Walk of Fame (song)
| "Walk of Fame" | |
|---|---|
 7-inch vinyl cover | |
| Promotional single by Miley Cyrus featuring Brittany Howard | |
| from the album Something Beautiful | |
| B-side | "Reborn" |
| Released | May 28, 2025 |
| Genre | Dance-pop |
| Length | 6:00 (album version) 3:37 (edit) |
| Label | Columbia |
| Songwriters |
|
| Producers |
|
"Walk of Fame" is a song by American singer Miley Cyrus featuring American musician Brittany Howard, from Cyrus's ninth studio album, Something Beautiful (2025). An edit version of the song was released on May 28, 2025, two days before the album. Cyrus, Maxx Morando, Michael Pollack, Shawn Everett, Howard, and Jonathan Rado wrote the song. Cyrus, Everett, Pollack, Rado, and Morando produced it, with additional production by Howard.[1]
Background and release
[edit]Cyrus announced Something Beautiful, her ninth studio album, in March 2025. It was promoted as a visual album inspired in part by Pink Floyd's The Wall, with a companion film directed by Cyrus, Jacob Bixenman, and Brendan Walter.[1][2] Glen Luchford photographed the album artwork, which shows Cyrus wearing archival 1997 Thierry Mugler couture.
Before the album's release, Cyrus previewed the project with the songs "Prelude", "Something Beautiful", "End of the World", and "More to Lose".[1] The album's track listing, revealed in May 2025, listed "Walk of Fame" as one of its two featured collaborations, alongside "Every Girl You've Ever Loved" with Naomi Campbell.[3] "Walk of Fame" was written by Cyrus, Maxx Morando, Michael Pollack, Shawn Everett, Howard, and Jonathan Rado.[1]
An edit version of "Walk of Fame" was released as a digital single on May 28, 2025, two days before the album.[4] The full album version was released with Something Beautiful on May 30, 2025.[1]
"Walk of Fame" was featured in the 2026 film The Devil Wears Prada 2 and its soundtrack.[5][6] Paper ranked "Walk of Fame" fifth on its list of the film's needle drops, writing that the song fit with the soundtrack's pop selections.[7]
Composition
[edit]"Walk of Fame" is a dance-pop song with rock, disco, and electropop influences. Writing for Bustle, Jake Viswanath described it as a "dance anthem".[8] Lyrically, "Walk of Fame" uses images of performance, public attention, and walking away to explore fame, emotional conflict, and self-mythologizing.
Several reviews discussed "Walk of Fame" in the context of the album's broader dance-oriented sound. Riff Magazine called the song "unexpected and modern-sounding" in its review of the album.[9] Rock The Joint Magazine wrote that the track returned the album to the dance floor, comparing its feel to The Communards and noting its keyboard-pop arrangement and energetic drum sound.[10] In a broader review of Something Beautiful, The Guardian said the album's second half drew on hi-NRG and mid-1980s club music, singling out "Walk of Fame" as part of that stylistic turn.[11] Bustle interpreted the song as partly addressing a breakup, noting that Cyrus sings about leaving despite being asked to stay.[8]
The album version of the song runs for six minutes, while the edit version runs for three minutes and thirty-seven seconds. Howard contributes vocals and electric guitar to the track, and Danielle Haim also plays electric guitar.[1] Additional instrumentation includes clavinet by Money Mark and Syndrum and Vermona DRM-1 by Jay Rudolph.[1]
Music video
[edit]
The official music video for "Walk of Fame" was uploaded to Cyrus's official YouTube channel on July 18, 2025.[12] It runs for approximately six minutes and functions as the song's sequence in the Something Beautiful visual album. The film was directed and written by Cyrus, Jacob Bixenman, and Brendan Walter.[13] The visual album premiered at the Tribeca Festival on June 6, 2025, and was later released on Disney+ and Hulu in July 2025.[13][14]
The video is set on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and shows Cyrus performing on the sidewalk at night, crawling and moving across the stars as the camera emphasizes the glare, texture, and tourist-iconography of Hollywood Boulevard.[15] Brittany Howard also appears in the video, reflecting her featured vocal and guitar contribution to the track.[1][12]
During a May 2025 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Cyrus said that after filming the video on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in October 2024, she developed an infection around her kneecap that resulted in a brief hospitalization in the ICU.[16] She described filming at night on the unsanitized sidewalk and later telling doctors that she had been rolling on the ground during production.[15]
The video's setting gained additional notice in July 2025, when Cyrus was announced as part of the Hollywood Walk of Fame's 2026 class. She responded to the announcement by sharing footage from the "Walk of Fame" video and writing about childhood visits to Hollywood Boulevard with her father, Billy Ray Cyrus.[15][17]
Critical reception
[edit]Critical response to "Walk of Fame" was mixed. In a negative review of Something Beautiful, Pitchfork criticized the song's disco production and self-mythologizing tone, as well as Howard's outro.[18] The review grouped "Walk of Fame" with "Every Girl You've Ever Loved" as examples of what it considered the album's weaker pop material, arguing that the track's guest musicians could not rescue its concept.[18]
Other critics responded more favorably to the same elements. Anthony Fantano of The Needle Drop described the song as a "six-minute monster" and highlighted its shifting production and climactic vocal passages.[19] The Guardian also noted the song in the album's second half, comparing its melodic style to a Eurovision finalist and praising Howard's vocal contribution as a forceful, Grace Jones-like presence.[11]
Track listing
[edit]- Urban Outfitters limited edition 7-inch vinyl[20]
- "Walk of Fame" (edit) – 3:37
- "Reborn" (edit) – 3:58
Credits and personnel
[edit]Credits adapted from Pitchfork.[1]
Musicians
- Miley Cyrus – vocals, songwriting, production
- Brittany Howard – featured vocals, electric guitar, songwriting, additional production
- Danielle Haim – electric guitar
- Money Mark – clavinet
- Jay Rudolph – Syndrum, Vermona DRM-1
- Maxx Morando – songwriting, production
- Michael Pollack – songwriting, production
- Shawn Everett – songwriting, production
- Jonathan Rado – songwriting, production
Technical
- Shawn Everett – engineering, vocal engineering
- Ian Gold – engineering, vocal engineering
- Ivan Wayman – engineering
- Pièce Eatah – engineering, vocal engineering
- JC LeResche – assistant engineering, tape operator
- JC Chiam – assistant engineering
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Bloom, Madison (May 30, 2025). "Miley Cyrus Releases New Album Something Beautiful: Listen and Read the Full Credits". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on May 22, 2026. Retrieved May 18, 2026.
- ↑ Strauss, Matthew (March 24, 2025). "Miley Cyrus Announces New Album Something Beautiful". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on April 30, 2026. Retrieved May 18, 2026.
- ↑ Blistein, Jon (May 19, 2025). "Miley Cyrus Unveils Something Beautiful Track List". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on May 22, 2025. Retrieved May 18, 2026.
- ↑ "Walk of Fame (Edit) [feat. Brittany Howard] - Single by Miley Cyrus". Apple Music. May 28, 2025. Archived from the original on May 30, 2025. Retrieved May 18, 2026.
- ↑ Green, Walden (May 1, 2026). "Listen to Two More Lady Gaga Songs From The Devil Wears Prada 2". Pitchfork. Retrieved May 18, 2026.
- ↑ "The Devil Wears Prada 2 (Music From The Motion Picture)". Interscope Records. Archived from the original on May 14, 2026. Retrieved May 18, 2026.
- ↑ Kirby, Andie (May 7, 2026). "Every The Devil Wears Prada 2 Needle Drop, Ranked". Paper. Archived from the original on May 11, 2026. Retrieved May 18, 2026.
- 1 2 Viswanath, Jake (May 30, 2025). "Miley Cyrus' "Walk Of Fame" Lyrics & Meaning, Explained". Bustle. Archived from the original on January 14, 2026. Retrieved May 18, 2026.
- ↑ Gokhman, Roman (May 30, 2025). "Miley Cyrus finds Something Beautiful on ambitious LP". Riff Magazine. Archived from the original on June 12, 2025. Retrieved May 18, 2026.
- ↑ "Miley Cyrus, "Something Beautiful" album review". Rock The Joint Magazine. May 30, 2025. Archived from the original on May 22, 2026. Retrieved May 18, 2026.
- 1 2 Petridis, Alexis (May 29, 2025). "Miley Cyrus: Something Beautiful review – solid pop that's about as 'psychedelic' as a baked potato". The Guardian. Retrieved May 18, 2026.
- 1 2 "Miley Cyrus – Walk of Fame (Official Video) ft. Brittany Howard". YouTube. Miley Cyrus. July 18, 2025. Archived from the original on May 16, 2026. Retrieved May 18, 2026.
- 1 2 "Something Beautiful with Miley Cyrus". Tribeca Festival. Retrieved May 18, 2026.
- ↑ "Miley Cyrus: Something Beautiful Visual Album Coming to Disney+ and Hulu July 16". The Walt Disney Company. June 30, 2025. Archived from the original on May 22, 2026. Retrieved May 18, 2026.
- 1 2 3 Shewfelt, Raechal (July 2, 2025). "Miley Cyrus to get Walk of Fame star after iconic Hollywood attraction once sent her to the ICU". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on November 7, 2025. Retrieved May 18, 2026.
- ↑ Shewfelt, Raechal (May 23, 2025). "Miley Cyrus landed in ICU after her kneecap began to 'disintegrate' from infection she caught making film". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on November 7, 2025. Retrieved May 18, 2026.
- ↑ Avila, Daniela (July 2, 2025). "Miley Cyrus Used to Visit the Hollywood Walk of Fame with Dad Billy Ray. Now She'll Get Her Own Star: 'Feels Like a Dream'". People. Archived from the original on July 4, 2025. Retrieved May 18, 2026.
- 1 2 Green, Walden (June 4, 2025). "Miley Cyrus: Something Beautiful Album Review". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on June 7, 2025. Retrieved May 18, 2026.
- ↑ Fantano, Anthony (June 3, 2025). "Miley Cyrus – Something Beautiful Album Review". The Needle Drop. Retrieved May 18, 2026.
- ↑ "Miley Cyrus - Walk of Fame / Reborn UO Exclusive 7-inch Single". Urban Outfitters. Retrieved June 30, 2026.
