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The first signal that a handful of pop music's biggest names would be following in Gaga's footsteps in an attempt to connect with "this girl in the middle of the country somewhere crying her eyes out in the field," as she revealed to E! News she had in mind when crafting Joanne, came in May of 2017 when Miley Cyrus debuted "Malibu." Attempting to rebound from setbacks both personal (her 2015 experimental album, Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz, was a bona fide flop) and political (she'd campaigned for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential race), Cyrus began crafting an album that her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, told Billboard was "Miley leaning into her roots more than I've ever heard."

For Cyrus, Younger Now, which was released in late September, was an attempt to reach across the aisle, so to speak, and court country music fans who didn't agree with her politically and, despite her Tennessee roots and godmother Dolly Parton, couldn't take her seriously as a country artist. "This record is a reflection of the fact that yes, I don't give a f--k, but right now is not a time to not give a f--k about people," she told the music media outlet. "I'm ­giving the world a hug and saying, ‘Hey, look. We're good—I love you.' And I hope you can say you love me back."