Billy Ray Cyrus is engaged

By Lisa Respers France, CNN

Billy Ray Cyrus is well past his “Achy Breaky Heart.”

The 61-year-old singer and actor has announced his engagement to 34-year-old Australian singer, Firerose.

“She’s the real deal,” Cyrus told People magazine.

The happy news comes after his former wife, Tish Cyrus, filed for divorce from him in April after 28 years of marriage. According to her filing, they had not lived together for two years.

Billy Ray Cyrus said there are no hard feelings in terms of the split from the woman with whom he shares five children: sons Trace (33) and Braison (28) and daughters Brandi (35), Miley (29) and Noah (22).

“Everyone knew that relationship was over a long time ago,” he said. “Everybody’s turning the page. It’s been a lot, but everyone knew that it was time for a change.”

As he tells it he and Firerose met 12 years ago when she was at Disney’s studios for an audition and came over to say hi to Cyrus’ dog, Tex. The star offered to take her onto the set of his daughter Miley’s hit show, “Hannah Montana” to meet people. He and Firerose stayed in touch after.

She asked him to listen to her music and their friendship turned into a creative partnership. The release the single “New Day” in July 2021.

Firerose was there for him, he said, during the height of the pandemic and when his mother Ruth Ann Casto died four months after his divorce.

“All of the sudden, the life that I’ve always known as a touring artist didn’t exist anymore. A moment of so much change. And at the same time, Firerose, who had been such a light of positivity, such a best friend,” he said. “And then when we began sharing the music, it just evolved more into, as musical soulmates, to soulmates, happy, pure love that to me, I didn’t know could exist.”

She moved to his farm in Franklin, Tennessee, early in the summer and the couple got engaged in August a few weeks before his mother died.

He and Firerose have now released a new single, titled “Time.”

“I’ve spent my life worried about things that are beyond my control,” Cyrus said. “But at this spot in my life, knowing that all you really have is the happiness that you feel inside your mind and your heart .

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.