Miley Cyrus Returns to the Stage With a Hollywood Bowl Comeback

Miley Cyrus took the stage at the Hollywood Bowl on Friday night for her first full public concert in four years, delivering an 18-song set that mixed new material with the hits that made her a pop fixture. The show, on October 16, marked the singer’s return to live performance after a long break from the road.

The concert came two months after Cyrus announced Bass Persuades, her new album, which arrived on September 18 through Atlantic Records. The record runs to ten tracks and includes guest turns from Model/Actriz and Andrew Wyatt of Miike Snow, both of whom appear on the album’s tracklist. Cyrus performed much of the new record live for the first time at the Bowl.

While promoting the album, Cyrus said the title reflected the many ways music takes hold of people. “Music takes hold of us. We feel it, sing it, sometimes dance to it, let it out and carry on,” she wrote in a post announcing the record. She described the album as covering “every part of life in between” and thanked fans for helping make her ambitions real.

Announcing the Hollywood Bowl dates, Cyrus said she had long wanted to play the venue. “It’s been a while. The Hollywood Bowl is my favorite place to experience music and see my favorite artists,” she said. “I’ve sat in those seats many times, but I’ve never taken the stage. LA is my heart and I’m bringing it home.”

A tribute to Dolly Parton

The emotional high point of the night came when Cyrus paid tribute to her late godmother, Dolly Parton, with a cover of “Jolene.” In a speech before the song, she recalled the only time she saw Parton perform live as a fan rather than sharing a stage with her, and noted that the show also happened at the Hollywood Bowl.

Cyrus said she had asked Parton for a night off from performing so she could simply watch the show. Parton agreed, then did the opposite, opening her set with a Hannah Montana song and calling attention to Cyrus in the crowd. The memory gave the tribute an added weight that the audience seemed to feel.

Guests and a career-spanning set

Model/Actriz joined Cyrus during the show, and Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips appeared for performances of “Do You Realize??” and “Karen Don’t Be Sad.” The set drew from across Cyrus’s catalog, including “We Can’t Stop,” “Wrecking Ball,” “The Climb,” “Party in the USA,” “Used to Be Young” and “Flowers,” alongside newer songs such as “Orbit,” “Redlights” and the title track.

Cyrus has a second Hollywood Bowl date scheduled for October 18, but no further shows have been confirmed. In a recent interview with Apple Music, she left the door open to more performances, saying she was more inclined toward residencies than traditional touring. “People like to see me perform and I like to sleep in my marshmallow bed, so we can both be happy,” she said, describing the Bowl dates as a test of that approach.

What comes next

For a performer who grew up in public and became one of the most recognizable voices of her generation, the return was both a reset and a reminder of how deep her catalog runs. Whether it leads to a residency, a longer tour or simply more one-off nights remains an open question. What the Hollywood Bowl made clear is that Cyrus can still fill a landmark venue and hold a crowd through a set that spans more than a decade of hits. The second show will offer another measure of where she wants to take the next chapter of her career, and her comments suggest she intends to let audiences come to her rather than chase them on the road.

Sources

Variety, “Miley Cyrus Announces New Album ‘Bass Persuades,’ Sets Two Shows for Hollywood Bowl”; and Consequence, “Miley Cyrus Pays Tribute to Dolly Parton at Hollywood Bowl Comeback Concert” (October 2026).