[upbeat music]
- On this episode of "My Life On MTV"...
♪
Bedazzled and sparkly...
- You gonna twerk tonight?
- You'll see.
- Stripped down and full of grit...
- Let's rock!
- Whether flexing sleek piano moves
or rocking pure raw talent...
- ♪ She's just a girl and she's on fire ♪
- ♪ Wreck me
- Alicia Keys and Miley Cyrus know
how to bring down the house.
Both of these musicians
smash expectation with their fearless...
- You know we're about to make history right now.
- Driven...
- My record is what I want to sing.
- Sense of self.
- Other people's opinions don't define you.
♪
- And Miley rocks that same sorry-not-sorry spirit.
- If it's not crazy, I don't like to do it.
♪
- On MTV!
- We've watched these music prodigies go full hustle...
- You have no idea!
- And blow up into fierce femme phenomenons.
- I want every time you see me to be amazing.
- And now we're busting open the archive...
- Sorry!
- Sharing everything they did
for our cameras only.
This is "My Life On MTV."
- Blam!
- Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll.
- One, two, three, four.
♪ The seven things I hate about you ♪
♪ Baby, by now you should know I can't be tamed ♪
♪ I came in like a wrecking ball ♪
- ♪ I was born to run, I don't belong to anyone ♪
♪ Oh, no, don't need to be loved by you ♪
- From Disney princess
to fierce and self-assured grown-up,
Miley can't stop evolving.
- I grew up always watching MTV, TRL.
That's what made us want to be artists.
- Daughter of country idol Billy Ray Cyrus and godchild
of legend Dolly Parton, Miley had music in her blood.
♪
Scoring the role of Hannah Montana
set Miley up to be a bona fide child star.
♪
And there she was for the first time on TRL...
- Thank you. Thank you.
- Hannah Montana on the show, you lead a double life.
- I get the best of both worlds.
I get to do everything just like an average girl,
and then get to live her dream.
- And the second...
- Living the rock-star life, Hannah Montana, by the way,
congratulations, number one show on Disney Channel.
- Thank you.
- And, "sweet niblets," a third...
- First disc is all songs from "Hannah Montana."
The second disc is actually from Miley.
- Yes. It's really cool. I'm really excited
for everyone to get to see my Miley Cyrus.
- Terrific. - [laughs]
- Big controversy surrounding Miss Miley Cyrus
and some rather risqué photos
that she took for "Vanity Fair" magazine.
- Everyone is giving Miley Cyrus a hard time.
- I think if she wants to be the pure teenage idol,
she should make decisions that represent that.
- But we found a staunch defender
of the young Disney money maker.
- You know what?
Everyone should just leave her alone.
- ♪ You make me laugh, you make me cry ♪
♪ I don't know which side...
- Miley was ready to say, "Bye, wig,"
to the haters and Hannah's blonde locks.
Her single "7 Things" shot up to the top 10.
She was still at center stage...
- Miley Cyrus!
- But this time as Miley.
- New album is called "Breakout."
- Yes. - First single, "7 Things,"
obviously that is a huge hit. - Thank you.
- And... [cheers and applause]
- ♪ This is all so crazy
♪ Everybody seems so famous
It's kind of for everybody,
and it's got all different types of styles into it.
♪ So I put my hands up
♪ They're playing my song
This is to represent where I'm from,
being so proud of it.
It's all about party in the USA
and it's, like, an all-American song.
♪ Got my hands up, they're playing my song ♪
- Then Miley stole the summer
with a dream and a cardigan.
- ♪ Yeah, it's a party in the USA ♪
- Miley!
- It's not like any other award show
because it's actually what the fans want.
- Miley even won her first award.
- Miley Cyrus, "Hannah Montana: The Movie."
- I want to thank God.
Hello, the only reason I'm here.
I'm out.
- Now at this point in your career,
how are you different today?
- I was going through a lot,
and I didn't really know myself.
I'm so much more confident.
My record is what I want to sing.
- She was spreading her wings and letting the world know.
♪
- I didn't want to be just a character.
I want to be myself.
♪ I can't be tamed
This video is not selling just sex.
It's just breaking out and feeling free.
♪ And if you try to hold me back, I might explode ♪
- "Can't Be Tamed" was about freedom of self-expression.
- ♪ I can't be tamed
- And Miley marked the moment with the ultimate celebration:
a live MTV concert with all of her fans.
- ♪ 24 hours a day
♪ 'Cause I'm hot like that
I'm gonna get you. You're not gonna expect it.
- At the 2012 VMAs, the world met a whole new Miley.
♪
- Not the sweet, innocent Southern girl,
but, like, a little more rock.
- And the 2013 VMAs...
- It's the one night where anything will happen.
♪
- Is there anything that you can tell your Smilers?
- Hopefully this is the best
VMA performance of all time.
- Ladies and gentlemen, Miley Cyrus!
Oh! This is that moment for you.
- I've been born ready.
- You gonna twerk tonight?
- You'll see.
- ♪ Everybody get up
- ♪ If you can't hear
♪ What I'm trying to say...
♪ Okay, now he was close, tried to domesticate you ♪
♪ But you're an animal, baby, it's in your nature ♪
- Miley shocked the audience...
- ♪ You know I want it, baby
- Then the world. - ♪ Oh, yes, I do
- ♪ I know you want it - ♪ But you're a good girl
♪ Yes, you are
- At a record-breaking 306,000 tweets per minute,
this was the twerk that broke the Internet.
- ♪ I'm talking about these... ♪
♪ Blurred lines
♪ Yes, I am, blurred lines
[cheers and applause]
- Me and Robin the whole time said,
"You know we're about to make history right now."
- She's actually becoming who she is.
- Madonna has done it. Britney has done it.
I don't pay attention to the negative.
♪ Forget the haters
♪ ’Cause somebody loves you
♪ La, da, dee, da, dee
- Miley had one thing to say to her critics.
Tell them, Miley.
- ♪ I came in like \ha wrecking ball ♪
- Her video "Wrecking Ball" \h\h\h\h\h\hwas a smash hit.
\h- ♪ I never hit so hard in love ♪
- Here to cause some damage, \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hMiley Cyrus.
- ♪ I came in like \ha wrecking ball ♪
♪ Yeah, I just closed \hmy eyes and swung ♪
- Best Video.
- Miley Cyrus, "Wrecking Ball"!
- I love you all so much.
- After winning Best Video \h\h\h\h\h\h\hat the EMAs,
she scored a Moonman at home.
- And the winner, Miley Cyrus!
- I’m accepting this award
on behalf of the 1.6 million runaways and homeless youth.
- But this year when she won,
\h\h\hshe was trending for a different reason
\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hby starting the Happy Hippie Foundation
to support homeless youth and the LGBTQ+ community.
♪
Miley was a global \h\hpop phenomenon
and queen of the headlines,
\h\h\h\hand you better believe MTV always got there first...
- We twerk out the nerves.
♪
\h\h\h\h\h\h- Starting with an exclusive documentary...
\h\h\h- Did we make the right decision?
- With never-before-seen \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hfootage.
\h\h\h\h- Here we go. ♪ This is our plane
♪ This is our rules
I want every time you see me \h\h\h\h\h\h\hto be amazing.
♪
\h\h- Her episode of "Unplugged"...
- Thank y’all!
A lot could happen tonight.
- Had a next-level \hsurprise guest.
- Madonna is, like, \h\h\hunbelievable.
\h\h\h\hHer and I represent something that is freedom.
Thank y’all so much! \h\h\h\h- Thank you.
- Just 2 years after her \hfirst VMA performance,
\hMiley was hosting the whole damn show.
\h- I am totally stoked to have my entire family here tonight.
I’m kind of freaking out, \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hbut...
\h- Miley wasn’t up for an award,
but she still stole the night.
- I knew I should have worn underwear tonight.
- When we thought we had \h\h\h\h\h\hseen it all,
\h\h\h\hMiley had her next chapter on deck.
- ♪ Feels like I just woke up
- This time, her personal \h\h\h\h\h\htransformation
into a woman and artist \h\hwas on full display.
\h- ♪ I’m not afraid of who I used to be ♪
I feel younger now than I did \h\h\hwhen I was 15, 16, 17.
Now I can be proud \hof all the Mileys
\h\h\h\h\hthat I’ve ever been instead of trying to run away
from the 11-year-old.
♪ Change is a thing
♪ You can count on, yeah
♪ I feel so much younger now
[cheers and applause]
Thank you so much, VMAs.
♪
- Two years later, \h\h\hshe was back
\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hat the VMAs bidding past loves goodbye.
- ♪ So won’t you slide away?
♪ Back to the ocean
\h\h\h♪ I’ll go back to the city lights ♪
- So won’t you slide away?
- Miley has gone through \h\h\h\h\hmany changes.
- Thank you.
\h\h- But one thing has stayed the same.
♪
She is still shouting \h\h\h\h\hher message
\h\h\hof self-love from the rooftops.
She proved that once again \hat an unprecedented VMAs
during a global pandemic.
- ♪ See his hands around my waist ♪
♪ Thought you’d never \hbe replaced, baby ♪
♪ Ooh, you know it’s true
♪ Yeah, that I was born \h\h\h\h\h\h\hto run ♪
♪ I don’t belong to anyone
\h\h♪ Oh, no, I don’t need to be loved by you, yeah ♪
- And while live music was on pause in 2020,
Miley stayed connected \h\h\h\h\hto her fans
by performing in the comfort \h\h\h\hof her own backyard.
\h\h\h\h- ♪ Midnight sky is the road I’m taking ♪
♪ Head high up in the clouds
♪ I was born to run
♪ I don’t belong to anyone, \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hoh, no ♪
♪ Don’t need to be \h\hloved by you ♪
\h- Miley Cyrus has seen the best of both worlds
\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hin her more than 15 year career,
\h\hand MTV will be there for whatever happens next.
- ♪ Loved by you
♪
- Ladies and gentlemen, \h\h\h\hrock and roll.
- ♪ What goes around \h\h\hcomes around ♪
♪ What goes up must come down
♪ This girl is on fire
\h♪ This girl is on fire ♪
♪ Yeah, a door left open, \h\ha woman walking by ♪
♪ A drop in the water, \ha look in your eye ♪
♪ So I sing a song
\h\h\h♪ For the hustlers trading at the bus stop ♪
\h\h♪ Single mothers waiting on a check ♪
♪ Oh, maybe we could \h\h\hlove somebody ♪
- No makeup...
- ♪ Maybe we could care
♪ A little more
- No piano...
- ♪ Maybe we could \h\hlove somebody ♪
\h- Just 100% raw, natural talent...
- ♪ Instead of polishing \hthe bombs of holy war ♪
- But let’s go back \h\h\h\hto find out
\h\h\hjust how she woke up like this.
[piano music]
- I grew up all over Harlem, \h\h\h\hHell’s Kitchen area.
- Ooh!
- Don’t think I’ll probably \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hever leave.
I was 16.
I had just graduated \h\h\h\hhigh school,
\h\hand I was signed to Columbia Records.
\h\h\h\h\h\hIt was, like, everything at once, boom.
\hI went through the whole process of trying to work
with other producers \h\h\h\hand writers.
Just didn’t click for me.
\h\h\h\hI found that sometimes the person really didn’t want
\h\h\h\h\h\hto write with me; they more wanted to date me.
♪
\h\h\hI’ll get to that. Let’s take a step back.
♪ Woman’s, sing it
♪ Woman’s, woman’s, \h\hwoman’s worth ♪
Yeah.
♪ ’Cause a real man
♪ knows a real woman \hwhen he sees her ♪
- Alicia left Columbia Records \h\hand headed out on her own.
Music mogul Clive Davis
knew exactly what Alicia Keys \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hwas worth
\h\h\h\h\h\hand signed her to J Records immediately.
- ♪ She will and she can
\h\h\h\h♪ Find a man who knows her worth ♪
- You will remember tonight,
the launch of Miss Alicia Keys.
[cheers and applause]
\h\h- And all it took was four simple words.
- ♪ I keep on falling
♪ I keep on falling [cheers and applause]
♪ I keep on falling
♪ In and out of love
♪ With you
♪ I never loved someone
♪ The way that I’m loving...
You know that part. \h\h\h\h\h[laughs]
all: ♪ Fall
♪ I keep on falling...
\h\h\h- ♪ Falling... all: ♪ In and out...
- ♪ In and out... \hall: ♪ Of love
- Alicia Keys came to the VMAs \h\has a newbie that night...
\hall: ♪ Never - ♪ I never...
- And the winner is "Fallin’," \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hAlicia Keys.
[cheers and applause]
- And left with some OG swagger.
\h\h\h\h\h\h- Thank you to MTV for your support, Clive Davis,
the whole J Records family.
♪
- But the real work was just beginning.
[emotional piano music]
\h\h\h\h\h\h- I love this song. This song feels like the rain.
- Alicia, are you feeling nervous?
- No, I’m feeling great.
\h\h- Early morning, sometimes as early as 4:30, radio shows,
a couple of photo shoots \hin 1 day, rehearsals.
\h\h\h\h\h\hHello. While I’m going from
one place to another, interviews in the car
\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hand back home not until about 1:00 or 2:00.
♪
Hmm, sounds like the rain is pouring or something.
[cheers and applause]
♪ Sometimes it feels like
\h\h\h\h♪ I’m gonna die if you don’t call me ♪
\h- Alicia spent the next 2 years
sleeping on planes and buses
\h\hbetween shows on her world tour.
- ♪ Oh, baby, please
[music slows, stops]
\h\h\h\h- Hello? [phone clicks]
[cheers and applause]
- And yet, she and her music \h\hwere fresher than ever.
- Alicia, it’s been 2 years \h\h\h\h\hsince you put out
"Songs in A Minor." \h\h\h\h\h\h- Yeah.
- And I’ve been fiending \h\h\h\h\h\hfor a record.
I know everybody else has. \h\h\h\h\h\h\h- Thank you.
- Why have you been keeping your fans waiting so long?
- Alicia didn’t disappoint.
- ♪ Something special \h\h\h\h\habout you ♪
♪ I must really like you
- And dudes were dying to be \h\hin an Alicia Keys video.
\h\h- Just give me-- give me the special.
- You like me as a waitress?
[cheers and applause] \h\h\h\h\h\h[laughs]
\h\h\h- The 2004 VMAs was full of surprises.
- Like Prince and Biggie, \h\h\hBeethoven and Bach,
\h\hshe’s an artist ahead of her time.
\h\h\h\h\h- It’s... both: Alicia Keys!
- ♪ Some people want it all
♪ But I don’t want \hnothing at all ♪
♪ If it ain’t you, baby
♪ If I ain’t got you, baby
\h\h\h\h♪ Some people want diamond rings ♪
♪ Some just want everything
♪ But everything \hmeans nothing ♪
♪ If I ain’t got you, \h\h\h\h\hyou, you ♪
- ♪ Some people want it all \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h- ♪ Oh
- ♪ But I don’t want \h\hnothing at all ♪
- Her duet with Stevie Wonder would go down in R&B history.
- ♪ If I ain’t got you, baby, don’t you know? ♪
- ♪ Some people want \h\h\hdiamond rings ♪
- ♪ Some people want...
\h\h\h\h\h- And the winner is the most beautiful woman
to sit behind a piano.
- ♪ Everything means nothing
So this is for everybody \h\h\h\h\hin the struggle
trying to make it.
[cheers and applause]
- ♪ Say you're coming home
♪ Yet you never phone
♪ Leave me all alone
♪ My love is strong for you
♪ I'd do wrong for you
- Eric Clapton, Nirvana, Mariah Carey,
all these people have blessed the "Unplugged" stage.
Did you ever think you'd hear that title,
"Alicia Keys Unplugged"?
- Nirvana, that's one of my favorite joints,
that "Unplugged" album. - Mm-hmm.
- So I'm happy to be able to put my spin on it.
♪
- ♪ Every night I cry, every night I sigh ♪
♪ Every night I wonder why you treat me cold ♪
♪ Oh, you treat me so cold, oh, oh ♪
Oh...
♪ Don't you know every little bit hurts me, baby? ♪
♪ Ooh
- You got to give it up for Alicia Keys.
- ♪ Through the days and nights ♪
- Alicia spent so much time on TRL over the years,
she started forwarding her mail here.
- Take a look, your favorite teenage album.
- I was loving "36 Chambers" by Wu-Tang.
I was loving Method Man.
- I read in an article
that one of the things you miss most
is the warm smell of urine and beer on the subway.
- You can only find that in New York.
♪ When the rain is pouring down ♪
- "No One" was an instant hit.
Apparently, nobody loved it more
than Will Farrell and Woody Harrelson.
- ♪ You will always be around
- Kiss. - Don't do it. Don't do it.
- Not so fast, guys. This is Alicia's song.
- ♪ Oh, no one, no one
♪ Can get in the way of what I feel for you ♪
- ♪ Another girl with her finger on the world ♪
- In 2008, Alicia Keys and Jack White
paired up on "Another Way to Die"...
- ♪ Hey!
- The theme song for the James Bond film
"Quantum Solace."
both: ♪ Looking in the mirror
♪ A door left open, a woman walking by ♪
♪ A drop in the water, a look in your eye ♪
- And her collab career has continued with artists
like Pharrell, Jay-Z, and Nicki Minaj.
both: ♪ It's just another way to die ♪
♪
- The evolution of sound from "Songs in A Minor"
to "The Element of Freedom" is, like, light-years,
you know, because I was just figuring
everything out with "Songs in A Minor,"
how to put together a song, how to produce,
and now I've really been able to start to experiment more.
♪ Have you ever tried sleeping with a broken heart? ♪
♪ Well, you could try sleeping in my bed ♪
♪ Lonely, own me
♪ Nobody ever shut it down like you ♪
"Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart,"
it might as well be, like,
KRS-One rhyming BDP.
♪ Why don't you hold me?
It's soulful. It's hard.
Every element of who I am is in that record,
and I love it.
♪ I'm gonna find a way to make it ♪
♪ Without you tonight
♪ I'm gonna find a way
- In 2010, Alicia married producer Swizz Beats
and started a family.
- ♪ I'm gonna hold onto the times... ♪
The past year has been really incredible.
Being able to be a mom, me being able to be a wife
and just really finding, I feel like, my center.
♪ She's got her head in the clouds ♪
- Alicia Keys' next album proved where there's smoke...
- ♪ This girl is on fire...
all: ♪ Fire, fire
- And she lit one up in Manchester, England,
on her 2012 world tour.
- ♪ She gon' let it burn, baby, burn, baby ♪
- She passed the torch at the VMAs
to featured artist Nicki Minaj.
- ♪ Took me on the balcony
♪ Telling me to jump with her
♪ Yeah, I'm in the ghost
♪ But I ain't doing stunts with her ♪
♪ I ain't trying to be that
♪ Haters wanna see that, but I got them aggie ♪
♪ 'Cause I win the gold like Gabby ♪
- ♪ This girl is on fire
♪ This girl is on fire
- Alicia really brought the fire
to the Europe Music Awards.
- ♪ She's just a girl, and she's on fire ♪
♪ Let's talk about our part
♪ My heart touch your heart
♪ Let's talk about, let's talk about... ♪
- Alicia burned up the EMA stage again
2 years later.
- ♪ Not what we all about
♪ Let's do more giving, do more forgiving ♪
- Performing while pregnant cannot be easy,
yet Alicia handled it with power and grace.
- ♪ Sister, we are here
♪ We are here for all of us
♪ We are here
♪ Ooh
- On January 9, 2020,
Alicia dropped her hit single "Underdog."
It became an anthem for first responders
during the COVID pandemic.
- ♪ I, I sing a song for the hustlers ♪
♪ Trading at the bus stop...
♪ Single mothers
♪ Waiting on a check to come
♪ Said you're gonna make it
♪ Student doctors...
This is something that I have been
loving to do since I was 4 years old.
If you stick to what you're doing, you know,
you'll get what you want.
♪ You'll find that someday soon enough ♪
♪ You'll rise up, rise up, yeah ♪
- Rock and roll.
[upbeat music]
♪