Miley Cyrus Reveals When She ‘Knew’ She Was Winning Her First Grammy After Almost Missing 2024 Ceremony

Miley Cyrus “knew” that she was winning her first-ever Grammy before her name was even called out at the 2024 ceremony.

The 32-year-old Something Beautiful pop star beat out the competition to win the Grammy for Best Pop Solo Performance for her song “Flowers.” That night, she won a second Grammy, taking home Record of the Year, also for the lead single to her album Endless Summer Vacation.

During a Wednesday, June 4 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Cyrus revealed the moment that she realized she had the first win in the bag. She also explained that she almost didn’t make it to the ceremony in time to accept it from the stage.

For Cyrus, it all came down to seeing Mariah Carey onstage presenting the award.

“Once I saw Mariah Carey, I knew I was gonna win. I had this whole idea in my mind of the butterfly and that metamorphosis,” she explained. “And she is the butterfly. Her album Butterfly has been such a North Star for me. So when I saw her, I kind of knew I was going to win. Because that was just… It was an MC. MC to MC; I knew I had to get it.”

She continued, saying, “I was so excited to meet Mariah Carey. Even if I didn’t get the trophy, which was very cool… I mean, I love the trophy. But it was really about meeting her. I was so excited.”

Despite her win being fated, Cyrus did note that she nearly missed the show, a fact that she briefly referenced in her acceptance speech.

“And I didn’t even know if I was going to make it to the Grammys. I said it very quickly as I was mumbling my acceptance speech because I actually got stuck in the rain. I got stuck in traffic. I almost didn’t even make it to receive,” she said.

While on The Zane Lowe Show on Apple Music 1 in May 2025, Cyrus described the win as being “healing.”

She explained, saying, “I think somewhere inside of me, I needed maybe to hold a trophy and just feel for a moment that I have something that I can hold in my hands that feels like a true achievement.”

However, while speaking to host Jimmy Fallon, she said that a Grammy had never been her ultimate goal.

“The reason I love that I never got a Grammy before was because it was never my compass. It was not my North Star. That wasn’t what I was after because I didn’t really expect it. That’s why the show had so much life, and I was genuinely surprised when I got my award,” she said.

During the 2024 ceremony, Cyrus took the stage to perform her two-time Grammy winning hit.

The hitmaker returned to the ceremony in 2025, debuting a new look on the red carpet. This year, she also picked up her third Grammy, taking home the win for Best Country Duo / Group Performance for her song “II Most Wanted” with Beyoncé

While speaking to Fallon about her new album Something Beautiful, Cyrus also reflected on the “clever” marketing strategy for Endless Summer Vacation. For her, it all came down to the title, which made advertising a dream.

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“I just cleverly titled my last album Endless Summer Vacation so then I could be on vacation, and it would look like that was a part of my aesthetic. So all I had to do is take pictures of me in a bathing suit and be like ‘ESV,’ and that was the promo,” she said.

While fans were upset that she seemingly wasn’t promoting the project, Cyrus said that was because she had different priorities at the time.

“All my fans were like, ‘You’re not promoting this album.’ And I’m like, ‘I’m making the next one, people. You’re ruining the illusion, I got it!’ ” she said.