Her “Hannah Montana” impersonating years have come full circle.
Today, Lainey Wilson joined Miley Cyrus for a duet rendition of her song “Younger You,” which was included as part of Miley’s recent “Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special.” Miley walked fans down memory lane, and it was full of nostalgia, and this song played at the very end and I thought was one of the highlights of the whole thing.
Of course, most fans know that one of Lainey’s very first gigs as a teenager back in her hometown of Baskin, Louisiana, was being a Hannah Montana impersonator. From 8th to 12th grade, Lainey hauled all of her gear, and wig, of course, to birthday parties all over Louisiana. The show was obviously life changing for her in a very unique way, and on the red carpet ahead of the premiere, she talked about how she even got into the Hannah Montana impersonating business, saying it was her 8th grade teacher who first asked if anyone would put on a wig and come to her daughter’s birthday party.
Lainey volunteered, she said it spread “like wildfire,” and the rest, as they say, is history. Lainey explained that she took it as far as she could, buying the karaoke track of “Best of Both Worlds,” and she also had a whole portable sound system, and of course, a blonde wig:
“My 8th grade teacher at the time, she was like, can anybody just put on a Hannah Montana wig and come be Hannah for my little girl’s birthday? Well, I took it a step too far and I bought the karaoke track and I put on my first Hannah Montana show, and it spread like wildfire. I would do three or four birthday parties a weekend, I had the portable sound system, I had the wig, I did it for five years.”
But Lainey joked that when she got to tell Miley that she had also been Hannah Montana, she said she didn’t have the “Malibu mansion” or the “Hannah Montana” budget:
“8th grade to 12th grade. And I did get a chance to tell Miley, I was like, ‘We were both Hannah Montana. My Hannah looked a lot different than yours. No Malibu mansions, but Hannah was a big part of my life.'”
She might not have back then, but she sure does now, so it all worked out…
Lainey previously honored Miley Cyrus at the her Disney Legend event with a rendition of “The Best Of Both Worlds,” and she called Miley “an inspiration,” and so I’m sure this was a dream come true for that little girl from Louisiana.
Lainey shared a series of photos of she and Miley, as well as some photos from her time as “Hannah Montana” back in the day, saying she wishes she could go back and tell her younger self that she’d have a song with the “real Hannah Montana” one day:
“If I go back and tell myself one thing it’d be…’Hey younger you, you’re gonna impersonate Hannah Montana all throughout high school, playing every birthday party, fair and festival between here and Louisiana and then one day…. you’re gonna have a song with the real Hannah Montana.
Miley Cyrus, thank you for asking me to join you on this special song. If this ain’t a full circle moment, I don’t know what is.”
If you grew up on “Hannah Montana” like I did, then you know just how nostalgic all of this is, and I absolutely love this song and think Lainey is the perfect addition:
Honestly, it might bring a tear to your eye… I feel like we need an original song from these two now. They sound great together, obviously there’s a lot of history there, and if you haven’t listened to Miley in a long time, you might be pleasantly surprised with this one:
“Younger You”
