The ex factor: Miley Cyrus smashes records with breakup anthem



Shakira, SZA and Lana Del Ray person additionally located existent illustration fulfillment with songs celebrating pistillate empowerment

Miley Cyrus’s tune Flowers is reportedly astir her divorcement from the histrion Liam Hemsworth. Photograph: NBC/Vijat Mohindra/Getty ImagesMiley Cyrus’s way Flowers is reportedly astir her divorcement from the histrion Liam Hemsworth. Photograph: NBC/Vijat Mohindra/Getty ImagesNadia Khomami Arts and mode of beingness correspondentFri 27 Jan 2023 09.09 ESTLast modified connected Fri 27 Jan 2023 09.37 EST

Miley Cyrus should acquisition herself vegetation, she tin constitute her sanction successful the sand. She tin instrumentality herself dancing, and helium oregon she tin clasp her ain hand.

That’s the connection the popular superstar imparts successful her caller single, Flowers, which smashed Spotify’s one-week streaming record with greater than 96m streams closing week, and crowned charts astir the arena including wrong the UK, Australia, Canada and China.

The track, reportedly astir Cyrus’s divorcement from the Australian histrion Liam Hemsworth, has turn to beryllium an anthem for miss empowerment aft heartbreak. Cyrus adjacent released it connected her ex-husband’s birthday, spawning limitless headlines, TikToks and memes astir Hemsworth’s rumoured shortcomings.

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As the adage, rightly oregon wrongly attributed to the past owed writer Dorothy Parker is going, penning good decidedly is the bully revenge. Even Gloria Gaynor, whose 1978 breakup anthem I Will Survive cemented her repute arsenic an empowering philharmonic icon, has shared and commented connected Cyrus’s hit.

“I’m successful Nashville operating connected caller tune and conscionable heard ‘Flowers’ for the archetypal time,” she said. “Your tune contains the torch of empowerment and encourages each assemblage to observe the powerfulness successful themselves to persevere and thrive. Well executed Miley!”

But Cyrus isn’t the handiest large sanction whose breakup opus has recovered accomplishment wrong the charts currently. The Colombian vocalist Shakira crowned Spotify’s apical 50 planetary illustration with a “diss tune” astir her ex, the erstwhile Barcelona footballer Gerard Piqué. The music, a collaboration with the Argentinian shaper and DJ Bizarrap, broke accusation due to the fact that the astir watched caller Latin way successful YouTube’s records (presently astatine 200m views) and became the apical opus successful Spanish-speaking markets which see Argentina, Colombia, Chile and Mexico.

With lyrics unneurotic with “You traded a Ferrari for a [Renault] Twingo, you traded a Rolex for a Casio,” Shakira’s azygous additionally sparked worldwide intrigue successful fanatics already captivated by mode of the singer’s scorched-earth mentality – unneurotic with claims she used a jar of jam to prehend Piqué dishonest and set up a lifesize witch doll connected her balcony that reportedly overlooks her erstwhile mom-in-regulation’s domestic.

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Meanwhile, different stars with apical 3 singles successful each the UK and US are the R&B vocalist SZA with her tune Kill Bill – which is acceptable a story to circumstantial revenge connected an ex-boyfriend – and queen of the breakup ballad, Taylor Swift, with Anti-Hero. While Anti-Hero isn’t a breakup track, Swift’s estimation successful ample portion derives from her quality to spell distant tantalising clues astir her exes successful songs (one that was conception to beryllium astir Jake Gyllenhaal caused the actor’s societal media being inundated with Swifties).

Last month, Lana Del Rey offered a billboard successful her ex’s home city to merchantability her caller album, Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd, commenting that this 1 became “private”. She additionally announced her medium and dropped the rubric tune connected her ex’s birthday.

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Lana Del Rey had an medium billboard positioned successful her ex's homeland:

“There's handiest 1 and it's successful Tulsa ☠️” p.C.Twitter.Com/BiTG81nyVW

According to the illustration expert James Masterton, breakup songs “date little backmost to the sunrise of popular way records”. The 4th tune ever to apical the British charts go Outside of Heaven, with the assistance of Eddie Fisher, and considered 1 of the biggest hits of 1957 turned into Singing the Blues arsenic executed done Guy Mitchell and Tommy Steele – some astir the extremity of a relationship.

But breakup songs instrumentality connected a unsocial frisson erstwhile they whitethorn beryllium astir the performers’ idiosyncratic studies. “The astir transferring and coronary heart-rending Abba way of each is The Winner Takes It All arsenic they sing astir their divorces from each other,” Masterton said.

What’s maximum captivating, helium introduced, changed into the “gender divide” wrong the songs. “Breakup songs sung done men are [often] successful the noble blues manner of ‘my kid she near me’ arsenic they beryllium feeling atrocious for themselves. But astatine the aforesaid clip arsenic determination are masses of heartbroken girls, determination are conscionable arsenic galore songs astir a pistillate selecting herself up and transferring on. Both Gaynor’s I Will Survive and Cyrus’s Flowers are fundamentally feminist anthems. The ladies are empowered by their breakup, not destroyed by utilizing it. No wonderment it turns retired to beryllium this benignant of affluent seam of songwriting.”

Alex Goat, the person authorities of the young radical manner specialists Livity, stated: “If Lewis Capaldi’s Someone You Loved and Forget Me instrumentality a spot firmly wrong the melancholy phase, Flowers looks similar you’re popping retired the other facet, alongside Dua Lipa’s Don’t Start Now, which brings a consciousness of attractiveness and empowerment to ‘proudly owning your breakup’.”

But, she stated, what felt peculiar and contiguous time astir Flowers was that the sentiment and the euphony video vocalise – and visualise – self-care and self-love.

“For today’s younger technology, self-care rituals and practices are massive. From the improbable roar successful wellness to Selena Gomez’s heartfelt look connected The Boss Wives closing yr, bodily and affectional self-care and self-love – the hashtag of which has 52bn TikTok perspectives – seizure the tone of the mode specified a batch of young radical are drafting adjacent and prioritising the narration they've with themselves.”