Billy Ray Cyrus is engaged to Firerose and shares details about how they met .
The “Old Town Road” singer, 61, finally confirmed on Wednesday that he and the Australian singer/songwriter, 34, became engaged in August — four months after his wife of 28 years, Tish Cyrus, filed for divorce. Billy Ray and Firerose have a new song, “Time,” out Wednesday.
He told the outlet that 12 years ago, in 2010, while making Hannah Montana with his superstar daughter Miley Cyrus, he took his dog for a walk on the Tribune Studios (now: Sunset Bronson Studios) grounds in Hollywood.
Firerose, then 22, came over to say hi to the dog and Billy Ray, whom she recognized.
Billy Ray, who married Tish in 1993, said they stayed in touch. Firerose — her legal name (though reportedly born Johanna Rosie Hodges) — said, “Our friendship was so solid over the years.”
In Tish’s divorce filing, she said she and the “Achy Breaky Heart” singer lived apart for their final two years of marriage. Billy Ray told People that as they pandemic began, he and Firerose became songwriting partners.
Billy Ray said he asked Firerose, “who had been such a light of positivity, such a best friend,” if they could be more than friends. In early summer, Firerose moved to his Franklin, Tenn., farm, and he proposed in August — initially sans engagement ring.
Billy Ray also addressed rumors of estrangement with his children — in addition to 29-year-old Miley, he’s dad to Brandi, 35, Trace, 33, Braison, 28, and Noah, 22 with Tish as well as Christopher Cody, 30, with ex-girlfriend Kristin Luckey.
Billy Ray and Firerose, appeared together on Live with Kelly and Ryan in 2021 to promote their song “New Day” and she talked about meeting him a decade earlier.
“Billy Ray’s been a phenomenal supporter of my music ever since then,” she told Ryan Seacrest at the time.
