Miley Cyrus‘ fans have always had her back. In another installment of the star’s “Used to Be Young” TikTok series, she recalled how her surprise first hit “See You Again” never got a music video because her label didn’t think it would do well on the charts — something her listeners proved very, very wrong.
The former Hannah Montana star began by explaining how she wrote “See You Again” with the intention of distinguishing herself from the Disney Channel alter ego she became famous for. “I have my own name in the song, I say ‘my best friend Lesley’ in the song, and so this was really the beginning of me storytelling for my fans,” she explained. “I wrote that song in a way that would feel really personal to Miley so there would be no confusion between me and the character.”
The track was released in 2007 as a single from Cyrus’ debut album Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus, which doubled as a Hannah Montana season two soundtrack album and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The song made its Billboard Hot 100 debut in December of that year, eventually reaching a striking peak of No. 10 in May 2008.
And yet, “See You Again,” released along with the dual album under Hollywood Records, never got a music video treatment. Why? “My record label at the time didn’t think the song was a hit, so there was never a music video made for it,” Cyrus explained in her TikTok.
“My record label told me that this song wasn’t gonna be a hit, and my fans decided otherwise,” she added. “It’s always been us.”
For the record, the “Flowers” singer is still a fan of “See You Again.” While listening to a snippet in her TikTok, she danced along and cheered, “Work, work, work.” “Hannah’s for kids, Miley’s for grown a– men in heels,” she joked.
Cyrus has been going through dozens of pieces of old footage and mementos from her career’s early years in a revealing TikTok series she put together in celebration of her new single “Used to Be Young.” In previous installments, she’s spoken about the insanely busy work schedule she followed as a pre-teen rising Disney star, how she really felt about Sinead O’Connor’s “Wrecking Ball” criticism and more.
Watch Miley reflect on “See You Again” below:
