Miley Cyrus has returned to the top of the Billboard 200 for the first time since Bangerz in 2013. Her new album, Bass Persuades, is her sixth No. 1 and her 16th top 10 entry when her releases as Miley, Miley Cyrus and Hannah Montana are counted together, according to Billboard. That is a long chart history. But why did this album, released under the name Miley, become the one that finally brought her back to No. 1?
The gap says more about the difference between hit songs and No. 1 albums than it does about Cyrus's visibility. "Flowers" became one of the defining hits of her career, yet its parent album, Endless Summer Vacation, did not top the Billboard 200. Her 2025 release Something Beautiful reached No. 4. Cyrus kept making records and reaching listeners; Bass Persuades is the release that has now taken the album chart's top spot.
The new album also arrives with a conspicuous change in presentation. Cyrus dropped her surname for this release and introduced it simply as Miley. The title track invited listeners to put down their phones and dance, while the album announcement described music as something people can feel, sing and move to. It is a different invitation from the provocation that surrounded Bangerz, though both records have now reached the same chart summit.
That makes the 13-year interval the most interesting part of the story. Cyrus has moved through several sounds and public identities since 2013, but the Billboard tally also reaches back to the Hannah Montana soundtracks that first put her on the chart. Bass Persuades adds a new No. 1 to that history without erasing any of it. The former Disney star, the artist behind Bangerz and the singer now billed as Miley all belong to the same unusually long chart career.
The No. 1 debut answers one question decisively: listeners have turned out for this new album. The next question is whether Bass Persuades will produce songs with the staying power of Cyrus's biggest singles-or whether its achievement will be remembered chiefly as the record that ended her long wait for another No. 1 album.
