Miley Cyrus’s raspy, soulful voice on this viral Live Lounge sesh made us weak at the knees! Cyrus dropped into the BBC Radio 1 studio with Mark Ronson to sing their collab “Nothing Breaks Like a Heart,” and 57 million viewers were spellbound by her emotive vocal performance. While her main wheelhouse is pop, as a Tennessee farm gal, it’s no secret that Smiley drops some sublime vibes every time she takes on a country song.
This session was no exception, and the raw feeling Cyrus delivered here made it one of her finest hours. Ronson held it down on acoustic guitar throughout, while a string section elevated the emotion of the song to a powerful place. Ronson and Cyrus wrote a truly beautiful song with “Nothing Breaks Like a Heart,” and Cyrus has the perfect voice to make the song hit like a truck. The Music Man has to say that this live version is 100% the definitive version of the song, with absolutely no studio tricks needed.
With 57 million views clocked, Cyrus’s session on “Nothing Breaks Like a Heart” became the third most viewed upload on the BBC Radio 1 YouTube channel. Fans gave big props, adding comments such as “This song sounds like it could have been written and performed by Fleetwood Mac with Stevie Nicks on vocals… true creative talent and her voice is off the scale” and “Miley in a country/pop style, without backup singers or editing – that’s exactly what we want! A pure talent like her doesn’t need anything more.”
It seems that Smiley just can’t stop kicking goals with her Live Lounge sessions. The fourth most viewed video on the BBC Radio 1 channel is her cut of “Midnight Sky”. Cyrus completely reworked this tune for the Live Lounge, turning the disco groove of the original into a slow-burn soul and funk number. It’s another moment where Cyrus just blows the studio version out of the water, with her vulnerable and smoky vocal performance taking the song to a magical place.
Ronson released “Nothing Breaks Like a Heart” on November 29, 2018, with Cyrus appearing as the featured vocalist. Ronson and Cyrus co-wrote the song with a team of five other songwriters, with Ronson also co-producing. The Music Man readers may recall that “Nothing Breaks Like a Heart” was yet another chart success for Ronson and Cyrus, as the song went Platinum in the US and double Platinum in the UK. The country pop tune also did some big digits internationally, going Diamond in France and Brazil.