Did Miley Cyrus Write ‘Party in the U.S.A.’?
Miley Cyrus’s latest album is Plastic Hearts but her 2009 song “Party in the U.S.A.” will forever be one of her most well-known tracks. But did Cyrus, now 28, write it?
Jessie J co-wrote ‘Party in the U.S.A.’
Who wrote “Party in the U.S.A.”? The credit goes to Jessie J, the singer behind popular songs such as “Bang Bang” and “Price Tag.” She co-wrote the song with Claude Kelly and producer Dr. Luke with the intention of singing it herself.
Jessie J could’ve been the one to become famous for “Party in the U.S.A.” instead of Cyrus but her record label at the time didn’t think it was the right song for her. That’s how it ended up with Cyrus. She tweaked the lyrics to make them more personal and her version of “Party in the U.S.A.” was born.
Jessie J looked back on the song during an interview with Glamour U.K. in November 2014, saying the Cyrus track paid her rent.
“You’ve got to write songs, that’s where the money is, being an artist,” she said. “‘Party In the U.S.A’ paid my rent for, like, three years. Actually, it was longer than that. That’s where I get most of my money. I write songs. I’m a singer. I love doing endorsements and stuff, but that’s all added on.”
Miley Cyrus will never regret recording ‘Party in the U.S.A.’
Cyrus isn’t the person who wrote “Party in the U.S.A” but her recording became a hit. It peaked at No. 2 and remained on the Billboard charts for 28 weeks. While it may not have been the direction Cyrus wanted to go with her voice and her sound as she approached the end of her time on Hannah Montana, she’ll never regret the song.
“I can never say that I don’t love ‘Party in the U.S.A.’ and that I’m not appreciative of it,” Cyrus told V Magazine in April 2013. “It would like my dad [Billy Ray Cyrus] saying that he hated ‘Achy Breaky.’ It’s what gives you everything that you have. I would never take it back.”
At the time Cyrus also said she had no intention of revisiting her sound on the track.
“That’s not who I am, that’s not where I want to sing, that’s not what I want to sing, and that’s not what I want my voice to sound like, because you can’t hear me through there,” she explained.
Miley Cyrus’ parents helped inspire the ‘Party in the U.S.A.’ music video
The “Party in the U.S.A” music video is personal to Cyrus. Her parents, Tish and Billy Ray Cyrus, inspired certain elements of the video along with Grease.
“Interesting enough, Miley’s parents Tish and Billy Ray, when they were first dating they went to a drive-in in Kentucky, I think, called the Corral Drive-In — so we named the drive-in after that as an homage to them,” Chris Applebaum, the director of the music video, told MTV News in 2009. “In addition, Miley’s mom Tish used to drive ’79 black Pontiac Trans Am, Smokey and the Bandit style, and obviously that’s the car that Miley arrives in.”
More than 10 years later “Party in the U.S.A.” is still one of Cyrus’ most popular songs. It’s gone platinum multiple times and the music video’s been watched nearly 800 million times on YouTube.
