Billy Ray Cyrus' Aussie ex-wife Firerose says she's glad the 'truth is coming to light' following disastrous Trump inauguration set

Billy Ray Cyrus' Australian ex-wife says she's 'glad the truth is coming to light' about the country music star, 63, after his controversial performance at the Trump inauguration. 

Firerose, 36, told People, 'What’s being seen in public now reflects much of what I experienced in private during our relationship.'

The Sydney-born singer's marriage to Billy Ray ended in August 2024, after seven months of marriage. 

The couple were together for four years prior to their wedding, and during their divorce proceedings, both made allegations of abuse.  

'It’s very sad to see those same struggles continue for him, but I’m glad the truth is coming to light — for his potential good because healing is only possible when you confront the truth and accept there’s a problem,' she continues. 

'For me, I remain focused on my faith, my music, my healing and using my story to encourage others to find strength and hope.'

Billy stumbled through his performance at the Liberty Ball last Monday, causing organisers to shut down his sound and lighting, leaving him to wander around the stage in an apparent state of confusion. 

The In the Heart of a Woman singer issued an Instagram statement blaming faulty equipment. 

'I wouldn’t have missed the honour of playing this event whether my microphone, guitar and monitors worked or not,' he wrote alongside a clip of the performance. 

'I was there because President Donald J. Trump invited me. I had a ball at the Liberty Ball last night and I’ve learned through all these years when the producer says “you’re on,” you go entertain the folks even if the equipment goes to hell.

'I was there for the people and we had a blast. That’s called rock n roll!!!'

In a subsequent post, Billy said 'you just had to be there,' to appreciate his performance.  

Firerose left performing arts high school in Australia, at the age of 19, to pursue a singing career in the United States. 

In 2010, she was leaving an audition on a studio lot in Hollywood where Hannah Montana filmed, when she met Billy. 

The Disney Channel series made a star of Billy's daughter Miley, one of five children he raised with ex-wife Tish, to whom he was married from 1993 to 2022. 

He also played her father in the show.  

'This dog came up to me,' Firerose told Stellar magazine. 'I love dogs, so I was patting him. The man who owned him began talking to me. It was Billy.'

At the time, she was 22-years-old. Billy was about to turn 49. 

'I was by no means interested,' she said. But he began calling, inviting her to dinner, and to join him in the recording studio.   

They would hang out, and according to Firerose, he would tell her that she was his soulmate. 

'But I couldn’t have seen 10 years into the future. When I think about what I just went through, I would have told my 22-year-old self to run in the opposite direction and never look back.'

Billy reached out to her again as the Covid pandemic started.  

In 2021, they premiered their debut single New Day on the Nine Network talk show Today Extra and performed together on US morning show Live With Kelly And Ryan. 

The Australian singer told the publication it took years before she could identify the beginnings of her romance with Billy as 'love bombing' and just how isolated she had become. 

She claimed Billy explained away her seclusion by telling her 'things like, "Well, you can’t live that way anymore. You’re a Cyrus now. You can’t be going to church. You can’t be going to public places where people could follow you home. You’re going to be murdered." It sounds crazy, but that’s what was happening.'

'All I ever tried to do was love and trust this person, which was very ignorant of me. I really wanted to believe that he was the good version of the man I’d fallen in love with.'  

Billy's son Trace - whose sisters are Miley, Brandi and Noah - also penned a lengthy open letter following Billy's inauguration set.  

'Since my earliest memories all I can remember is being obsessed with you and thinking you were the coolest person ever,' Trace wrote. 

'I wanted to be just like you. The day you adopted me was the happiest day of my life.

'Sadly the man that I wanted so desperately to be just like I barely recognise now. It seems this world has beaten you down and it's become obvious to everyone but you.

'You may be upset with me for posting this but I really could care less at this point. Me and the girls have been genuinely worried about you for years but you've pushed all of us away.'

He said Billy Ray's children were 'all hanging on to memories of the man we once knew and hoping for the day he returns'.

He added: 'You're not healthy Dad everyone is noticing it. Just like I showed up for you at mamaws funeral when you didn't expect me to I'm still here right now.'