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Brandi Cyrus: 7 Amazing Facts About the Incredible DJ, Podcaster and Miley Cyrus Sister

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Most people first hear the Cyrus name and think of one global pop star, yet Brandi Cyrus, the eldest daughter of the family, has quietly built a career that is entirely her own. Born in Nashville before her younger sister became famous, she grew up around country music, horses and television sets, and she learned early that fame could be a tool rather than a destination. She did not chase the same spotlight, and she did not try to copy the same sound. Instead, she moved step by step through acting, fashion blogging, television presenting, podcasting and DJing, collecting a different kind of audience at each stage.

Today, Brandi Cyrus is best known as a DJ and a podcast host, two jobs that suit her love of music and conversation far better than a traditional pop career ever would. Her sets mix country roots with dance music, her podcasts mix family stories with everyday chat, and her television work showed a practical, design-minded side that many fans had never seen. This article follows her journey from a Nashville childhood to Las Vegas residencies and some of the biggest stages in American music, separating what is confirmed from what is merely reported along the way.

Early Life in Nashville

Brandi Cyrus was born Brandi Glenn Helson on 26 May 1987 in Nashville, Tennessee, a city where country music is part of everyday life rather than a distant industry. Her mother is Leticia Tish Cyrus, and her biological father is Baxter Neal Helson. Nashville gave her an early education in songs, stories and performance, because music was not something the family visited on special occasions. It was the background to ordinary days, and it shaped the way she would later hear and mix records as a DJ.

When she was six years old, her life changed in a lasting way. Her mother married country singer Billy Ray Cyrus in 1993, and he adopted her and her younger brother Trace, giving them the Cyrus surname they still use today. Adoption is often described in simple legal terms, but for a young child it also means a new family identity, a new household and, in this case, a stepfather whose own career was about to explode. Brandi Cyrus therefore grew up with two stories at once: a Nashville childhood rooted in her mother’s family, and a new chapter inside one of country music’s most talked-about families.

Horses were another important part of those early years for Brandi Cyrus. She began riding at the age of six and went on to compete in hunter-jumper and eventing, showing on the West Coast circuit, with her younger sister Noah also riding. For a child growing up around cameras and recording studios, the stables offered something different: early mornings, hard work, patience and animals that did not care about fame at all. That discipline still shows in her working life today, where long DJ sets, travel and late nights demand stamina as much as talent.

School and family life in those years were far from ordinary for Brandi Cyrus, because her stepfather’s hit Achy Breaky Heart had made Billy Ray Cyrus a household name in the early 1990s. Yet the family also tried to keep a sense of normality for the children, with music lessons, riding and time together at home balancing the public side of life. She was the eldest child in a growing family, a position that often brings extra responsibility, and she would later describe herself as a supportive older sister. Those early years, spent between Nashville roots and a fast-growing public profile, set the tone for a career built on steadiness rather than sudden fame.

Growing Up in the Cyrus Family

To understand her career, it helps to understand the family around her. Brandi Cyrus is the eldest daughter in a large, blended family. Her younger brother Trace, born in 1989, later fronted the pop-rock band Metro Station. Her younger half-siblings from her mother and Billy Ray are Miley, born in 1992, Braison, born in 1994, and Noah, born in 2000. Billy Ray also has a son, Christopher Cody, from an earlier relationship. It is a big family, spread across music, acting and fashion, and each sibling has found a different corner of entertainment.

Brandi Cyrus’s younger sister Miley became one of the most famous young stars in the world through the Disney Channel series Hannah Montana, which ran from 2006 to 2011, and then through a long pop career that included the Grammy-winning song Flowers. That level of fame changed life for the whole family, because every sibling was suddenly discussed in the press whether they wanted attention or not. The eldest sister handled that pressure by building her own work rather than living only as an addition to someone else’s story, and she has often appeared as a calm, supportive presence at her sister’s side.

The bond between the sisters has been visible for years. Brandi Cyrus has joined Miley at awards shows, including the Billboard Music Awards and the MTV Video Music Awards, and she played guitar on stage during her sister’s set at the 2017 iHeartRadio Music Festival. She also worked behind the scenes in the early Hannah Montana years, including styling work, which gave her a practical understanding of how a big television production actually runs. Those experiences were useful, because they taught her about audiences, timing and presentation without forcing her to become the main act herself.

Family life for Brandi Cyrus has also included difficult public chapters, and those should be described carefully. Billy Ray and Tish divorced in 2022 after nearly three decades of marriage, and Tish later married Prison Break actor Dominic Purcell in August 2023, with her daughters present at the wedding. Press coverage has often focused on rumoured tensions inside the family, but private relationships should not be treated as confirmed fact simply because they are widely repeated. What can be said with confidence is that the eldest daughter has remained publicly close to her mother and sisters, working with her mother on television and podcasts and celebrating family milestones in public.

Music, Acting and Fashion Blogging

Her first steps in entertainment were varied rather than focused on a single path. Brandi Cyrus formed the band Frank and Derol with friends Megan Park and Codi Caraco, playing guitar and learning the practical side of being in a group: rehearsing, writing, performing and handling the small details that audiences never see. Band life in her early twenties taught her about electronic music production too, because the group worked in an electropop style that mixed pop melodies with dance sounds. That early experience would matter years later, when she moved from playing in a band to controlling a whole room as a DJ.

Acting came alongside music for Brandi Cyrus, in small but useful roles. She appeared in Hannah Montana and in Hannah Montana: The Movie as a dancer in 2009, and she had credits connected to shows such as Zoey 101 and the horror film Old 37. None of these roles made her a film star, and that is an important part of her story. She was learning how sets work, how cameras work and how performers prepare, while keeping her main ambitions elsewhere. Many celebrity siblings chase a leading role at any cost, but she treated acting as one skill among several, not as the only measure of success.

Fashion and writing gave Brandi Cyrus a third outlet. She created the blog Style Native, where she posted about fashion and lifestyle and kept fans updated about her DJ dates and podcast episodes. In 2013 she also hosted her own fashion review and talk series, Brandiville, which suited her chatty, direct presenting style. Blogging may sound like a small step today, when social media dominates, but at the time it was a real way for a young presenter to build an audience on her own terms. It also showed a business sense that would serve her later: she was not waiting for a network to choose her, she was creating her own platform.

Television and Design

For a quick reference to her life and career so far, Brandi Cyrus has a standalone encyclopaedia page that summarises her birth, family background and work as an actress, DJ and television host. Television became a more serious part of her career in 2013, when she began appearing in reality-based projects connected to her family. Those appearances introduced her to viewers who knew the Cyrus name but had not followed her own blogging or music, and they gave her a chance to present herself as a person rather than simply as a famous sister.

The biggest television project came in 2017, when Brandi Cyrus teamed up with her mother for the Bravo series Cyrus vs. Cyrus: Design and Conquer. The show followed mother and daughter as they took on interior design projects, combining practical renovation work with family humour and the occasional disagreement about taste. It was a clever format for both of them, because it used their real relationship instead of forcing them into a scripted drama. Viewers saw a daughter who could hold her own against a strong-willed mother, argue about a room design, laugh about it afterwards and still get the job finished.

Design was not a random choice for Brandi Cyrus. She had already shown an eye for style through her blog and presenting work, and the series let her show that she could plan, budget and deliver a finished space. It also proved that she could carry a television format, because reality television depends on people who are natural on camera and comfortable talking through problems as they happen. The series did not turn her into a full-time designer, but it added another string to her bow and reminded audiences that her interests went well beyond music alone.

A DJ Career in Las Vegas and Beyond

DJing is now the centre of her working life, and it grew slowly rather than overnight. Brandi Cyrus has said in interviews that she had been DJing for about six years by the time of her 2024 festival breakthrough, building her skills in clubs and at events before larger stages came calling. A DJ set is very different from singing in a band, because the performer must read a room, choose the next track in seconds and keep energy high for hours. Her country upbringing gave her an unusual advantage, because she could mix familiar country melodies and storytelling songs with dance tracks in a way that felt personal rather than generic.

Las Vegas became a professional home for Brandi Cyrus. She held a residency at Wynn Las Vegas, one of the city’s most important nightlife venues, where regular sets allowed her to build a loyal crowd and refine her sound. Residencies matter in Las Vegas because they give a DJ a steady stage, a familiar room and an audience that returns week after week. For a performer who had spent years moving between projects, that stability was valuable, and it also put her in front of visitors from all over the world who might never have found her podcasts or television work.

Brandi Cyrus’s festival career grew alongside the residency. She has performed at major events including Stagecoach, Lollapalooza, Hangout Festival and Electric Forest, according to booking and press profiles, each of which demands a different kind of set. A country-leaning crowd at Stagecoach expects something different from a dance crowd at Electric Forest, and a good DJ adjusts without losing her own style. That flexibility became her trademark, and it explains why promoters kept booking her for rooms and festivals that might seem very different on paper.

The landmark moment came in 2024, when Brandi Cyrus performed at EDC Las Vegas, also known as Electric Daisy Carnival, for the first time. She told EDM.com ahead of the debut that she wanted her set to feel like one big dance party, mixing timeless songs by artists such as Whitney Houston with country-influenced tracks by artists such as Tim McGraw. EDC is one of the biggest dance festivals in the United States, and its 2024 programme included a Wild West-themed area called the YeeDC Saloon, a natural home for her country-meets-dance sound. The performance marked her arrival as a festival DJ in her own right, not simply as a celebrity guest.

An even bigger stage followed in 2025. Brandi Cyrus was chosen to DJ as the opening act for country star Kenny Chesney’s residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas, a 15-night run from May to June 2025. Chesney, the first country artist to headline the venue, wanted a DJ rather than a traditional support band, because he wanted the floor to feel like a party before his own set began. She prepared for months for the run, telling interviewers that the first night would be a process of feeling out the extraordinary room, with its vast wraparound screen. Opening every show of a major residency is a sign of real trust from a headliner, and it placed her in front of thousands of country fans night after night.

Brandi Cyrus’s DJ style is often described as country-influenced electronic dance music, sometimes nicknamed YeeDM, a label that captures the mix of Nashville storytelling and festival energy. She has also released a remix of Lainey Wilson’s Wildflowers and Wild Horses, according to her booking profile, showing that she is not only playing other people’s records but shaping them too. That combination of DJ, remixer and live performer is hard to sustain, because it requires both taste and technical skill. Her steady rise through clubs, residencies and festivals suggests she has built both, one set at a time.

Podcasting With Family and Friends

Podcasting gave her a second long-running career, and it may be the work that fans feel closest to. Brandi Cyrus co-hosts Your Favorite Thing with Wells Adams, the former Bachelorette contestant and husband of actress Sarah Hyland. The show, running since 2017, covers pop culture, films, television and everyday life, with the easy back-and-forth of two friends who enjoy disagreeing as much as agreeing. Longevity matters in podcasting, where many shows fade after a few months, and the fact that this one has lasted for years says a lot about its audience and its hosts.

Brandi Cyrus also co-hosts a podcast with her mother, a show reported under the names Sorry We’re Stoned and, in later listings, Sorry We’re Cyrus. By January 2024 the mother-daughter show had produced four seasons, according to published profiles, giving listeners a relaxed and unscripted look at family life. The appeal is obvious: a mother and daughter talking honestly, laughing at themselves and discussing fame, ageing, relationships and everyday worries. For listeners who only know the family through headlines, the podcast offers a warmer and more human version of the same people.

Podcasting suits her strengths in a way that acting never quite did. She is a natural talker, quick with a joke and comfortable discussing personal topics without turning them into a performance. The format also lets her stay close to her audience between DJ dates, because listeners can follow her week after week even when she is travelling. In a career that has moved between television, music and fashion, podcasting has become the thread that ties everything together, a place where she can talk about all of it in her own voice.

Social media has supported that connection for Brandi Cyrus too. She has built an audience of more than a million followers on Instagram, according to published profiles, and she uses her accounts to share DJ dates, podcast episodes and family moments. That audience did not arrive overnight, and it did not arrive only because of her surname. It grew through years of blogging, presenting, DJing and podcasting, each project bringing in listeners who stayed for the next one. For a performer without a hit single of her own, that kind of loyal, cross-platform audience is a real achievement.

Personal Life and Life Outside the Spotlight

Outside work, she has generally kept her private life quieter than her public career might suggest. Brandi Cyrus has lived in both Los Angeles and Nashville at different times, two cities that reflect the two sides of her life: the entertainment industry on the West Coast and her country roots in Tennessee. Nashville, in particular, has remained a home base, a place where she can ride, spend time with family and step away from the constant noise of touring and recording schedules.

Reports in December 2025 said Brandi Cyrus was engaged to Matt Southcombe, an Australian motorcycle enthusiast and father of one son. That detail is presented here as reported, because engagement news about public figures is often shared through social media and press reports rather than through a formal announcement that can be checked in full. Readers should therefore treat the engagement as reported rather than independently confirmed, while recognising that it was widely covered at the time. Beyond that, she has not built her public image around her relationships, and this article does not speculate about private matters beyond what has been publicly reported.

Her earlier relationships have occasionally been noted in celebrity profiles, including past partners mentioned in biographical listings, but she has rarely discussed them in detail herself. That restraint is consistent with the rest of her career: she talks openly on podcasts about family, work and everyday life, yet she keeps the most personal parts of her life largely to herself. It is a balance many public figures struggle to find, and it may be one reason her audience trusts her. She shares enough to feel real, without turning every part of her life into content.

Money is another area where honesty matters. No reliable, verified net worth figure for her has been published by a trustworthy financial source, and this article therefore gives no figure. Some celebrity websites circulate estimates, but those numbers are unverified, often copied from one site to another, and they should not be treated as fact. Her income comes from a mix of DJ residencies, festival dates, podcasting and television work, which makes any single figure even harder to verify. Readers who see a precise number elsewhere should treat it with caution unless it comes from a named, reliable source.

What Comes Next

The future looks busy rather than uncertain. Brandi Cyrus has a DJ career that now includes Las Vegas residencies, major festivals and a high-profile Sphere run, alongside two podcasts with loyal audiences and a television past that could easily return. She could release more remixes, take on new festival stages, expand her podcast work or return to presenting, and each option would fit naturally with what she has already built. Unlike a pop star tied to a single album cycle, she is not waiting for one hit to decide her next year.

What makes the story of Brandi Cyrus interesting is not a single dramatic moment but the pattern behind it. She grew up in a famous family, learned several crafts instead of betting everything on one, and built a career that mixes music, conversation and live performance. She is the eldest sister who stayed supportive, the DJ who brought country songs to dance festivals, and the podcaster who turned family chat into a long-running show. That combination is rare, and it explains why her audience has grown steadily rather than in a sudden rush.

Readers who enjoy stories about celebrity families may also like the profile of Olivia Culpo, another well-known figure whose career mixes modelling, television and public life. Like that story, this one is best read as a work in progress, because the subject is still active, still touring and still recording new podcast episodes. The most interesting chapters may still be ahead, whether they come from a festival stage, a Las Vegas residency or a quiet conversation on a podcast.

For now, she already has something many performers spend a lifetime chasing: work she enjoys, an audience that follows her across different projects, and a public identity that is hers rather than borrowed from a more famous sibling. From a Nashville childhood and early mornings at the stables to the bright lights of Las Vegas and the vast screen of the Sphere, her journey has been steady, varied and very much her own. If the last few years are any guide, the next chapter will be just as busy, and just as difficult to put into a single label.

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