Miley Cyrus has opened up about suffering an anxiety attack onstage after the death of her close friend Taylor Hawkins and a terrifying incident in which her plane caught fire.
Speaking with Zane Lowe, the Flower singer shared that one thing that freed her soul to perform again was realizing she’s her own worst critic: “Nobody cares the way that I do.”
The experience culminated in Cyrus, 33, suffering an “actual anxiety attack on stage” while performing in Mexico.
“I was saying to the crowd, ‘I’m having an anxiety attack.’ And they were like, ‘Hell yeah, we’re having anxiety attacks,’” she recalled.
For Cyrus, 33, the overwhelming experiences eventually led to an “actual anxiety attack on stage” during a performance in Mexico.
“I guess it wasn’t so much anxiety, as I realize now in hindsight; it was just a buildup of the cocktail of chaos, you could say,” she explained.
Cyrus added, “Living through a global pandemic like everyone else.”
The Grammys winner revealed that Hawkins’ sudden death on March 25, 2022, deeply affected her in the immediate aftermath and for months afterward.
The two had been neighbours and grew close during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cyrus said growing up on a 500-acre Nashville farm meant she rarely had neighbours, making it special to easily visit Hawkins and play music together.
She described them as being “so in alignment” musically.
Cyrus recalled that Hawkins died shortly after she flew to Paraguay for the Asunciónico Music Festival, where Foo Fighters were also set to perform.
Her plane was forced to make an emergency landing after being struck by lightning during a storm, meaning she missed the chance to see him one last time.
She said Hawkins was the first person she called afterward, only to learn he had died the following day.
