Miley Cyrus admits performing doesn't feel 'natural' anymore

The pop icon, 33, explains her long break from touring as a way to keep the excitement of performing alive

Web Desk

Published October 18, 2026

Miley Cyrus takes the stage at the Hollywood Bowl, marking her first performance in years

Miley Cyrus is getting candid about her ever-changing relationship with performing.

As she returned to the stage for the first time in years at the Hollywood Bowl on Friday, October 16, the pop icon explained her long absence from touring and why performing doesn’t feel “natural” anymore, though not necessarily in a bad way.

“For me, performance can’t be everything, because the curtain closes and the lights go down, and I have to go back home and be happy with who I am,” Cyrus, 33, said, thanking fans for their understanding as she found “balance” between her personal and professional life over the years.

The Grammy-winner previously admitted that her two-night Hollywood Bowl shows are a test run to see if she would want to return to performing again. And on Friday, she got the answer.

“It doesn’t feel as natural as it did — I actually think, on Sunday, that show on October 18th is the 19th year anniversary of my first headlining tour that I ever did,” she admitted.

But for Cyrus, this is what keeps the spontaneity and excitement of performing alive.

“For somebody who likes to keep life fun and likes to jump out of airplanes and be spontaneous, doing the same thing for your entire life can lose its shine if you don’t continue to give yourself that pressure and that polish to create something beautiful, which is the life that I’m living,” she explained.