Miley Cyrus’ VMAs shocker 10 years later: her incredible transformations then and now photos

In the late aughts and early 2010s, Miley Cyrus was the girl you wanted your daughter to look up to, the Disney Channel breakout with the wholesome down South image. A brief turn into “I’m grown up” territory with 2010’s Can’t Be Tamed is just a blip in her squeaky clean, Hannah Montana vibe.

It’s August 25, 2013. You’re at home and you just turned on MTV, and it’s the MTV Video Music Awards, a night of music, celebration, and a few headline-making moments.

Stuff gets real once a 20-year-old Miley, nominated for four awards that night, hits the stage in a glitzed out teddy bear-shaped leotard, revealing a flesh-colored bikini underneath.

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After a performance of her divisive hit “We Can’t Stop,” with a few more dancing teddy bears for good measure, out comes Robin Thicke, the man behind the year’s biggest and most controversial (and eventually lawsuit-triggering) single, “Blurred Lines.”

Suddenly, there’s twerking, there’s a giant foam finger, there’s tongue, and…well, you know how the rest of the story goes. And so did social media, with the performance generating over 300,000 tweets per minute, eclipsing major moments from Justin Timberlake, Katy Perry, and Lady Gaga that night.

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The moment shocked viewers worldwide, especially parents and censor boards, and sent the sales for Miley’s newest single, “Wrecking Ball,” skyrocketing. It became a part of VMAs scandal-branded history alongside the likes of Madonna, Britney Spears, and Michael Jackson.

Ten years later? Miley, now 30, is about to enter a new era of music, starting with the single “Used To Be Young” coming out tomorrow, August 25, a reflective look on her life in the spotlight which includes lyrics from past hits like “Party in the USA” and the biggest single of her career so far, this year’s  “Flowers.” 

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The singer-songwriter and former Disney prodigy’s legacy has endured several ups and downs since that milestone VMAs moment, and kicked off with the immense success of parent album Bangerz, which arrived the month after the VMAs that September.

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Miley’s cropped blonde do, sexier outfits, and proclivity for sticking her tongue out defined (and defied) a generation of young listeners, who embraced the new sexual revolution.

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That continued into the Bangerz Tour the following year, with Miley’s style remaining just as bold, just as spandex-heavy, and she slowly began leaning into more psychedelic themes.

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While seen at the time as a “woman on the edge,” we can now wholeheartedly accept it as the “Wrecking Ball” singer’s most brazen attempt to break out of her Hannah Montana shell, which continued in earnest into her 2015 album Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz.

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The experimental album was a collab with Wayne Coyne (best known for work with The Flaming Lips and Yoko Ono), but proved to be a mixed bag with critics and failed to make a mark in sales. Miley’s aesthetic at the time was mostly “glitter.” Lots of it.

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After a brief return to mainstream TV ala coaching duties on The Voice, her aesthetic took a sharp pivot. Goodbye twerking, hello country pop!

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With her Younger Now era in 2017, she partially returned to her dad Billy Ray Cyrus’ country roots, sporting spangled Elvis-style jumpsuits, longer, more naturally curly hair, a “country girl next door” look that paired well with the simultaneous rekindling of her relationship with ex Liam Hemsworth.

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The so-called “fresh” look remained for her following project, the EP She Is Coming in 2019, where she found a perfect blend of her Tennessee roots and Los Angeles style in crop tops, wide-legged pants, blunt bangs, and natural highlights.

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Of course, it would be a crime not to pay tribute to Ashley O, her pink-haired body double in a 2020 episode of Black Mirror, which parodied her pop stardom and put a dystopian, candy-coated twist on it.

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What followed (after a separation and divorce from Liam) was the natural progression – rock. Miley went the Stevie Nicks-Joan Jett-Debbie Harry route, sporting a platinum blonde mullet, leather in varying shades of black and blue, and the occasional shimmery blue eyeshadow for the general 80s meets Thunderdome energy.

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The success of the album marked a return to form of sorts, which was amplified by Endless Summer Vacation earlier this year, when she debuted her new chocolate brown highlights, the best shape of her life (that “Flowers” video?), and above all, an ease with her place in the spotlight.

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Miley’s more confident about her fame than ever, a mixture of the approachability of Hannah Montana and the sensuality of VMA Miley. And it’s…the best of both worlds.

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