Miley Cyrus Explained The Condition That Causes Her Raspy Voice

Even as a preteen on the Disney Channel, Miley Cyrus was known for her deep, distinct voice. Her signature rasp ultimately helped her earn her first Grammy Award in 2024 for her hit “Flowers.” Ironically, however, her unique timbre comes from a medical condition.

Miley’s Vocal Cord Issues

Cyrus opened up about her “unique anatomy” during her May 21 interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. The “Something Beautiful” singer explained that she has Reinke’s edema, a voice disorder in which the vocal cords become swollen. It can be caused by smoking, chronic acid reflux, or repetitive vocal trauma, and symptoms can include the voice becoming deeper and hoarser, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

“Being 21 and staying up and drinking and smoking and partying after every show does not help, but in my case, it also does not cause it,” Cyrus said. “So my voice always sounded like this, so it’s a part of my unique anatomy.”

She also shared that she has a “very large polyp” on her vocal cord and credited it with giving her “a lot of the tone and texture” that make her singing so distinct. Cyrus said that “it’s extremely difficult to perform with, because it’s like running a marathon with ankle weights on.”

Her condition adds a major layer of difficulty to touring. A big challenge, she explained to Lowe, is finding the sweet spot between the number of shows she can perform without harming her vocal cords and still covering the costs of putting on those concerts.

“It’s not free to tour,” she said. “And so, if I can’t play a certain amount of shows, it doesn’t actually, like, mathematically make any sense to do it. And the way that I need to do it, it’s why a lot of artists don’t tour as much as they maybe want to or used to, because to have it make sense, it’s really hard to not design a tour that’s going to hurt you, whether you have this [condition] or not.”

Embracing Her Sound

Cyrus has said that she’s received a lot of criticism for her voice over the years. Speaking to Metallica’s Lars Ulrich for Interview magazine in 2021, she said, “My whole life, whether in vocal training or just continuing to hone my craft, it’s always been about, ‘Why do you sound like a man? Where’s your f*cking falsetto, b*tch? Why can’t you sing the high octave of ‘Party in the U.S.A.’ anymore?’”

However, Cyrus celebrated her “authentic, genuine sound,” adding, “My voice is how I represent myself. It’s how I express myself.”

To Lowe, she highlighted the positives, calling her issue “a blessing of a condition.” She also shared that she opted against a possible treatment. “I’m not willing to sever it because the chance of waking up from a surgery and not sounding like myself is a probability,” she said.