He had fame, money and adulation. But he knew that getting off the rocket ride would risk it all.
"I was either going to be responsible, or I wasn't," he said. "Am I gonna be a dad, or I'm not. Am I gonna be a husband, or I'm not. Are we going to be a family, or we're not. It's that 'not' thing that made me feel very sad and lonely."
He made his decision. "You know what, this train may come off the tracks, but I'm going to be a dad. I'm going to be a husband, and try to have something in my life that is right."
In a Perfect World …
Just as all of this was swirling around him, he was nominated for five Grammys. As a sign of things to come, he lost in all five categories.
"The next day, I get on the flight, and Tina Turner's over to my left, and the flight's just packed full of Nashville artists, and I've got the L.A. Times, and the front page: big, bold letters, 'Cyrus, Big Loser,' " he told Quinones. "I just wanted to climb under my chair."
Cyrus pledged to support the woman who was carrying his first baby. And against his record company's advice, he secretly married Finley on Dec. 28 1992.
Finley gave birth to Cyrus' daughter, Miley. The other woman had his son, Cody. The boy lives with his mother in South Carolina and sees Cyrus as much as possible.
"In a perfect world, Cody would be living with me, and we'd all just be one happy family," Cyrus said. "But as we all know, it ain't a perfect world."
Few Regrets
Cyrus stopped touring. He got off the rocket ride to pay attention to his new family. While he was gone, the music industry moved on — and saw him as a one-hit wonder. They could only hear "Achy Breaky Heart."
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