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Lauren Alaina shared a nostalgic moment from her run on American Idol in honor of the Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special on Tuesday (March 24).
Miley Cyrus, 33, commemorated her iconic breakout role as the title character of the series, which premiered on March 24, 2006, and ran until January 16, 2011. Cyrus played Miley Stewart, a typical teenage girl who lived a secret double life as famous pop star Hannah Montana. Alaina, 31, shared that she grew up watching the iconic series, like many others did. That inspired her to sing “The Climb” when she competed on American Idol more than a decade ago. Cyrus debuted the beloved song in Hannah Montana: The Movie in 2009, and performed it again during the anniversary special.
“Throwing it back to when I sang ‘The Climb’ on [American Idol] in Top 8 week in 2011,” Alaina, who finished runner-up that season, shared in a caption on Instagram. “I grew up watching Hannah Montana (like most of you), watching Miley chase something bigger than herself while still holding onto who she was…and I think that’s why this song has always meant so much to me. 20 years later and she’s still a part of who we are and honestly, always will be ✨💖 I hope we are all channeling our inner Hannah today!”
Alaina is part of the star-studded lineup of the 2026 iHeartCountry Festival, along with Carly Pearce, Luke Bryan, Kane Brown, Parker McCollum, Riley Green, Shaboozey, Dylan Scott, Russell Dickerson, Gretchen Wilson and Chase Matthew. iHeartRadio's Bobby Bones is returning as the event’s host. The show will take place on May 2 at Moody Center in Austin, Texas. Tickets to the show are available as of January 23. Fans across the country will be able to catch all the action as the 2026 iHeartCountry Festival will be broadcast live across iHeartCountry stations nationwide and the free iHeartRadio app on Saturday, May 2nd at 8pm ET/5pm PT (7pm CT).