Who Is Firerose? Meet Billy Ray Cyrus’ Wife

Billy Ray Cyrus’ wife, FIREROSE has placed music at the forefront of her life since the very beginning and now, together with her other half, she gets to express her deepest emotions through songs that give listeners a raw look into her artistry and various life chapters. 

What is FIREROSE’S Real Name?

The female singer, whose real name is Joanna Rosie Hodges, was born and raised in Sydney, Australia, surrounded by a family of symphony musicians. Her early days of songwriting began in grade school when she would come home and use songwriting as her diary to document her days and process emotions. Then after graduating from the prestigious Newtown School for the Performing Arts in Sydney, she moved her soulful storytelling to Los Angeles, CA, at 19 years old. There, she began working her way to stardom with countless gigs at local festivals, venues such as The Viper Room and The Roxy, and South by Southwest (SXSW).

All of these opportunities have brought FIREROSE full circle from her days of dreaming of having a career in music, and looking up to the ways of artists like Sia, Shania Twain, Alanis Morisette and Australian rock bands like Powderfinger, INXS and Silverchair. 

“I felt something cutting edge from the music of those artists that I listened to growing up that spoke to me deeply and added a whole new depth to my appreciation for music,” she shared. 

Throughout the years, FIREROSE has experienced with many ups and downs, but at the core of it all, music was there to guide her through. With each new tune, she puts her silky vocals on display through painfully honest stories drawn straight from the heart that have continued to impact her growing audience, thus fulfilling her ultimate goal as an artist. 

“I always believed that my purpose on earth was fulfilled by music,” FIREROSE said in another statement on her official website, “and helping people up with a song I wrote gives everything so much meaning. I write from a place in my soul that’s unexplainable and I’m incredibly grateful for this gift that allows me to touch people so profoundly.”    

How Did She Meet Her Husband, Billy Ray Cyrus?  ​

Then on one fateful day in 2010, FIREROSE’s life changed forever when she crossed paths with the “Achy Breaky Heart” singer Billy Ray Cyrus, who would eventually become her husband and duet partner. Cyrus previously told PEOPLE that when he first met FIREROSE, he was in the midst of filming the Disney channel TV show Hannah Montana with his superstar daughter Miley Cyrus. One day he stepped away from the set to take his dog Tex for a walk around the grounds in Hollywood and ran into the Australian-born artist.

“I loved doing that show,” Cyrus recalled before adding, “There’s a couple old pine trees on the lot that look like Tennessee. [My dog] Tex and I would go out there in the middle of the day and he’d take care of his business and we’d stretch and I’d think how much I missed Tennessee. On that given day, FIREROSE came out of the front door. There was almost a moment of, I don’t know, recognition. I was like, ‘This girl’s a star.’”

He went on to say that FIREROSE, who was 22 at the time, approached 49-year-old Billy Ray Cyrus and his dog Tex, and shared that her reason for being on the grounds was that she had an audition.

“She told me she’d had an audition and I said, ‘Well, I’m sure you got the job,’” he recalled. 

From Friends To Songwriting Partners To Husband And Wife

As it turns out, FIREROSE did not end up getting the job, however, Cyrus offered to introduce her to the producers on the set of Hannah Montana. 

“I just thought, well, the casting agents, the producers, the writers, they’re all on the floor of where we do Hannah Montana. And I actually said to her, ‘Don’t ever take a strange man up on this offer, but, in this case, Tex will testify that you will be totally safe,’” he told the outlet. “I’m going to introduce you to a producer and you can kind of make yourself at home and watch us rehearse and you know, maybe it might lead to a role or just another contact at Disney.’ And so, off me and her and Tex went back to the studio and I think she met a lot of the cast and met the producers, writers. And, in some ways, well, in a lot of ways, we became friends.”

They kept in touch over the years and continued to strengthen their bond over their shared love for music. Cyrus was married to his now ex-wife Tish Cyrus from 1993 until April of 2022 when the couple filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. Together, they had two daughters, Miley and Noah, and a son Braison. Cyrus also adopted Tish’s two children from her former marriage – Brandi and Trace.

Following Cyrus’ divorce, he and FIREROSE reconnected over songwriting and began dating. The pair announced their engagement in the fall of 2022. 

While confirming the news with People at the time, Billy Ray gushed about his partner as he said, “She’s the real deal.”

They celebrated their love for one another with a year-long engagement before tying the knot on Oct. 10, 2023.

The couple recently appeared on The Kelly Clarkson Show and further reflected on their love story with host Kelly Clarkson while also promoting their newest duet, “Plans.” FIREROSE took viewers back to the fateful day they met and revealed that she now believes Cyrus’ dog Tex had a “divine purpose” to bring them together. 

“It is actually a funny story because I was walking out of an audition on the Sunset Gala in Hollywood and Billy’s dog at the time, Tex, who was the most beautiful German Shepherd you have ever seen — he was tapped into some divine purpose,” she told Clarkson before adding, “We, at the time, were just friends and all these years later… we just got married.”

Seeing Success As Duet Partners

Before teaming up with Billy Ray Cyrus on a number of tunes, FIREROSE launched her solo career with indie-pop songs like “Fragile Handling,” “Way Out,” “No Holding Fire,” and more. In 2021, the couple released their first collaborative single, “New Day,” a genre-crossing duet co-written with Cyrus and produced by FIREROSE, Cyrus and Pedro Calloni. The song reached the Top 40 on the Billboard Hot AC chart (#33), #19 on both the Billboard AC and #18 Mediabase AC charts.

They followed up “New Day” with another co-write “Time,” which appeared in the film, Christmas In Paradise, that hit select theaters on November 11. Their latest release is “Plans,” a love-filled ballad that finds the artists celebrating their love for one another as they anticipate spending the rest of their lives together and falling in love over and over again in the process. The track has achieved groundbreaking success on streaming and radio, as it rose to No. 16 on both Mediabase’s Adult Contemporary Chart and Billboard’s Adult Contemporary Chart this week. 

After seeing such a positive response, they decided to unveil a new rendition of the song called “Plans (Party Remix),” which was put on display through a new music video that features exclusive footage from their wedding day. 

FIREROSE has gained a loyal following of passionate fans who continue to celebrate her music through lively performances in iconic venues such as the Grand Ole Opry. FIREROSE has also performed on national television programs, including “LIVE with Kelly and Ryan,” and has been featured in major outlets such as People Magazine, CNN, iHeartRadio, The Today Show Australia, and many more.

“The most gratifying thing now is hearing directly from fans telling me how my music has helped them. I can’t begin to explain it, but hearing things like this kills me in a beautiful way,” the Australian singer shared.

With the release of “Plans”, FIREROSE has embarked on a new musical chapter in partnership with Billy Ray Cyrus.