"The Best of Both Worlds" is a

pop-rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, ear ...

song performed by American singer and actress

Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( ; born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her distinctive raspy voice, her music spans across varied styles and genres, including pop, country, rock, hip hop ...

for the

Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compan ...

television series ''

Hannah Montana ''Hannah Montana'' is an American teen sitcom created by Michael Poryes, Rich Correll and Barry O'Brien that aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between March2006 and January2011. The series centers on Miley Stewart (Miley Cyrus), a ...

.'' Cyrus performs the song as

, who is the

alter ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I", " doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a differen ...

of the series' protagonist

Miley Stewart Miley Ray Stewart is the fictional main character in the Disney Channel television series ''Hannah Montana'', portrayed by Miley Cyrus. She first appeared on television in the pilot episode "Lilly, Do You Want to Know a Secret?" on March 24, 2 ...

. It was released as the debut and

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

from the ''Hannah Montana'' soundtrack album on March 18, 2006. "The Best of Both Worlds" is the

theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

of the television series; in the series' third season, the 2009 Movie Mix is used as the theme. A live version is available on '' Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert'' (2008), a

karaoke Karaoke (; ; , clipped compound of Japanese ''kara'' "empty" and ''ōkesutora'' "orchestra") is a type of interactive entertainment usually offered in clubs and bars, where people sing along to recorded music using a microphone. The music i ...

version is included in the soundtrack's karaoke series (2008), and the 2009 Movie Mix is featured on ''Hannah Montana: The Movie'' soundtrack (2009). The song has elements of bubblegum pop and

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

. Lyrically, it is a showcase of the double life lived by Miley Stewart. "The Best of Both Worlds" is considered to be one of Cyrus' signature songs, introducing her to the music industry. The song received generally positive reviews; critics noted that the song was written well despite its "weird" concept. "The Best of Both Worlds" reached number 92 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, making the song only one of two television themes of the decade (the other being "

Leave It All to Me "Leave It All to Me" is the debut single by American actress and singer Miranda Cosgrove, featuring Drake Bell, from the Nickelodeon show ''iCarly''s soundtrack album of the same name (2008). The song was written by Michael Corcoran, one of Bel ...

" by

Miranda Cosgrove Miranda Taylor Cosgrove (born May 14, 1993) is an American actress and singer. She was the highest-paid child actor in 2012 and was included on ''Forbes'' magazine's " 30 Under 30" list in 2022. She is known for her career on television, parti ...

) to chart on the Hot 100, and achieved some commercial success internationally. The song reached its highest international chart peak position on the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are bas ...

, at number seventeen. A promotional music video for the song was taken from a recording of a concert performance. Cyrus promoted the song by performing it at several venues, including her performances as the opening act for The Cheetah Girls'

The Party's Just Begun Tour The Party's Just Begun Tour is the second tour by American girl group, The Cheetah Girls. It supported the soundtrack to their second film, '' The Cheetah Girls 2''. The tour started on September 15, 2006, in Seattle and ended on March 4, 2007, i ...

and as the closing number on her own first headlining concert tour of the same name. Cyrus' performances of the song on the Best of Both Worlds Tour were as herself, but when she performed the song on television, she did so in character as Hannah Montana.

Background

"The Best of Both Worlds" is a song with influences from dance, rock and country music, and its instrumentation features offbeat electric guitars, upbeat synths and backing vocals. It is set in

common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

with a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

of 130

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...

. The song is written in the key of

C major C major (or the key of C) is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and ...

. Cyrus' vocals span from A₃ to D₅. The song begins with the

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice ...

C₅–G₅–D₅–F₅. The song was written by

Matthew Gerrard Matthew Gerrard is a Canadian record producer and songwriter. Biography Gerrard grew up in Don Mills, a suburb of Toronto's north-east end. He attended George S. Henry Secondary School where he played trombone in band, later playing bass in a sc ...

and

Robbie Nevil Robert S. Nevil (born October 2, 1958) is an American pop singer, songwriter, producer, and guitarist who had five ''Billboard'' top 40 hits including his songs "C'est la Vie" (#2, 1986), "Dominoes" (#14, 1987), and " Wot's It to Ya" (#10, 198 ...

. The duo wrote three other songs on the ''Hannah Montana'' soundtrack and continue writing songs for the franchise, including " Nobody's Perfect" and " Ice Cream Freeze (Let's Chill)." Lyrically, the song is one of several songs ("Just Like You", "The Other Side of Me", "Old Blue Jeans", "Ordinary Girl" and "Rock Star") that explicitly allude to Stewart's

double life An alter ego (Latin for "other I", " doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a differen ...

as Montana: regular adolescent that moved from

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

Malibu, California Malibu ( ; es, Malibú; Chumash: ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, situated about west of Downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate and its strip of the Malibu ...

by day and pop star by night. In the song, Cyrus sings about the privileges and advantages that are faced in leading in two lives, with references to Orlando Bloom, concerts, friendship and film premieres.

Critical reception

The song received generally positive reviews from critics. Heather Phares of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

described the song as having "sharper-than-average songwriting" and one of the best tracks from the ''Hannah Montana'' soundtrack. Chris Willman of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' compared the song to the musical styles of

Avril Lavigne Avril Ramona Lavigne ( ; born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. At age 16, she signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records. Her debut studio album, ''Let Go (Avril Lavigne album), Let Go'' (2002), is the ...

Ashlee Simpson Ashley Nicolle Ross ( Simpson; born October 3, 1984), known professionally as Ashlee Simpson, is an American singer and actress. The younger sister of singer and actress Jessica Simpson, she began her career as a back-up dancer for her sister ...

and

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...

. However, Willman stated that the concept of "The Best of Both Worlds" was "a nice fantasy for

Brangelina A supercouple or super couple (also known as a power couple) is a popular and/or wealthy pairing that intrigues and fascinates the public in an intense or obsessive fashion. The term originated in the United States, and it was coined in the earl ...

, but a weird one to push on little girls".

Chart performance

The song received low

airplay Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...

due to it being released to Radio Disney, but not to other mainstream radio stations. The song debuted at number 64 on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

''s

Hot Digital Songs The Digital Songs or Digital Song Sales chart (previously named Hot Digital Songs) ranks the best-selling digital songs in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published by ''Billboard'' magazine. Although it originally starte ...

Chart which led to an appearance on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for the week ending August 12, 2006. It debuted and peaked at number 92 on the Hot 100, and stayed on the chart for two weeks. In the same week of its entry on the Hot 100, the song charted at number seventy-one on the

Pop 100 The Pop 100 was a songs chart that debuted in February 2005 and was released weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States until its discontinuation in 2009. It ranked songs based on airplay on Mainstream Top 40 radio stations, singles s ...

and dropped from the chart the following week. "The Best of Both Worlds" reached higher peak chart positions in Europe. For the week ending February 22, 2007, the song debuted and peaked at number seventeen in the

, and dropped out of the chart the following week. The song debuted and peaked at number 43 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

dated Feb. 24, 2007, and spent one week on the chart. It became Cyrus's highest peaking single in the United Kingdom, when credited as Hannah Montana. In 2008 it charted in the

German Singles Chart The GfK Entertainment charts are the official music charts in Germany and are gathered and published by GfK Entertainment (formerly Media Control and Media Control GfK International), a subsidiary of GfK, on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindust ...

, debuting at number 71 and eventually peaking at number 66. It spent a total of seven weeks on the chart.

Live performances

Cyrus often dressed as the Hannah Montana character when she performed "The Best of Both Worlds" at concerts and promotional television appearances. At the concert taping to promote the first season of ''Hannah Montana'', Cyrus dressed in boots, jeans, a pink-

sequin A sequin () is a small, typically shiny, generally disk-shaped ornament. Sequins are also referred to as paillettes, spangles, or ''diamanté'' (also spelled ''diamante''). Although the words sequins, paillettes, lentejuelas, and spangles can ...

ned blouse, khaki jacket, and blonde wig, to perform "The Best of Both Worlds" and five other songs. She also performed complex choreography and acted out several of the song's lyrics with the background dancers. This performance premiered on

as the promotional video for the song and the television series on March 3, 2006. On June 23, 2006, Cyrus performed the song at

Disney's Typhoon Lagoon Disney's Typhoon Lagoon is a water theme park located at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida near Orlando, and is one of two operating water parks at the resort. It is the second water park to open at the resort, preceded ...

. Cyrus performed the song on twenty dates when she opened for The Cheetah Girls' 2006 concert tour

. On October 23, 2006, she performed it on ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...

'', and she performed it again the following day on ''

Live with Regis and Kelly ''Live with Kelly and Ryan'' (or simply ''Live'') is an American syndicated morning talk show hosted by Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest. Executive produced by Michael Gelman, the ''Live with...'' show formula has aired under various hosts since ...

''. The following month she performed it at the 2006

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is an annual parade in New York City presented by the U.S.-based department store chain Macy's. The Parade first took place in 1924, tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States with ...

. On March 28, 2007, Cyrus appeared as Hannah Montana and performed the song for Hannah Montana: Live in London at Koko. The event was televised on several international Disney Channels. On December 20, 2007, Cyrus performed the song as herself on ''

The Oprah Winfrey Show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', often referred to as ''The Oprah Show'' or simply ''Oprah'', is an American daytime broadcast syndication, syndicated talk show that aired nationally for 25 seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in Chicag ...

''. "The Best of Both Worlds" was later performed as the closing number on Cyrus' first headlining

Best of Both Worlds Tour Best of Both Worlds Tour was the debut concert tour by American singer Miley Cyrus. The tour was held in support of the double-disc album '' Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus'' (2007), which consisted of the soundtrack to ''Hannah Montana''s ...

. She performed the song as herself, wearing an all-pink outfit composed of a tank top, plaid mini-skirt, sneakers, and a jacket. She most recently performed "The Best of Both Worlds: The 2009 Movie Mix", from the '' Hannah Montana: The Movie'' soundtrack, with eight other songs, at the concert taping for the third season of ''Hannah Montana''; the concert was held on October 10 in Irvine, California at the

Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre Verizon Wireless Amphitheater(re), Verizon Wireless Music Center(re), Verizon Wireless Theatre(er), and other variants may refer to: *The following venues were formerly known by the Verizon-sponsored names: **Verizon Wireless Music Center (Alabama) ...

Track listings

* US/EU Digital Singleitunes.apple.com,
Best of Both Worlds - Single
. Accessed 28 March 2006. # "The Best of Both Worlds" - 2:54 * US/EU CD Single # "The Best of Both Worlds" - 2:54 # "

If We Were a Movie "If We Were a Movie" is a pop song by American recording artist and actress Miley Cyrus. She performed the song as Hannah Montana – the alter ego of Miley Stewart, a character she plays on the Disney Channel television series ''Hannah Montana''. ...

" - 3:03 * FR CD Single # "Le Meilleur des Deux" (French Version by Sarah) - 2:54 # "The Best of Both Worlds" (Instrumental) - 2:54 # "The Best of Both Worlds" (Original Version) - 2:54 * UK EP Digital Download # "The Best of Both Worlds" - 2:54 # "If We Were a Movie" - 3:03 # "The Best of Both Worlds" (Daniel Canary Remix) - 2:36

Charts

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Best of Both Worlds, The 2006 singles Hannah Montana songs Songs written by Matthew Gerrard Songs written by Robbie Nevil Songs from television series Television theme songs Song recordings produced by Matthew Gerrard 2006 songs Walt Disney Records singles