Published Feb 18, 2026, 1:00 PM EST
Lacey Cohen is a lifelong student, writer, editor, music fanatic, and massive advocate for the Oxford Comma. She has been playing guitar for 16 years, boasts a 13-year-old Spotify library complete with playlists for just about any mood, and is well-versed in the language of nearly every genre of music. She graduated from the University of Michigan with a BA in English and a minor in gender and health, and she graduated from Long Island University with an MFA in creative writing and publishing with a focus in prose writing. Lacey is currently based in Brooklyn, but she is a true and proud Michigander at heart.
Between Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, and Nickelodeon, kids growing up in the early 2000s were never short of something to watch and hold their attention. Each channel had a sort of monopoly on one thing or another; where Cartoon Network specialized in cartoons, Nickelodeon had the greatest game shows, and Disney Channel was the place to be for the music-loving kids.
Disney Channel boasted a roster that included the Camp Rock and High School Musical franchises, the Jonas Brothers' Jonas, and, of course, the legendary Hannah Montana. Miley Cyrus'—or Miley Stewart's—double life as a pop star made for some pretty phenomenal TV, and by nature of the show's premise, some equally phenomenal music.
This March, Disney+ will be airing the Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special, where they'll be celebrating the pop icon who was all the hype back in 2006. Of course, Miley Cyrus has had an extremely prolific career of her own since the show, but it was Hannah Montana's music that built the foundation for that career in the first place.
Hannah Montana's Countless Hits Drove Elementary School Discourse Nonstop For Half A Decade
Few Disney Channel shows had intros more iconic than the drums that lead into Hannah Montana's "The Best of Both Worlds." Miley Cyrus took the stage and began singing what remain potentially her most famous lyrics to this day, "You get the limo out front (Ooh-whoa) / Hottest styles, every shoe, every color / Yeah, when you're famous, it can be kinda fun / It's really you but no one ever discovers."
The lyrics were a nod to her young fans, letting them in on the secret that no one in the world of Hannah Montana or Miley Stewart could ever know. From the start, a bond was built between Hannah Montana's character and the fans of her show. That bond was leveraged for years to come, particularly in the form of the TV pop star's greatest hits, from her ballads to her empowering anthems, and everything in between.
Hannah Montana only had one song break into the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100, with "He Could Be the One" in 2009, which peaked at number 10 exactly. That said, she did have a total of five platinum singles, including "He Could Be the One" and "The Best of Both Worlds," in addition to "Nobody's Perfect," "If We Were a Movie," and "Rock Star."
Miley Cyrus' discography and music career is entirely incomplete without the inclusion of what she was able to do as Hannah Montana, and while it was her character on screen that really brought the music to life, it was the airplay and lyrics that resonated with an entire generation that paved the way for the show to be as successful as it was. 20 years later, and the impact of Hannah Montana's music is still palpable.
English (US) ·