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Billy Ray Cyrus Reveals Details of the Letter He Received From Former President George H. W. Bush

As quirky as Billy Ray Cyrus may be, he’s kind of a big deal, especially when you get a letter from a former president.

Billy Ray Cyrus just recently shared one of his most cherished possessions. When the 90’s smash hit “Achy Breaky Heart” won the award for CMA Song of the Year, former President George H.W. Bush sent the country icon a letter.

“He wrote ‘The judges got it right. We love it.’ It hangs on my wall to this day,” Cyrus shares on the fourth hour of the “Today Show“.

He tells this to the show’s hosts Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush-Hager, who happens to be Bush Sr.’s granddaughter.

Cyrus continues to share that he had chased the country music dream for 10 years at that point, even living in his car for some of the journey. There’s more than long hair underneath his cowboy hat, though. He’s learned some of life’s toughest lessons and faced major challenges, but Cyrus has come out the other side stronger.

“I failed way more times than I ever succeeded,” he says.”Without failure, you can’t succeed. Every time you fail, you eliminate one way that won’t work, therefore being one way closer to the one way that will.”

Cyrus ended up writing the song that launched his career with Mercury Records. “Some Gave All” is the song that got him his big break. Cyrus says that he thinks we have more in common with each other than we think.

Billy Ray Cyrus and His Achy Breaky Heart

“Achy Breaky Heart” is that “make-you-want-to-get-up-and-dance” song. Maybe even wave your light up red-roses in the air that were sold at Cyrus’ concerts song, all the while wearing your Cyrus concert t-shirt.

Believe it or not, the mullet-sporting Cyrus wasn’t the first one to sing the heartbreaking song. The Mercury Brothers gave a crack at it a year before Cyrus put it on his debut album. Now it’s one of his signature songs. Additionally, it became the first single ever to achieve triple Platinum status in Australia and also 1992’s best-selling single in the same country. 

Back in the states, the song peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Additionally, it topped the Hot Country Song Charts, becoming the first country single to be certified Platinum since 1983. “Achy Breaky Heart” was his biggest single until “Old Town Road” came along.

The title gives away what the song is about. The lyrics indicate a breakup, but the guy is in denial, especially when it comes to “telling his heart” the news. The song addresses his organ in the third person. Plus the chorus even says some catastrophic damage could be done, “He might blow up and kill this man.” As a matter of fact, the song is only made up of two cords!

The music video for the song led to the explosion of the line dance into the mainstream media.

The dance is made up of simple steps that include sashaying across the dance floor, complete with toe and heel taps.