24 million fans just could not get enough of Miley Cyrus’s transcendent performance of Madonna’s classic “Like a Prayer”! Cyrus’s soulful, powerhouse vocal was so captivating that many fans declared that she one-upped the Material Girl’s original performance. Cyrus performed the cover at the Super Bowl Music Fest in Los Angeles, California, on February 12, 2022.
Cyrus is totally in her element and just singing straight from her soul here. The raw emotion in her vocal intro is simply breathtaking, and there are so many other vocal highlights throughout the song as well. The Music Man is confident in saying it’s one of Smiley’s greatest vocal performances, and her electric energy on stage makes it a joy to watch. It’s also clear that Cyrus really loves this song, and how much it means to her really comes through in the performance, making it one for the ages.
With its 24 million view count, Cyrus’s “Like a Prayer” cover became one of her most popular live cuts on YouTube. Fans gave big props to the Tennessee star, adding comments such as “She always improves every cover she sings,” “I’m sorry but this is better than the original,” and “When you listen to music and it gives you goose bumps you know she’s a great rocker. I put her up there with Amy and Janis.”
While Smiley has plenty of her own hits, there’s no question that many of her greatest moments come from her live covers of old school favs. One such epic live cut from Cyrus was her take on The Cranberries’ “Zombie,” which she performed while fronting a rock band at the 500-cap Whisky a Go Go in West Hollywood. Much like her Madonna cover, Cyrus takes the pop hit to a new place with a raw and intense vocal performance.
Madonna released “Like a Prayer” on March 3, 1989, as the lead single from her fourth studio album of the same name. The song topped the charts in 20 countries on its way to selling 15 million copies. The Music Man readers might be interested to hear that Madonna sought to address deeper and more personal topics on Like a Prayer, with the title track and its exploration of her religious upbringing being a prime example of this approach. Critics noted that Like a Prayer was a pivotal point in Madonna’s career, marking her transition from pop star to a more mature artist. Perhaps this is why Cyrus was drawn to “Like a Prayer,” as she also went through a similar shift, which also occurred at the time of her fourth studio album, Bangerz.