Miley Cyrus had more than a couple tricks up her leather-gloved sleeves when she hit the iHeartRadio Music Festival stage on Saturday (September 21).
MC came in like a wrecking ball by kicking off the fest’s second and final night with an opening performance that was old, new, borrowed, and blue black all at once. Most notably, she treated the Las Vegas crowd to the first-ever live performance of “Don’t Call Me Angel.” And even without her comrades Ariana Grande and Lana Del Rey by her side, Miley made it a moment worth remembering, as she and her band injected some rocker attitude into the Charlie’s Angels feminist bop.
As for the “borrowed” portion of her set, Cyrus surprised fans with a pair of classic rock covers: Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog” and Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb.” Joking about those unexpected choices, she quipped, “My favorite faces to see out in the crowd are confused dads.” The multifaceted pop star also explained, “You know, I sing songs like ‘Can’t Stop’ for you, but then I sing a couple songs for me.” (Her classic rock cred, by the way, was bolstered just a few minutes later, when Def Leppard dedicated their rendition of “Pour Some Sugar On Me” to Miley).
The rest of Cyrus’s eclectic set was rounded out by recent hits “Slide Away,” “Mother’s Daughter,” and “Nothing Breaks Like a Heart,” as well as Bangerz oldies “Wrecking Ball” and “We Can’t Stop.” There was, truly, a little something for everyone.
Cyrus wasn’t the only performer who live-debuted fresh music at iHeartRadio Music Festival — on Friday, Camila Cabello and Halsey each performed their recent singles for the first time. Check those out here.
