After the seemingly near-permanent chart reign of "Flowers" from this year's Endless Summer Vacation, Miley Cyrus returned on Friday (August 25) with a new single called "Used to Be Young." To promote the intimate track, she's opened up to fans in an interview series on TikTok, where she explained her struggle with the touring lifestyle — with which, in a rare moment of sense-making, Grimes agreed.
The pop star announced back in May that she would be going on a hiatus from life on the road, sharing in a statement that "singing for hundreds of thousands of people isn't really the thing that I love."
The pop star announced back in May that she would be going on a hiatus from life on the road, sharing in a statement that "singing for hundreds of thousands of people isn't really the thing that I love."
The new interview clip shared yesterday (August 27) sees Cyrus expand on her sentiments about being a touring musician, which she feels erases her "humanity and connection."
"That's what people don't really understand about touring: the show is only 90 minutes, but that's your life," she explained. "If you're performing at a certain level of intensity and excellence, there should be an equal amount of recovery and rest."
Cyrus went on to say that she's uncomfortable with being placed on the pop star pedestal by crowds of devotees night after night. "There's a level of ego that has to play a part, that I feel gets overused when I'm on tour and once that switches on, it's hard to turn it off," she said. "And I think when you're training your ego every single night to be active, that's the hardest switch for me to turn off."
"Having — every day — the relationship between you and other humans being 'subject' and 'observer' isn't healthy for me," the artist added. "Because it erases my humanity and my connection. And without my humanity and my connection, I can't be a songwriter, which is my priority."
Grimes shared the video on the website formerly known as Twitter, adding, "If u exist entirely for the pleasure of others there is nothing left of you."
"It's hard to express this without feeling ungrateful," the artist born Claire Boucher continued, saying that she's an introvert by nature. "I have no idea how to ever approach tour again, but I feel so guilty about it."
We've been thinking about the nature of the relationship between musicians and their fans a lot lately, from the #YeetBeat's weird objectification of performers to Doja Cat distancing herself from her fanbase. Cyrus provides interesting insight into the toll being famous takes on an artist's psyche in the interview clip below.
@mileycyrus Used To Be Young (Series) - PART 6
♬ Used To Be Young - Miley Cyrus
