How Did Miley Cyrus and Mark Ronson Start Working Together? Why He Calls Her ‘Mensa-level Smart’
Miley Cyrus fans (known as Smilers) are impatiently waiting for her previously teased new music. But there are plenty of old tracks, like her collaboration with Mark Ronson, that she’s happy to play in the meantime. Discover how these two artists first connected, and why he is praising her recent project: Her Instagram Live show, Bright Minded: Live with Miley.
Miley Cyrus and Mark Ronson first worked together in 2018
Cyrus had been making music for quite some time before working with Ronson. Her Disney Channel fans may know her best from Hannah Montana, but she had put out five studio albums under her own name when she began working with Ronson in 2018. The result was “Nothing Breaks Like a Heart,” off his own fifth album, Late Night Feelings.
Ronson, on the other hand, is less known for his own music, and more for being a DJ, songwriting, and producer. He’s won multiple Grammy Awards, including those for producing Amy Winehouse’s album Back to Black and for co-writing “Shallow” from A Star is Born. But most are familiar with at least one of his songs: Remember “Uptown Funk”?
Ronson says he had to stalk her for years
Despite working for many years in the same industry, Ronson and Cyrus apparently didn’t cross paths. As he tells it, it wasn’t until he saw her perform during the Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special in 2015 that he reached out to her — and apparently, it took a while before she got back to him.
But they both believe this was for the best. “This song only came because of where we were and how we met,” said Ronson on The Graham Norton Show of working on “Nothing Breaks Like a Heart” together in 2018. “I wouldn’t have it any other way than sitting with you right now, right here,” said Cyrus.
Cyrus participated in his ‘Love Lockdown’
In the wake of the song’s release, Cyrus and Ronson performed it multiple times together, including — appropriately — on Saturday Night Live. This continued into 2019 when they worked together again on her song “The Most” off her EP She Is Coming. This was set to be the first of three EPs making up one album, She Is Miley Cyrus.
But then came Cyrus’ divorce, her multiple surgeries, and then the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In regards to the latter, Cyrus has, like many artists, continued to perform for a good cause. In fact, in May 2020, she participated in Ronson’s “Love Lockdown” concert, playing, of course, “Nothing Breaks Like a Heart.”
Ronson said Cyrus is ‘ahead of the curve’
Speaking of coronavirus, Cyrus started her own initiative while staying home. Bright Minded: Live with Miley saw her reunite with old friends like Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez, as well as shed light on important issues with political figures like Senator Elizabeth Warren.
Ronson spoke to the Wall Street Journal for a May 2020 profile on Cyrus, saying this action was par for the course. “Like everything else, Miley got there early and she knows how to connect with people. She’s Mensa-level smart and always ahead of the curve.”
Are Ronson and Cyrus going to collaborate again?
Discounting her participation on the Charlie’s Angels theme song “Don’t Call Me Angel,” Cyrus has yet to release new music since her breakup anthem “Slide Away.” In January 2020, she teased that that was about to change. Though we haven’t heard exactly what she’s planning to release, Ronson has given us a hint.
Along with a lyric-free clip, Ronson wrote in a January 7, 2020, social media post, “If 2019 was for the [heart]break, 2020 is for the [heartbreakers]. Right, @MileyCyrus? …(very psyched for you all to hear this one, whenever mama says it’s ok).” Let’s hope we get this one sooner, rather than later.
