Center Stage! Miley Cyrus Performs in Las Vegas After News of Her Split from Kaitlynn Carter
Miley Cyrus’ first stop following news of her split from Kaitlynn Carter? Vegas, baby!
Shortly after PEOPLE learned that Cyrus, 26, and the The Hills: New Beginnings star, 31, had ended their romantic relationship, the pop star opened the iHeartRadio Music Festival on Saturday night.
Throughout her 30 minute set, Cyrus sang some of her biggest hits as well as some rock ‘n’ roll classics, without making any mention of her personal life.
Commanding the stage in a strappy black top and a black pair of pants, Cyrus performed crowd favorites “We Can’t Stop” and “Wrecking Ball,” as well as her breakup anthem “Slide Away.”
Cyrus also performed new track “Don’t Call Me Angel” live for the first time, without collaborators Ariana Grande and Lana Del Rey, and covered Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog” and Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb.”
During the performance, Cyrus opened up about her history with the music festival.
“iHeartRadio was one of the first shows I did where I really freaked people out. My microphone was a banana. People didn’t like that it was a sex joke. And I came out here in an outfit because my mom was really pissed off about and I didn’t know why, but then a million more moms were pissed about it too. So, then I kind of just thought she wanted the best for me,” she said, referring to her 2013 performance. “I love a show that celebrates every type of music, every type of person. We’re all really unique. Everyone on the stage tonight is really unique. We fell in love with music in a totally different way, totally different upbringing.”
Cyrus went on to explain that she equated music to “food and water” in her household when she was a kid.
“Your job as a parent is to keep your kid alive, and the way that they did was by keeping us happy, and that was keeping the jukebox on 24/7,” she said. “Whether it was listening to Stevie Nicks or Johnny Cash, my dad thought it was really important that I had more females than males in my jukebox. And I guess that’s why I’m sending you right now feeling really powerful, and I hope everyone else out there feels that same amount of power. There’s a lot to be done and we don’t have our whole lives to do it. We have to start right now.”
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Making the evening a family affair, Cyrus was joined at the event by her mother Tish Cyrus, brother Trace Cyrus and sister Brandi Cyrus, who also counts the pop star’s recent ex as a pal.
During the night out, Miley even shared a video of her and her mom dancing along to Def Leppard in the audience, as the legendary rockers dedicated hit “Pour Some Sugar on Me” to the pop star.
“On the way to school, cheerleading practice , singing lessons, dance …. mama made me listen to @defleppard. I’m glad AF that she did,” Cyrus captioned the clip. “Taught me what kicking ass really means! Feeling honored to be Fem out here rockin w the big dudes. Stoked to have shared the same stage with the legends themselves! We talked about doing some shows together ! F— yes! Let’s do it!”
Although Cyrus’ romantic relationship with Carter may be over, the pair are still on good terms — in fact, Carter commented on Cyrus’ Instagram post about her performance, writing, “GET IT!!!!!”
“Miley and Kaitlyn broke up,” a source told PEOPLE, adding that “they’re still friends.”
“They’ve been friends forever and were there for each other when they were both getting separated,” the insider said, “but they’re just not in a romantic relationship anymore.”
