Dogs truly are man’s best friend. Country singer and actor Billy Ray Cyrus knows all about this. He has his German shepherd Tex to thank for introducing him to his now-fiancé, Firerose.
Billy Ray, 61, spoke to People magazine about his newly announced engagement to the 34-year-old Australian singer. After a rough patch in life in which he finalized his divorce with ex-wife Tish and lost his mother Ruth Ann Casto, he is ready for some good. According to Billy Ray, Firerose is “the real deal.”
Billy Ray’s engagement journey has taught him one of his new truths: "For everything that's good, there's always been something equally as bad. I've never really known the middle." He is happy to be on the good side for now.
Billy Ray and Firerose first met 12 years ago. Billy Ray was filming his hit show Hannah Montana, and Firerose had an audition on the same lot he was filming.
"I loved doing that show," he recalled.
Billy Ray continued, “There's a couple old pine trees on the lot that look like Tennessee. Tex and I would go out there in the middle of the day and he'd take care of his business and we'd stretch and I'd think how much I missed Tennessee. On that given day, Firerose came out of the front door. There was almost a moment of, I don't know, recognition. I was like, 'This girl's a star.'"
Firerose knew who Billy Ray was immediately because she was a fan of his music. "Growing up in Australia, my love of music was predominant over everything," she stated. "I've known his music since forever."
While Firerose did not book the audition that day, she did get something even better. Billy Ray introduced her to the creatives behind Hannah Montana, and the pair began their friendship.
"I just thought, well, the casting agents, the producers, the writers, they're all on the floor of where we do Hannah Montana. And I actually said to her, 'Don't ever take a strange man up on this offer, but, in this case, Tex will testify that you will be totally safe,” Billy Ray recalled.
Billy went on to say, "'I'm going to introduce you to a producer and you can kind of make yourself at home and watch us rehearse and you know, maybe it might lead to a role or just another contact at Disney.' And so, off me and her and Tex went back to the studio and I think she met a lot of the cast and met the producers, writers. And, in some ways, well, in a lot of ways, we became friends."
Billy Ray and Firerose stayed in touch. Firerose eventually got the courage to ask Billy Ray to listen to some of her music.
"Our friendship was so solid over the years," Firerose stated.
During the global health crisis, Billy Ray and Firerose began writing music with each other. "She plays all of her own instruments and writes her own songs. We began sharing music, and it just evolved," Billy Ray recalled. Their first collaboration was the song “New Day,” which was released in July 2021.
During their songwriting sessions, the pair shared personal details about their lives with each other. A deep connection grew. One day Billy Ray asked if they could be more than friends.
“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. Again, we're musicians, first and foremost, both of us. And we found this harmony, and this rhythm, this melody to life,” Billy Ray recalled.
Billy did not do an elaborate proposal. He didn’t even have a ring when he asked. “Billy looked at me and said, 'Do you, do you wanna marry me?' And I was just like, 'Of course I do. I love you,'" Firerose said. She would go on to design her own engagement ring.
Billy Ray is a father to six children. He shares son Christopher Cody with ex-girlfriend Kristin Luckey. He shares Miley, Brandi, Noah, Trace, and Braison with ex-wife Tish. There have been rumors of estrangement between Billy Ray and his children over the divorce, but Billy Ray denies these.
"Everyone knew that that relationship was over a long time ago," he stated. "Everybody's turning the page. It's been a lot, but everyone knew that it was time for a change."
