NOAH’S ARC
Miley Cyrus’ little sister blazes a music trail of her own making
WHEN Noah Cyrus gets a bout of pre-show jitters, it affects her inside and out.
“I usually start shaking,” she tells The Post on the phone from California, where, the night before, she played to tens of thousands of fans at Coachella as a special guest of electronic dance music DJ Marshmello. “Then it goes into the nervous ‘I gotta pee,’ then it goes into the ‘I’m gonna throw up’ phase. When I performed on Jimmy Fallon’s show in January, my mom thought I was gonna pass out!”
Noah, 17, may have a natural vocal prowess that matches her worldfamous sister Miley, but she’s the first to admit that she’s got a ways to go to match her sibling’s poise and confidence.
This year, Noah will have plenty of opportunities to conquer those anxieties and attract an army of fans, as she moves forward with a pop career that has already garnered much praise.
At the end of 2016, she quietly released her debut single, “Make Me (Cry)” — a sleek R&B track featuring British producer Labrinth. It’s racked up more than 100 million Spotify plays and, so far, has peaked at No. 46 on the Billboard Hot 100. That might change after Saturday, when she’ll perform the track at the Radio Disney Awards (airing on the Disney Channel on Sunday at 7 p.m.).
There’s more to come, too. This month she released the poppy and defiant “Stay Together,” and her first fulllength album is due later in the year.
“It will have a little bit of everything — pop, R&B, even country,” she says of her debut, cleverly titled “NC-17.” “If it doesn’t [come out this year], I’ll have to change the name of the album, which I don’t want to do. It’s such a cool name!”
The stage is set for her to follow her 24-year-old sister, her 28-year-old brother Trace (who plays in pop-rock band Metro Station), and her country-superstar father, Billy Ray Cyrus, into the show-business world.
Early on, she wasn’t sure she wanted to follow in the family business. As a kid, she played small parts in the Disney series “Hannah Montana” (alongside her sister) and “Doc” (alongside her dad). But Noah’s chief interest was horses. “I wanted to be a horsebackriding trainer and to go to the Olympics as an equestrian,” she says.
The Miley comparisons are inevitable: They have similar voices, share a family resemblance, and have the same management. But Noah isn’t afraid to show her admiration for her big sis, who famously endured a bout of Internet shaming following her twerking performance alongside Robin Thicke at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards.
“I [watched] it at home with my dad — we didn’t see why everybody freaked out,” she says, adding that Miley advised her to never look herself up on the Web.
“Watching her, I’ve seen the pros and cons of being in the industry, and how so many people can be so harsh — especially toward someone as talented as Miley. But I look up to her for being so strong . . . and being able to deal with people who misunderstand who she is.”
The feeling is mutual. Miley endorsed her sister at the iHeartRadio Music Awards in March, declaring, “She’s who I want to be when I grow up.” Miley also held up an “I heart Noah Cyrus” sign as her sister sang.
Seeing the pitfalls of life in the public eye hasn’t curtailed Noah’s ambition. Like the Cyruses before her, she’s keen on making a big impact in her own way.
“Hopefully, within the next year or two, I’ll be doing what Marshmello is doing. That’s my dream — to play Coachella . . . not as a guest but as me!”