – January 19, 2009; Washington D.C.

The second season of Hannah Montana premiered on April 23, 2007, and ran until October 12, 2008.^[41] Cyrus signed a four-album deal with Disney-owned Hollywood Records and, on June 26, 2007, released a double-disc album. The first disc was the soundtrack to the second season of Hannah Montana, while the second, titled Meet Miley Cyrus, was Cyrus's debut album credited to her own name. The double-disc album peaked at number one on the Billboard 200^[42] and was later certified three times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).^[43] Meet Miley Cyrus generated "See You Again", Cyrus's first single to be released under her own name and her first top ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100.^[44] In fall 2007, Cyrus launched her first tour, the Best of Both Worlds Tour, to promote Meet Miley Cyrus and the Hannah Montana soundtracks. With the Jonas Brothers, Aly & AJ, and Everlife as her opening acts, Cyrus toured from October 17, 2007, to January 31, 2008, with stops in the U.S. and Canada.^[45] Tickets sold out in minutes and were scalped for up to $2,500 and an average of $214, well above their $26–$65 face value.^[46] A Ticketmaster official commented, "Hell hath no fury like the parent of a child throwing a tantrum. People who have been in this business for a long time are watching what's happening, and they say there hasn't been a demand of this level or intensity since The Beatles or Elvis."^[47]

[edit] 2008–09: Breakout, transitions and film career launch

Cyrus at 2008 MTV Video Music Awards

After the end of the Best of Both Worlds Tour in January 2008, Walt Disney Pictures released Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert, a 3D concert film of the tour, on February 1, 2008, for what was expected to be a one-week run. The film earned over $31 million^[48] at the box-office and an average of $42,000 per theater, twice the expected total, convincing Disney executives to extend the release for an indefinite run. "We don't want to turn away kids from the theaters who couldn't get into the concerts," said Chuck Viane, Disney's chief of distribution.^[49] The film's soundtrack was released by Walt Disney Records/Hollywood Records on March 11, 2008, and peaked at number three on the Billboard 200.^[50]

On July 22, 2008, Cyrus released her second studio album under her own name, titled Breakout. Cyrus said Breakout was inspired by "what's been going on in my life in the past year."^[51] Cyrus co-wrote eight out of twelve songs on the album.^[51] "Songwriting is what I really want to do with my life forever, [...] I just hope this record showcases that, more than anything, I'm a writer."^[52] The album debuted at #1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart^[53] and its lead single, "7 Things", peaked at number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[54][55] She hosted the 2008 CMT Music Awards with her father in April^[56] and the 2008 Teen Choice Awards by herself in August.^[57] Cyrus provided the voice of Penny in the 2008 computer-animated film Bolt, which was released on November 21, 2008, to critical acclaim.^[58] Cyrus also co-wrote and recorded the song "I Thought I Lost You" as a duet with John Travolta for the film, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination.^[59] In September 2009, she participated in the charity single "Just Stand Up!" in support of the anti-cancer campaign Stand Up to Cancer^[60] and in the City of Hope Benefit Concert in support of cancer research and training programs.^[61] She also became involved in Disney's Friends for Change, an environmentalist group, for which she recorded the charity single "Send It On" along with several other Disney Channel stars.^[62]

Cyrus performing on the Wonder World Tour

Cyrus had already begun transitioning to a more grown-up image in late 2008, when her representatives negotiated a deal for novelist Nicholas Sparks to write the screenplay and novel basis for a film that would serve as a star vehicle for Cyrus by introducing her to audiences older than the young fans she had gained through Hannah Montana.^[63] Sparks and co-writer Jeff Van Wie developed The Last Song.^[63] It was important to Cyrus that she not be type cast as a singer: "I didn't want to be a singer in another film. I don't want to do that anymore. You have no idea how many musicals show up on my door. I want to do something a little more serious."^[64] In March 2009, Cyrus published Miles to Go, a memoir co-written by Hilary Liftin chronicling her life through age sixteen.^[65] Cyrus starred as Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana in Hannah Montana: The Movie, released April 10, 2009. Both the film and its soundtrack, which contained twelve songs performed by Cyrus,^[66] achieved commercial success.^[67][68] The soundtrack's lead single, "The Climb", became a Top 40 hit in twelve countries^[69] and introduced Cyrus to listeners outside her typical teen pop audience.^[70] Cyrus had considered ending Hannah Montana after its third season, which finished production on June 5, 2009,^[71] but Disney retained and exercised its option for a fourth season.^[72]

Production on The Last Song lasted from June 15, 2009, to August 18, 2009.^[73] In between, Cyrus launched the third Hannah Montana soundtrack, recorded the extended play The Time of Our Lives (EP), and released the EP's lead single, "Party in the U.S.A."^[74] Cyrus said The Time of Our Lives "is a transitioning album. [...] really to introduce people to what I want my next record to sound like and with time I will be able to do that a little more."^[75] "Party in the U.S.A." debuted at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 for her best-ever ranking on the chart.^[76] The Time of Our Lives was released in conjunction with a clothing line co-designed by Cyrus and Max Azria for Walmart.^[77]

From September 14, 2009, to December 29, 2010, Cyrus toured on her Wonder World Tour to promote Breakout and The Time of Our Lives.^{[citation needed]} On December 7, 2009, Cyrus performed for Queen Elizabeth II and numerous other members of the British Royal Family at the Royal Variety Performance in Blackpool, North West England.^[78]

[edit] 2010–2011: Can't Be Tamed, focus on film career, and Gypsy Heart Tour

Cyrus at 2010 MuchMusic Video Awards soundcheck.

Production on the fourth and final season of Hannah Montana began on January 18, 2010.^[79] In the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Cyrus appeared on the charity singles "We Are the World: 25 for Haiti" and "Everybody Hurts".^[80][81] Her third studio album, Can't Be Tamed, was released on June 21, 2010. The album's first single is the title track, "Can't Be Tamed". The single was released for sale on May 18, 2010, and entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number eight.^[82] Cyrus's costumes and dances while promoting Can't Be Tamed were also considerably more provocative than previous performances, arousing media criticism.^[83] After releasing the album, Cyrus intends to take a break from the music industry in order to focus on her film career.^[84] She commented, "I've not taken, like, acting lessons or anything, but it doesn't mean I don't need to because I'm sure I do [...] I'm probably going to go book an acting coach."^[85] Cyrus has also decided to opt out of college for the same reason, saying "I'm a firm believer that you can go back at any age you want, because my Grandma went back to college at 62 [...] For right now, I really want to focus on my career. I've worked hard to get to where I am now, and I want to enjoy it while it lasts."^[86][87][88]

Cyrus starred in The Last Song, which was released on March 31, 2010, and received generally poor reviews, as did Cyrus's performance.^[89] Nonetheless, the film was commercially successful, grossing more than $88 million at the worldwide box office.^[90] According to box-office analyst Exhibitor Relations, the film marked "a successful transition to adult roles for Miley Cyrus."^[91] The fourth and final season of Hannah Montana began airing on Disney Channel on July 11, 2010, and was ended on January 16, 2011.^[92] Cyrus filmed two more films, LOL: Laughing Out Loud and So Undercover in 2010. In LOL, a remake of a 2008 French teen film of the same name, Cyrus plays "a daughter who is involved with all the wrong kids, doing drugs, failing school, but [...whose] mother has her on this perfect pedestal" and says "[She] just fell in love with the story."^[93] Cyrus' character loses her virginity, smokes cannabis, gets wasted and kisses two girlfriends on the lips.^[94] She will also star in So Undercover, an action comedy film. Cyrus will play the part of "a tough, street-smart private eye hired by the FBI to go undercover in a college sorority."^[95] She learned street fighting for the role.^[95]

Despite her earlier announcement that she'd be focusing more on acting in the future, in February 2011, Cyrus confirmed she had no films lineup and was going to go on tour.^[96] On April 29, 2011, Cyrus embarked on her international Gypsy Heart Tour in South America and ended the tour on July 2, 2011, in Australia. Cyrus hosted Saturday Night Live on March 5, 2011, where she performed in several sketches. She also sang a brief song about her several controversies, such as the bong incident, the photo of her friend and she eating a Twizzler, and the "pole dance" on a hotel pole at the Teen Choice Awards, stating "I'm sorry that I'm not perfect."^[97][98] In March 2011, father Billy Ray Cyrus confirmed on talk show, The View, that Cyrus had been in talks with producer Dr. Luke on a new album.^[99] In July 2011, it was announced that she would record her fourth studio album and she has no plans to sign onto any other film projects.^[100] However, it was reported on August 2, 2011, by Contact Music that Cyrus has signed on to star in a comedy in which she plays a woman who broke a promise to God.^[101]

Cyrus released on YouTube a remix of her song "Liberty Walk" in November 2011, dedicated to the Occupy movement, which she referred to as, "the thousands of people who are standing up for what they believe in."^[102]

[edit] 2012–present: LOL, So Undercover, and focus on music career

LOL came out on May 4th

In January 2012, it was announced that Cyrus would be on Punk'd. Cyrus would be on the show alongside friend and co-star in her new film So Undercover, Kelly Osbourne. Cyrus and Osbourne on an episode of the show would punk reality star and TV personality Khloé Kardashian Odom. They punk Khloe by having a young food delivery man pretends to get his family jewels caught in his zipper while using Miley's bathroom.^[103][104]

On January 24, the album Chimes of Freedom: Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International was released in honor of Bob Dylan, Cyrus covered Dylan's song "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go" from his 15th studio album Blood on the Tracks, in which she also made a music video.^[105] Cyrus's version of the song earned positive reviews from music critics.^{[106][107][108]}

In February, Cyrus dropped out of the animated comedy Hotel Transylvania, in which she was meant to play the role of Mavis, the daughter of Dracula who is voiced by Adam Sandler, the movie also stars Andy Samberg, Kevin James, Fran Drescher, and David Spade.^[109] It was later announced that she will be replaced by fellow Disney star and friend Selena Gomez.^[110] She later announced that she dropped out of the film because she wanted to work on her music this year.^[111][112]

Earnings[link]

In 2008, Cyrus earned $25 million, up from her earnings of $18 million in 2007, and was ranked number 35 on Forbes magazine's "Celebrity 100" list.^[113] Parade magazine reported she was the richest teenage celebrity and that her franchise would be worth approximately $1 billion by the end of the year.^[114] In 2009, Forbes ranked her #29 on the Celebrity 100 and reported she had earned a total of $25 million.^[115] Then Cyrus got ranked number thirteen on Forbes' 2010 Celebrity 100 ranking $48 million.^[3] From the $48 million she made between June 2009 to June 2010 made her the no. 4 highest earners under 30 and the youngest on the list.^[116] between June 2010 and June 2011, Cyrus earned $54 million.^[117]

From working on Hannah Montana, Cyrus got paid $15,000 per episode she did on the hit show, making her the 6th highest paid child star on television behind fellow Disney stars Dylan and Cole Sprouse and Keke Palmer with $20,000 for their shows. Also, she is behind friend and Disney star Selena Gomez that makes $25,000 per episode of her show, Nick star Miranda Cosgrove with $180,000 per episode of her show, and one time co-star Angus T. Jones that got paid $250,000 for each episode of his show.^[118] Though she had not got paid as much as other Disney stars,when she was 17 she was named #19 on the "Top 20 World's Richest Female Singers Of All Time" list with over $100 million in 5 years active throughout her career, which made her the youngest female artist on the list.^[119] In 2011, she was named #1 on the "Top 10 Richest Teens in Hollywood" with $120 million.^[120]

Personal life and image[link]

Cyrus on the Red Carpet at VH1 Divas 2009

A Christian, she was baptized in a Southern Baptist church in 2005.^[121]

In February 2008, Cyrus and her friend Mandy Jiroux opened a YouTube account and began posting videos of what they called The Miley and Mandy Show. The show, described as a "YouTube hit," is said to be filmed for fun by Cyrus and Jiroux and to be entirely their work, with Cyrus and Jiroux editing the footage together.^[122]

With Cyrus's increased success came increased media attention. In a May 2008 interview with The Los Angeles Times, Francois Navarre, the proprietor of the X17 photo agency, said Cyrus's market value had picked up considerably after the Vanity Fair photo controversy: "She's started to sell more. [...] It used to be $300, and now it's $2,000 for a picture."^[123] Estimates for a picture of the then-15 year old's first kiss ranged from $30,000 to $150,000.^[123] Navarre noted that Cyrus rarely behaved against her wholesome image or went out without a parent and stated, "She has people waiting for the moment she starts to be less traditional. [...] It's natural. Any teenager. But it's going to come very fast. [...] As soon as her mom lets her go out by herself. It's going to start to be interesting."^[123] Time magazine included her on the 2008 Time 100, the magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Her write-up was written by former child star Donny Osmond, who warned, "As an idol to tweens the world over, singer-actress Miley Cyrus, 15, is riding a huge tidal wave at the pinnacle of her career; this is as it should be. I hope she enjoys it. [...] Within three to five years, Miley will have to face adulthood. [...] As she does, she'll want to change her image, and that change will be met with adversity."^[124]

Cyrus celebrated her 16th birthday at Disneyland with a charity fundraiser for Youth Service America, a youth volunteer service organization.^{[125][126][127]}

In June 2009, Cyrus ended her nine-month relationship with model Justin Gaston shortly before flying to Georgia to film The Last Song.^[128] While filming later that month, Cyrus began dating her co-star in The Last Song, Australian actor Liam Hemsworth.^[129] She later called him her "first serious boyfriend".^[130] In August 2010, it was confirmed that her relationship with Hemsworth had ended.^[131][132] Cyrus and Hemsworth were seen together a month later, and were reportedly back together.^[133] It was announced in early November that the couple had split again.^[134] They have since rekindled their relationship.^[135]

At the end of 2009, Billboard magazine ranked Cyrus the fourth best-selling female artist^[136] and the fifth best-selling singer overall.^[137] Also in 2009, at the age of sixteen, she became the youngest artist to have four number one albums on the charts.^[138]

Controversies[link]

Cyrus performing at the Kids Inaugural: We Are the Future concert in 2009.

In December 2007, a brief controversy emerged when photos Cyrus had posted on her private MySpace account, depicting her and a female friend sharing a piece of licorice and "almost kissing", were spread across the internet, prompting rumors of lesbianism. Cyrus comments, "For me, I was like, That's two girls—it's not a big deal. But they got spread around. Like someone copied and pasted and said, Omigod, look at this, and blah blah blah."^[139]

In April 2008, several provocative images of Cyrus in her underwear and swimsuit were leaked onto the web by a teenager who hacked Cyrus's Gmail account.^{[140][141][142][143]} Cyrus described the images as "silly, inappropriate shots" and stated, "I am going to make mistakes and I am not perfect. I never intended for any of this to happen and I am truly sorry if I have disappointed anyone."^[144][145] On April 25, 2008, the televised entertainment program Entertainment Tonight reported that Cyrus, then 15, had posed topless for a photoshoot taken by photographer Annie Leibovitz for Vanity Fair.^[146] On April 29, 2008, The New York Times clarified that though the pictures left an impression that she was bare-breasted, Cyrus was wrapped in a bedsheet and was actually not topless.^[147] Some parents expressed outrage at the nature of the photograph, which a Disney spokesperson described as "a situation [that] was created to deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old in order to sell magazines." Gary Marsh, president of entertainment for Disney Channel Worldwide, was quoted by Portfolio magazine to have said, "For Miley Cyrus to be a 'good girl' is now a business decision for her. Parents have invested in her a godliness. If she violates that trust, she won't get it back."^[147] In response to the Internet circulation of the photo and ensuing media attention, Cyrus released a statement of apology on April 27, 2008: "I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be 'artistic' and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed. I never intended for any of this to happen and I apologize to my fans who I care so deeply about."^[147] Leibovitz also released a statement: "I'm sorry that my portrait of Miley has been misinterpreted. The photograph is a simple, classic portrait, shot with very little makeup, and I think it is very beautiful."^[147][148]

In May 2008, Gossett, Cyrus's longtime acting agent, left Cunningham Escott Slevin Doherty for United Talent Agency, partially with the hope of "giving Cyrus the major-agency backing that would support a widening career", according to The Hollywood Reporter.^[30][149] About a year later in June 2009, Cyrus left both Gossett and UTA, which had recently negotiated her deals for The Last Song and the fourth season of Hannah Montana, and joined the Creative Artists Agency, which had already represented her for music.^[150] Nikki Finke, who broke the news, reported, "Is this fair to UTA? Of course not. But I hear the decision was made by Miley's mother Trish [sic] Cyrus".^[151]

Cyrus performing during the Wonder World Tour, in 2009.

Cyrus's performance of "Party in the U.S.A." at the 2009 Teen Choice Awards incited a media uproar, with some viewers criticizing Cyrus's provocative outfit and inclusion of a brief pole dance as inappropriate for her age, then sixteen, and for her young fans.^[152][153] Conversely, Newsday reported that her sexualization "has been coming for some time."^[154] Ian Drew, senior editor of US Weekly, said, "She already has this risque image, so it really wasn't much of a stretch. That's how Britney [Spears] took off. She was the good girl gone bad, and it looks to be working for Miley as well."^[154] Cyrus was also criticized that year for dating Gaston, five years her senior,^[155] and for a photo displaying Cyrus and friends making "slant-eyed" expressions, which the Organization of Chinese Americans claimed was offensive to the Asian community.^[156] Cyrus apologized for the photo on her website, defending her actions and saying, "In NO way was I making fun of any ethnicity! I was simply making a goofy face."^[157]

Later in 2010, TMZ released a video of Cyrus, then 16, giving Adam Shankman, producer of The Last Song, a lap dance at the film's wrap party.^{[158][159][160]} Cyrus's father defended her actions, saying Miley was just "having fun" and that "it's what people her age do".^[161] Later that year in December, TMZ released a video of Cyrus, which took place five days after her 18th birthday at her Los Angeles home, in which she is seen smoking from a bong. She claimed she was smoking the psychoactive plant salvia divinorum, although this has not been confirmed by anybody but Cyrus herself.^{[162][163][164]} Salvia is legal in the state of California, and Cyrus was of legal age at the time the video was shot.^[165] Cyrus's father expressed his sadness regarding the matter on Twitter, saying, "Sorry guys. I had no idea. Just saw this stuff for the first time myself. I'm so sad. There is much beyond my control right now".^[166][167]

In a video obtained by The Daily, taking place at Cyrus' 19th birthday party at the Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles, Cyrus went to the microphone and addressed the crowd. Immediately after her Bob Marley-themed birthday cake had been brought out, Cyrus said, "You know you're a stoner when your friends make you a Bob Marley cake. You know you smoke way too much f****n' weed."^[168] One week later, Cyrus' representative stated that Cyrus was just being a "smart-ass" and that the Bob Marley cake had just been an "inside joke" with Cyrus and her friends, as Cyrus' friend, Kelly Osbourne had been calling her "Bob Miley" since Cyrus' 2010 salvia incident.^[169]

Filmography[link]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

• Meet Miley Cyrus (2007)
• Breakout (2008)
• Can't Be Tamed (2010)

Extended plays[link]

• The Time of Our Lives (2009)
• iTunes Live from London (2009)

Live albums[link]

• Best of Both Worlds Concert (2008)

Soundtracks[link]

• Hannah Montana (2006)
• Hannah Montana 2 (2007)
• Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009)
• Hannah Montana 3 (2009)
• Hannah Montana Forever (2010)

Tours[link]

• Best of Both Worlds Tour (2007–08)
• Wonder World Tour (2009)
• Gypsy Heart Tour (2011)

Awards and nominations[link]

See also[link]

	Book: Miley Cyrus
Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print.

References[link]