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Billy Ray Cyrus on the Success of “Achy Breaky Heart” — “It’s Still Great to Be Here 25 Years Later”
Things are better than ever for Billy Ray Cyrus!
During an exclusive new interview with Closer Weekly, the 55-year-old country star candidly reflected on the continued success of his breakout 1992 hit "Achy Breaky Heart" from his first record, Some Gave All.
"The album debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Top 200," Billy Ray recently told Closer at the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas on Sunday, May 21. "It's still great to be here 25 years later!"
Billy Ray performing in 1992.
"Achy Breaky Heart" was so popular in the early 90s that the tune even sparked a line dance craze. Today, Billy Ray's fans are just as dedicated to the song
— so much so that the singer recently released a multilingual version with the Mexican band Caballo Dorado.
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"They know the words by heart. They can sing along," he said of his loyal fans. "The song was always a bridge to bring people together."
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Billy Ray similarly opened up about "Achy Breaky Heart" turning 25 years old — and recalled hearing songwriter Don Von Tress' tune for the first time.
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"I stood up and said, 'That's me! That's what I want to sound like, that's what I do, man!' Thinking back on it, it just turned me on because it moved me," he told the magazine.
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Though the star's album, Some Gave All, was nearly finished at the time, Billy Ray knew "Achy Breaky Heart" had to be added to the record. While penning the song — which spent 17 weeks atop the Billboard Top 200 — Von Tress believed it would one day be a hit.
"[It was] a gift from the ether. I saw kids dancing in my mind [when I wrote it] and I remember telling my wife that and she thought I was a little screwy," Von Tress told Rolling Stone.
For more on Billy Ray Cyrus, pick up the latest issue of Closer Weekly on newsstands now!
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